The Questions

1. 1Before humanity ever needed forgiveness, what was God's original desire for relationship with us?· Biblical
2. 2What does Scripture reveal about God's delight in His creation?· Biblical
3. 3Was Adam's first experience of God one of authority, affection, or both?· Biblical
4. 4What might it mean to be fathered by someone who knows you completely?· Personal· Biblical
5. 5Does God merely love His children, or does He genuinely enjoy them?· Biblical
6. 6What is the difference between knowing God as Creator and knowing Him as Father?· Biblical
7. 7How does Jesus reveal the Father's heart in ways humanity may have misunderstood?· Biblical
8. 8Is God's love for us affected by our behavior, or does His love precede our behavior?· Biblical
9. 9Does the Father's holiness make Him distant, or can holiness and intimacy coexist?· Biblical
10. 10How do we reconcile God's tenderness with His authority and judgment?· Biblical
11. 11How does God's relationship with humanity change after the Fall—and in what ways does it remain unchanged?· Biblical
12. 12When did God stop being merely someone you believed in and become someone you knew personally?· Personal· Biblical
13. 13What changes about our understanding of Christianity when we begin with God as Father rather than primarily as Judge?· Biblical
14. 14When God judges or disciplines His children, is His primary purpose punishment, restoration, correction, or something else?· Biblical

1. 1What does it mean that God formed humanity from the dust and breathed life into us?· Biblical
2. 2What does being made in the image and likeness of God actually mean?· Biblical
3. 3Is God's image primarily about our nature, our relationships, our responsibilities—or something else?· Biblical
4. 4What does creation tell us about God's personal involvement with humanity?· Biblical
5. 5Were humans created primarily to serve God, rule creation, enjoy relationship with Him, or all three?· Biblical
6. 6How should we understand the differences between the creation accounts in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2?· Biblical· Interpretive
7. 7Were Adam and Eve historical individuals, representative figures, or both? How have Christians understood this?· Biblical· Interpretive
8. 8What does the creation of Eve reveal about equality, distinction, partnership, and belonging?· Biblical
9. 9Does the phrase "helper suitable for him" imply inferiority, equality, or complementary strength?· Biblical· Interpretive
10. 10Why does it matter that God calls His creation good before humanity accomplishes anything?· Biblical
11. 11If God has always existed, what does it mean to say He became a Father to humanity?· Biblical
12. 12How would your life change if you truly believed your worth began with the One who created you, rather than anything you could accomplish?· Personal· Biblical
13. 13If God created every human being, in what sense are we all His children? And how is that different from becoming His children through faith or adoption?· Biblical· Interpretive
14. 14Was humanity’s original inheritance blessing rather than sin—and how should that shape the way we understand ourselves today?· Biblical· Interpretive
15. 15How much of God’s goodness and image remains visible in people who don’t believe in Him?· Biblical

1. 1What might life have felt like without fear, shame, or separation?· Biblical
2. 2What is the difference between innocence and ignorance?· Biblical
3. 3Could Adam and Eve have experienced genuine freedom before they knew evil?· Biblical
4. 4What does it mean that they were naked and unashamed?· Biblical
5. 5Was work part of humanity's original blessing before it became toilsome?· Biblical
6. 6What did God mean when He told humanity to take dominion over the earth?· Biblical
7. 7Is dominion primarily about authority, stewardship, cultivation, or responsibility?· Biblical
8. 8Was Eden intended to remain a garden, or was humanity called to extend its goodness outward?· Biblical
9. 9Did the world outside Eden look different from the garden before the Fall?· Biblical· Interpretive
10. 10Did suffering, natural death, or dangerous creatures exist before human sin?· Biblical· Interpretive
11. 11Why would God give humanity meaningful responsibility if He was capable of accomplishing everything Himself?· Biblical
12. 12What would it look like to approach life as an adventure with your Father rather than a struggle to earn His approval?· Personal· Biblical
13. 13Does God govern humanity through a predetermined plan, or does He genuinely partner with us in shaping what happens?· Biblical· Interpretive
14. 14What kind of world would a loving Father create if His purpose were to raise children into maturity, freedom, and responsibility?· Biblical
15. 15What desires did God place in the human heart before the Fall—desires to be loved, known, safe, significant, accepted, and delighted in?· Biblical· Personal

