₦airaland Forum

The Cosmic Plot Hole: Why the Story of Faith Feels So Complicated

​If you dig into the traditional story of creation and salvation, you eventually run into a wall of frustration. The narrative seems simple: humans break a rule in a garden, and launches a rescue mission. [/color] But the moment you ask logical questions, the story requires a massiv. e tower of theological "lore" to explain away its plot holes.
​Why did an all-powerful, all-loving God make it this complicated?

​The Broken Window and the 4,000-Year Wait
​If human history was fractured over a single act of disobedience, why didn’t God just say, "I forgive you" and move on?[color=#990000]
​Theology argues that true forgiveness isn't free, someone has to absorb the cost of the damage. To maintain perfect justice, God couldn't just wave a wand; He had to pay the debt Himself on the cross.
​But then comes the timing problem: Why wait 4,000 years to do it? Leaving generations of people in a spiritual holding cell (Hades) while waiting for the "perfect historical window" of Roman roads and Greek language feels agonizingly slow. To a skeptic, it looks like a human-made rationalization to fix a timeline glitch.

​The Heaven Paradox: Curing Free Will
​To justify human suffering, religion relies heavily on free will; the idea that genuine love requires a real choice to choose evil.
​But if Heaven is a place with no sin, does that mean free will is stripped away at the pearly gates?
​To fix this leak, philosophers argue that earthly freedom is broken, while heavenly freedom is perfected. In Heaven, you aren't a robot; you simply have such flawless clarity and fulfillment in the presence of God that choosing evil becomes completely unappealing.
​Earthly Freedom: The power to choose between good and evil.
Heavenly Freedom: The achievement of desiring only the good.

​The Ultimate Battle: Divine Foreknowledge
​Even if you accept the free will defense, you face the absolute boss battle of philosophy: If God knows everything, He saw the entire movie before hitting play.
​He knew the snake would talk, the fruit would be eaten, and millennia of atrocities would follow.[color=#990000][/color] Why go through with it?
​Theology claims a universe with free creatures who can love is fundamentally better than a universe of programmed robots, or that the Fall allowed God to display His ultimate attribute of mercy. But it still leaves a devastating question: Is the prize truly worth the price tag of human history?

​Where the System Shatters: Animal Suffering
​The free will shield works for human tragedy, until you look at a creature with no moral choice.
​Animals didn't eat any forbidden fruit. They cannot sin, and they don't participate in a cosmic drama of salvation. Yet, for hundreds of millions of years, innocent animals have endured disease, starvation, and the brutal reality of predation.
​If a human engineer designed a machine that required the agonizing friction of innocent parts just to function, we would call it a horror show. While theology scrambles to blame a corrupted natural order or the "package deal" of physics, But for the skeptic, animal suffering is often the definitive proof that the universe isn't a broken masterpiece undergoing a patient, divine restoration. Instead, it looks exactly like what evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins described: a universe of "pitiless indifference."

​The Verdict
​When you connect the dots, you are left at a crossroads. On one side is an intricate, mind-bending theological framework that views history as a patient, loving rescue mission. On the other side is pure, cold logic, the view that religion is an elaborate, evolving coping mechanism built to rationalize the chaotic suffering of a universe ruled by blind physics.
I'll love to get your views and contributions to this dilemma.
Shalom

Yorimichi:
​If human history was fractured over a single act of disobedience, why didn’t God just say, "I forgive you" and move on?

That single act of disobedience leads to a question that needs to be answered.

Who has the right to set standards for mankind: God or humans?

As simple as this question may sound majority of humans finds it really hard to answer!

MaxInDHouse:
That single act of disobedience leads to a question that needs to be answered.

Who has the right to set standards for mankind: God or humans?

As simple as this question may sound majority of humans finds it really hard to answer!

