“Why don’t He want to? Doesn’t He want everybody to be happy?”
It appeared He did, but there were difficulties in the way. Men and women were wicked—were born wicked: that was the trouble.
“But why were we born wicked?” persisted the child. “Didn’t God make us?”
“Of course He made us. God made everything.”
“Why didn’t He make us good?”
It seemed He had made us good. Adam and Eve were both quite good, in the beginning. If only they had remained good—hadn’t disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit we might all of us have been good and happy to this day.
“He was the first man, wasn’t he—Adam?” demanded the child.
“Yes. God made him out of the earth. And saw that he was good.”
“How long ago would that be?” he asked.
His aunt was not sure of the exact date. Along time ago.