1. 1When did evil first enter creation?· Biblical
2. 2Was there already a spiritual rebellion before Adam and Eve sinned?· Biblical· Interpretive
3. 3What does Scripture actually tell us about Satan's origins?· Biblical· Interpretive
4. 4Is the traditional identification of Lucifer with the fallen Satan clearly established in Scripture?· Biblical· Interpretive
5. 5How should passages such as Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, and Revelation 12 be interpreted in this discussion?· Biblical· Interpretive
6. 6What is the biblical relationship between the serpent in Eden and Satan?· Biblical· Interpretive
7. 7What do angels do, and what role do they play in God's relationship with humanity?· Biblical
8. 8Did the heavenly beings have genuine freedom to rebel?· Biblical
9. 9Why would an all-powerful Creator permit a rebellion against Himself?· Biblical· Interpretive
10. 10What authority, if any, was humanity originally intended to exercise over rebellious spiritual powers?· Biblical
11. 11Is spiritual warfare principally about territory, allegiance, worship, or something else?· Biblical
12. 12How can we take the reality of evil seriously without becoming more fascinated by darkness than by the goodness of God?· Biblical

1. 1If Adam and Eve had never sinned, what could possibly have tempted them?· Biblical
2. 2Does temptation begin with an evil desire, or can it begin with a good desire pursued in the wrong way?· Biblical
3. 3Was the first temptation really about the fruit—or about whether the Father could be trusted?· Biblical
4. 4Why did God place the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden?· Biblical
5. 5What did the knowledge of good and evil actually represent?· Biblical
6. 6What did the serpent mean by "you will be like God" when humanity was already made in God's image?· Personal· Biblical· Interpretive
7. 7Was the serpent offering wisdom, independence, power, security, or some combination?· Biblical· Interpretive
8. 8What is the difference between becoming more like God and attempting to become independent of Him?· Biblical
9. 9How does deception work when the person being deceived has never experienced a lie?· Biblical
10. 10Why might the promise of protection become a temptation to abandon the One who protects us?· Biblical
11. 11Where does the character of Lilith come from historically, and what does Genesis itself say—or not say—about her?· Biblical· Interpretive
12. 12Does Scripture support identifying the serpent as a literal animal, a supernatural being, a symbolic figure, or some combination?· Biblical· Interpretive
13. 13Have proposed sexual interpretations of the Fall any substantial textual basis, and what evidence argues against them?· Biblical· Interpretive
14. 14What responsibility did Adam and Eve each bear in the temptation and the resulting decision?· Biblical
15. 15Can an act of compassion or a desire to help someone make us vulnerable to manipulation?· Biblical
16. 16Have you ever pursued something good in a way that required you to stop trusting God?· Personal· Biblical
17. 17Could the original temptation have involved offering Adam and Eve a counterfeit fulfillment of desires God Himself had placed within them?· Biblical· Interpretive

Note: Lilith's role in ADAM is a creative interpretation, not a character named in Genesis 3.

1. 1What is sin at its most fundamental level?· Biblical
2. 2Was the first sin primarily disobedience, mistrust, pride, rebellion, or an attempt at independence?· Biblical· Interpretive
3. 3Is temptation itself sinful, or does sin begin with how we respond?· Biblical
4. 4What actually happened when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit?· Biblical
5. 5What did it mean that their eyes were opened?· Biblical
6. 6Why did nakedness become a source of shame after the Fall?· Biblical
7. 7Why did Adam and Eve hide from the very One who had always loved them?· Biblical
8. 8What did God mean when He warned that they would die?· Biblical
9. 9Is spiritual death best understood as separation, corruption, estrangement, or something else?· Biblical
10. 10How do different Christian traditions understand original sin and inherited human brokenness?· Biblical
11. 11Were the judgments pronounced in Genesis 3 prescriptive commands or descriptions of a now-disordered world?· Biblical
12. 12Why did God clothe Adam and Eve after their disobedience?· Biblical
13. 13Was preventing access to the Tree of Life an act of judgment, mercy, or both?· Biblical· Interpretive
14. 14What changes in our relationship with God when we begin believing we must hide parts of ourselves from Him?· Biblical
15. 15Are children born guilty of Adam’s sin, or are they born into a world already affected by its consequences?· Biblical· Interpretive
16. 16Is sin fundamentally a law we’ve broken, a relationship we’ve betrayed, or both?· Biblical
17. 17When we say sin separates us from God, does God withdraw from us—or do we withdraw and hide from Him?· Biblical· Personal