If the issue is simply who has the right to set standards, then why does forgiveness require generations of suffering, death, and punishment? A parent can establish rules, uphold authority, and still forgive a child without condemning their descendants. The question isn't whether God has the right to set standards; it's why an all-powerful God couldn't uphold those standards while also extending immediate mercy.

i have a different take outside of the two you provided.
whoever penned those stories in the bible never meant for the stories to be taken literally,
it is lazy mined people who are bereft of using their brain cells that fall on the sword of literal interpretation.
The people who originally owned the story do not see it as such.

God created a Man and A woman, at least that is what all the belief systems of the world says,

i believe what we should have done is sit down and figure out what being a man and a woman entails rather than complicate it with additional titles like 'christian'

Yorimichi:
If the issue is simply who has the right to set standards, then why does forgiveness require generations of suffering, death, and punishment?

Because billions are still in doubt as to who has the right to set standards it's a relatively few like one out of thousands is on God's side. That's why God allows for thousands of years to pass if any human government can bring lasting peace and security!

MaxInDHouse:
Because billions are still in doubt as to who has the right to set standards it's a relatively few like one out of thousands is on God's side. That's why God allows for thousands of years to pass if any human government can bring lasting peace and security!

That doesn't really answer the question. If God is omniscient, He already knew from the beginning that no human government would bring lasting peace. So what is being proven, and to whom?

Allowing thousands of years of war, disease, famine, oppression, and death to demonstrate a conclusion He already knew seems less like a lesson and more like unnecessary suffering. An all-powerful God could establish His right to set standards without billions of people paying the price for a point that He knew would be proven from the start.

And if the majority remain unconvinced after thousands of years, doesn't that raise questions about the effectiveness of the demonstration itself?

sonmvayina:
i have a different take outside of the two you provided.
whoever penned those stories in the bible never meant for the stories to be taken literally,
it is lazy mined people who are bereft of using their brain cells that fall on the sword of literal interpretation.
The people who originally owned the story do not see it as such.

God created a Man and A woman, at least that is what all the belief systems of the world says,

i believe what we should have done is sit down and figure out what being a man and a woman entails rather than complicate it with additional titles like 'christian'

Your take is quite an interesting one but if the story isn't meant to be taken literally, then what is the basis for doctrines like sin, the Fall, and the need for salvation?

And while understanding what it means to be human is important, that doesn't answer whether God exists, what morality is based on, or why suffering exists. Those questions remain either way.

Yorimichi:
If God is omniscient.

This is what presumption often leads to because the Bible God never claim to be Omniscient in fact He made it clear to all readers of His books that there are lots of things that shocks Him.

MaxInDHouse:
This is what presumption often leads to because the Bible God never claim to be Omniscient in fact He made it clear to all readers of His books that there are lots of things that shocks Him.

If God isn't omniscient, then that creates an even bigger problem for your argument. How can He be certain that His plan will succeed, that evil will ultimately be defeated, or that His future promises will come true?

You can't appeal to prophecy and God's ultimate victory while also claiming He doesn't know the future. At that point, God's success becomes a hope rather than a certainty.

Yorimichi:
If God isn't omniscient, then that creates an even bigger problem for your argument. How can He be certain that His plan will succeed, that evil will ultimately be defeated, or that His future promises will come true?
You can't appeal to prophecy and God's ultimate victory while also claiming He doesn't know the future. At that point, God's success becomes a hope rather than a certainty.

As the Creator of all things nobody can stop Him but when it comes to intelligent creatures He has given them freewill so they can choose to obey or disobey Him that is why He promised to destroy all opposers of His works! Psalms 37:7-11🙂

MaxInDHouse:
As the Creator of all things nobody can stop Him but when it comes to intelligent creatures He has given them freewill so they can choose to obey or disobey Him that is why He promised to destroy all opposers of His works! Psalms 37:7-11🙂

But that still doesn't explain why innocent beings suffer. You don't see it that way ? 😏

If suffering and death entered the world because humans misused their free will, why do animals suffer from disease, predation, starvation, parasites, natural disasters, and extinction? Animals didn't choose to disobey God, don't understand moral laws, and aren't moral agents.🫠

Why should creatures incapable of sin bear the consequences of a problem they didn't create?