1. 1If God knew the serpent would come, why didn't He prevent the temptation?· Biblical· Interpretive
2. 2What does it mean to call God our Protector in a world where terrible things still happen?· Biblical
3. 3Can a loving Father allow His children to face real danger?· Biblical
4. 4What is the difference between protection and control?· Biblical
5. 5Why does God sometimes intervene dramatically and at other times seem silent?· Biblical
6. 6Is the absence of intervention evidence of the absence of love?· Biblical
7. 7How do God's sovereignty and human freedom relate to suffering?· Biblical
8. 8Why do innocent people suffer for choices they never made?· Biblical
9. 9How should we respond when someone says, "If God loved me, He wouldn't have let this happen"?· Biblical
10. 10What does the Bible give us permission to say to God when we're angry, disappointed, or grieving?· Biblical
11. 11Can we trust God's goodness without understanding His decisions?· Biblical
12. 12How do we reconcile stories of supernatural healing with experiences of prayers that appear unanswered?· Biblical
13. 13Does God ever hide Himself as an act of mercy, and how should claims like that be evaluated biblically?· Biblical
14. 14What have the hardest seasons of your life taught you about God's character—and which questions are still unanswered?· Personal· Biblical
15. 15Does God know every future human choice as already settled, or can some aspects of the future remain genuinely open?· Biblical· Interpretive
16. 16When tragedy strikes, has God authored it, permitted it, or entered into it to bring redemption?· Biblical· Personal

1. 1What would it have meant to leave the only home you had ever known?· Personal· Biblical
2. 2What did Adam and Eve lose when they left Eden—and what, if anything, remained?· Biblical
3. 3How did the Fall change humanity's relationship with creation, work, marriage, and family?· Biblical
4. 4How might Adam and Eve have understood God's love after experiencing judgment?· Biblical
5. 5What can Cain and Abel teach us about envy, rejection, worship, and belonging?· Biblical
6. 6Why did God regard Abel's offering and Cain's offering differently?· Biblical
7. 7How does sin move from an individual decision into generational consequences?· Biblical
8. 8What does a loving Father do when one of His children becomes the victim of another child's sin?· Biblical
9. 9How can we reconcile humanity's responsibility for the Fall with the suffering of people who never chose its consequences?· Biblical
10. 10What does God's treatment of Cain reveal about justice and mercy?· Biblical
11. 11What can we learn from the grief of parents who must bury a child?· Biblical
12. 12How do we hold on to the goodness of God when the world has become something we no longer recognize?· Biblical

1. 1Who were the people living outside Cain's immediate family, and where did Cain find his wife?· Biblical· Interpretive
2. 2How should we understand the extraordinarily long lifespans recorded in Genesis?· Biblical· Interpretive
3. 3What significance do the genealogies from Adam to Noah have beyond recording ancestry?· Biblical
4. 4What does it mean that Enoch "walked with God" and then was no more?· Biblical· Interpretive
5. 5Who were the "sons of God" who took the "daughters of men" in Genesis 6?· Biblical· Interpretive
6. 6How do the angelic-being, Sethite-lineage, and royal-ruler interpretations of Genesis 6 compare?· Biblical· Interpretive
7. 7Who or what were the Nephilim, and what does the biblical text actually establish about them?· Biblical· Interpretive
8. 8How should Christians understand accounts of giants elsewhere in Scripture?· Biblical· Interpretive
9. 9What influence should writings such as 1 Enoch and Jubilees have on our understanding of ancient Genesis?· Biblical· Interpretive
10. 10What relationship, if any, exists between Genesis 6 and passages concerning imprisoned spirits or rebellious angels?· Biblical· Interpretive
11. 11Why did God bring the Flood, and how should we reconcile divine judgment with divine goodness?· Biblical· Interpretive
12. 12Was the Flood global or regional, and how do different interpretations approach the biblical language?· Biblical· Interpretive
13. 13What does Noah's story reveal about grace, righteousness, obedience, and preservation?· Biblical
14. 14What does the Tower of Babel reveal about humanity's desire for unity, power, and independence?· Biblical
15. 15How do we distinguish what Scripture teaches about supernatural beings from later tradition and modern speculation?· Biblical
16. 16What might the generations between Adam and Noah teach us about humanity's longing for God—and our repeated attempts to live without Him?· Biblical