Yorimichi:
But that still doesn't explain why innocent beings suffer. You don't see it that way ? 😏
If suffering and death entered the world because humans misused their free will, why do animals suffer from disease, predation, starvation, parasites, natural disasters, and extinction? Animals didn't choose to disobey God, don't understand moral laws, and aren't moral agents.🫠
Why should creatures incapable of sin bear the consequences of a problem they didn't create?

All the creatures were placed under the control of Adam (man) on planet earth so when the ground is cursed all living creatures on the planet suffers!


To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. ‭Genesis 3:17 NIV‬


From that moment the ground is filled with negative effects affecting everything on planet earth!

MaxInDHouse:
As the Creator of all things nobody can stop Him but when it comes to intelligent creatures He has given them freewill so they can choose to obey or disobey Him that is why He promised to destroy all opposers of His works! Psalms 37:7-11🙂

But isn't that the point I was making in the first place. If Man truly have free will and God is not omniscient, then how can He be certain that every one who opposes his will, will eventually be defeated and His plan will succeed? 🤷🏽

Either He already knows the future outcome, which implies foreknowledge, or He doesn't, in which case the future remains open and His victory is not guaranteed.

Also, if he truly isn't omniscient then how does he prophecy about the future and how is it so certain each and every one of his prophecies will surely come to pass 🤷🏽😏

MaxInDHouse:
All the creatures were placed under the control of Adam (man) on planet earth so when the ground is cursed all living creatures on the planet suffers!


To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. ‭Genesis 3:17 NIV‬


From that moment the ground is filled with negative effects affecting everything on planet earth!

Brotherly doesn't that seem cruel, inhumane and unjust I mean that still means innocent creatures are being punished for someone else's actions.

If a human ruler cursed an entire planet and caused billions of animals to suffer because of one person's mistake, we would call that unjust. Why should the same standard not apply to God?

And if God chose to curse the ground, then the suffering of animals is ultimately a result of God's decision, not the animals' actions. They had no free will in the matter, no understanding of the command, and no opportunity to choose differently.

Yorimichi:
Brotherly doesn't that seem cruel, inhumane and unjust I mean that still means innocent creatures are being punished for someone else's actions. If a human ruler cursed an entire planet and caused billions of animals to suffer because of one person's mistake, we would call that unjust. Why should the same standard not apply to God? And if God chose to curse the ground, then the suffering of animals is ultimately a result of God's decision, not the animals' actions. They had no free will in the matter, no understanding of the command, and no opportunity to choose differently.

The planet and everything on it was designed for the pleasure of Adam who is God's son {Luke 3:38} so from God's standpoint they are Adam's properties they don't have such value before God unlike their owner who is under punishment.
Read what God's heavenly Son uttered regarding other creatures:

"So have no fear; you are worth more than many sparrows" Matthew 10:31

So don't view any other creature as man because from God's standpoint they are just like man's properties! 🙂

Yorimichi:
Also, if he truly isn't omniscient then how does he prophecy about the future and how is it so certain each and every one of his prophecies will surely come to pass 🤷🏽😏

God has all the power to do whatever He wants what most people do get wrong about Him is His way of judging matters. He is not power drunk like humans who doesn't think before they act simply because they have the ability God thinks deeply before acting on issues.
All things both visible and invisible were created by Him {Revelation 4:11} so He can take away the energy sustaining them at will!

When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. ‭Psalms 104:29 NIV‬

MaxInDHouse:
God has all the power to do whatever He wants what most people do get wrong about Him is His way of judging matters. He is not power drunk like humans who doesn't think before they act simply because they have the ability God thinks deeply before acting on issues.
All things both visible and invisible were created by Him {Revelation 4:11} so He can take away the energy sustaining them at will!

When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust. ‭Psalms 104:29 NIV‬

Having the power to do something and being justified in doing it are two different questions.

I don't dispute that, according to the Bible, God can give life and take it away. The question is whether His actions are morally good. Saying "He created everything, therefore He can do whatever He wants" explains His authority, but it doesn't explain why innocent suffering is just.

If God thinks deeply before acting, then there must be a good reason for animals suffering, children dying, and entire populations enduring misery. Simply saying God has the power to do it doesn't answer why it is morally right for those who never chose the actions being punished.

MaxInDHouse:
The planet and everything on it was designed for the pleasure of Adam who is God's son {Luke 3:38} so from God's standpoint they are Adam's properties they don't have such value before God unlike their owner who is under punishment.
Read what God's heavenly Son uttered regarding other creatures:

"So have no fear; you are worth more than many sparrows" Matthew 10:31

So don't view any other creature as man because from God's standpoint they are just like man's properties! 🙂

That may explain the biblical perspective, but it doesn't solve the moral question.

If animals are merely property with little value, then why does the Bible repeatedly portray God as caring for them, feeding them, and taking notice of them? And if value is determined solely by ownership, does owning something make it morally acceptable to inflict suffering on it? 🤷🏽

More importantly, your argument seems to be shifting from "animals suffer because of Adam's sin" to "animals suffer because they don't matter as much." Those are two different explanations.

The question remains: if God is perfectly just and compassionate, why create sentient creatures capable of pain and then subject them to suffering for a punishment they neither chose nor understood?😏

Yorimichi:
If God thinks deeply before acting, then there must be a good reason for animals suffering, children dying, and entire populations enduring misery. Simply saying God has the power to do it doesn't answer why it is morally right for those who never chose the actions being punished.

From God's standpoint Adam is the only human being punished you and i are strangers to Him until we gain perfection then He will start dealing with each person according to his or her deeds. Today whatever happens to us is like Adam still suffering for what he brought upon himself. Romans 5:12
He promised to give each honest hearted and sincere individual a chance to live in Paradise for 1,000 years where there won't be death or suffering it's after the 1,000 years that God will start dealing with each of us as an individual but for now we are all children of the rebellious man Adam who deserves whatever happens to them!

MaxInDHouse:
From God's standpoint Adam is the only human being punished you and i are strangers to Him until we gain perfection then He will start dealing with each person according to his or her deeds. Today whatever happens to us is like Adam still suffering for what he brought upon himself. Romans 5:12
He promised to give each honest hearted and sincere individual a chance to live in Paradise for 1,000 years where there won't be death or suffering it's after the 1,000 years that God will start dealing with each of us as an individual but for now we are all children of the rebellious man Adam who deserves whatever happens to them!

That view raises a few questions. If God sees all humans merely as extensions of Adam's punishment until some future point, why does the Bible repeatedly speak of individuals being judged according to their own actions even now? For example, Ezekiel 18 explicitly says, "The son will not bear the guilt of the father."

Also, if people today "deserve whatever happens to them" simply because they descend from Adam, then suffering, disease, abuse, and the death of infants would be punishments inflicted on individuals who never personally chose Adam's rebellion. That seems difficult to reconcile with the idea of a just judge who does not punish children for their parents' sins.

Romans 5 does teach that Adam's sin affected humanity, but it does not necessarily follow that every tragedy that befalls a person is something they deserve. In fact, Jesus rejected that assumption when discussing victims of disasters and people born blind (Luke 13:1–5; John 9:1–3).

So the issue is whether inherited consequences are the same thing as deserved punishment. Those are not necessarily identical concepts.
Again how can you claim to understand the standpoint of god

Yorimichi:
That view raises a few questions. If God sees all humans merely as extensions of Adam's punishment until some future point, why does the Bible repeatedly speak of individuals being judged according to their own actions even now? For example, Ezekiel 18 explicitly says, "The son will not bear the guilt of the father."

When God brought the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land He told them that their wrongdoings will affect their children {Exodus 20:5} so wicked ones among them concluded that they will live anyhow they choose since it's their descendants that will pay for their blunders so God sent Ezekiel to correct their wrong thinking that each wicked person will be punished for his errors. What God meant initially is that when a person chooses to be evil his children will know and learn a lesson not to follow his footstep but when any of his children, grandchildren up to the fought generation chooses to follow his footstep then God will bring back the error of their great grandfather upon such one.