1. 1Was redemption God's response to the Fall, or does Scripture suggest a purpose reaching back before creation?· Biblical
2. 2Who is the offspring promised in Genesis 3:15, and how have Christians interpreted this passage?· Biblical
3. 3Why does the New Testament refer to Jesus as the Last Adam?· Biblical
4. 4What did the first Adam lose that the Last Adam came to restore?· Biblical
5. 5Is salvation primarily about forgiveness, restored relationship, new creation, or all of these?· Biblical
6. 6How does the Father's love relate to the suffering and death of Jesus?· Biblical
7. 7What can we responsibly say about the Father's relationship with the Son during the crucifixion?· Biblical
8. 8Is God's justice in tension with His mercy, or do they reveal different dimensions of His goodness?· Biblical
9. 9How does Jesus' description of the Father challenge the ways people have understood God?· Biblical
10. 10What might the Tree of Life in Genesis and Revelation reveal about the beginning and completion of the biblical story?· Biblical
11. 11What does it mean that God continues pursuing humanity even after humanity turns away from Him?· Biblical
12. 12If God is inviting us home, what does coming home actually look like?· Biblical
13. 13How does viewing the cross through the heart of a Father seeking to restore His family affect our understanding of atonement, forgiveness, and justice?· Biblical· Interpretive

1. 1When did you first begin to experience God as a Father rather than simply believe that He was one?· Personal
2. 2What has God revealed to you about His heart that you wish more people understood?· Personal
3. 3How has your experience with your earthly father influenced the way you relate to God?· Personal
4. 4Have you ever experienced a moment when you felt personally delighted in by God? What happened?· Personal
5. 5Was there a season when you believed God was disappointed in you? What changed?· Personal
6. 6What has God taught you about your identity that you struggled to believe about yourself?· Personal
7. 7Have you ever felt abandoned by God? How did that experience affect your relationship with Him?· Personal
8. 8What has grief taught you about God that you couldn't have learned any other way?· Personal
9. 9How have unanswered prayers shaped your relationship with the Father?· Personal
10. 10What does it mean to feel safe enough with God to be completely honest?· Personal
11. 11Where have shame, guilt, or fear made it difficult for you to receive His love?· Personal
12. 12What is the difference between believing God loves you and actually experiencing His love?· Personal
13. 13How has knowing God as Father changed the way you parent, lead, love, or relate to others?· Personal
14. 14Is there something you've come to know of God that you could only have learned by walking through the particular life you've lived?· Personal
15. 15If you could speak to someone who believes God could never truly love them, what would you want them to know?· Personal
16. 16What are we actually searching for when we pursue approval, achievement, control, pleasure, or escape?· Personal
17. 17What do our strongest emotional reactions reveal about the things our hearts are most afraid of losing—or never receiving?· Personal
18. 18What hidden beliefs or painful memories prevent us from receiving God’s love, even when we intellectually believe He loves us?· Personal
19. 19Can the very beliefs we developed to protect ourselves from pain eventually become barriers to intimacy with God?· Personal
20. 20Does lasting transformation come primarily from trying harder to change our behavior, or from experiencing God in the deepest places of our hearts?· Personal
21. 21What would it look like to invite Jesus into an unmet desire rather than attempting to suppress, ignore, or satisfy that desire ourselves?· Personal
22. 22Can grief, betrayal, and disappointment become places where we encounter Jesus more intimately rather than simply obstacles to our relationship with Him?· Personal
23. 23How might our relationships, decisions, and behavior change if our deepest needs for love, belonging, security, and significance were being met in our relationship with God?· Personal

1. 1Where does Scripture end and creative imagination begin when telling the story of Adam?· Biblical
2. 2How can biblical fiction illuminate Scripture without claiming authority equal to Scripture?· Biblical
3. 3What do we gain—and what might we risk—by imagining Adam and Eve as children who grow into adulthood?· Biblical
4. 4How should we evaluate a depiction of God's personality, emotions, or physical presence when Scripture leaves details unstated?· Biblical
5. 5What are the strongest biblical arguments for and against depicting a heavenly conflict before humanity's Fall?· Biblical· Interpretive
6. 6What can Lilith contribute as a fictional dramatic character, and what confusion might arise if her role isn't distinguished from Genesis?· Biblical· Interpretive
7. 7Where do different Christian traditions disagree over the historicity or interpretation of Genesis 1–11?· Biblical· Interpretive
8. 8How should we distinguish biblical teaching, historical tradition, theological inference, and a person's claimed revelation or spiritual experience?· Biblical· Interpretive
9. 9Can a fictional portrayal ask a meaningful theological question without proposing that its answer is biblical fact?· Biblical
10. 10How can Christians disagree over Genesis while still treating one another with intellectual honesty and respect?· Biblical· Interpretive
11. 11What should a filmmaker do when a compelling dramatic idea conflicts with a particular reading of Scripture?· Biblical
12. 12What important question about Genesis or the Father's heart have we failed to ask?· Biblical