Yorimichi:
Also, if people today "deserve whatever happens to them" simply because they descend from Adam, then suffering, disease, abuse, and the death of infants would be punishments inflicted on individuals who never personally chose Adam's rebellion. That seems difficult to reconcile with the idea of a just judge who does not punish children for their parents' sins.

God is not punishing us for Adam's sin rather the curse brought upon the planet remains until God's Kingdom (government) begin. So until then the ground remain cursed

Yorimichi:
Romans 5 does teach that Adam's sin affected humanity, but it does not necessarily follow that every tragedy that befalls a person is something they deserve. In fact, Jesus rejected that assumption when discussing victims of disasters and people born blind (Luke 13:1–5; John 9:1–3).

Jesus answered the question based on what those people asked:
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, so that he was born blind?” John 9:3
It's Adamic sin which brought a curse upon the planet that's affecting us not the sin of our parents God only punishes a wicked person who chooses to follow the footstep of his wicked ancestor.

Yorimichi:
Again how can you claim to understand the standpoint of God?

A diligent study of the Bible explains it when God cursed the ground everyone is affected unless you are not living on this planet and the curse came as a result of Adam's rebellion.
So when God later promised to bless the planet {Psalms 67:6-7} He is talking about the time when His own government will reign in all the earth! Matthew 6:10

Note how the Psalmist put this words:

The earth will give its produce; God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, And all the ends of the earth will fear him. Psalms 67:6-7

By that time all inhabitants of planet earth would have come to know that it's wrong to choose humans as rulers over us! 1Samuel 8:10-18

Yorimichi:
But that still doesn't explain why innocent beings suffer. You don't see it that way ? 😏

If suffering and death entered the world because humans misused their free will, why do animals suffer from disease, predation, starvation, parasites, natural disasters, and extinction? Animals didn't choose to disobey God, don't understand moral laws, and aren't moral agents.🫠

Why should creatures incapable of sin bear the consequences of a problem they didn't create?

When did animals begin to "suffer" according to you?

Yorimichi:
​If human history was fractured over a single act of disobedience, why didn’t God just say, "I forgive you" and move on?[

Why do you break up with your girlfriend/wife when she cheats on you? And why did sack your driver who stole and tried selling your car? Why did you not simply say "i forgive you" and move on with them?

Dtruthspeaker:
Why do you break up with your girlfriend/wife when she cheats on you? And why did sack your driver who stole and tried selling your car? Why did you not simply say "i forgive you" and move on with them?

The difference is that I'm not claiming to be perfectly loving, perfectly just, all-wise, and all-powerful. He even command us to forgive seventy times seven times 😜

Humans often struggle to forgive because we're limited, emotional, and imperfect. God, on the other hand, is supposed to be the moral ideal.

And even when people end relationships or fire employees, they don't usually condemn billions of descendants who had nothing to do with the original offense. That's the part your analogy doesn't address.

Truthseeker10:
When did animals begin to "suffer" according to you?

Whenever animals first became capable of experiencing pain, fear, hunger, disease, injury, and distress.

But the timing isn't really the issue. The question is whether their suffering is justified. If animals are not moral agents and cannot sin, why should they suffer as a consequence of human actions at all?

MaxInDHouse:
When God brought the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land He told them that their wrongdoings will affect their children {Exodus 20:5} so wicked ones among them concluded that they will live anyhow they choose since it's their descendants that will pay for their blunders so God sent Ezekiel to correct their wrong thinking that each wicked person will be punished for his errors. What God meant initially is that when a person chooses to be evil his children will know and learn a lesson not to follow his footstep but when any of his children, grandchildren up to the fought generation chooses to follow his footstep then God will bring back the error of their great grandfather upon such one.

God is not punishing us for Adam's sin rather the curse brought upon the planet remains until God's Kingdom (government) begin. So until then the ground remain cursed

Jesus answered the question based on what those people asked:
“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, so that he was born blind?” John 9:3
It's Adamic sin which brought a curse upon the planet that's affecting us not the sin of our parents God only punishes a wicked person who chooses to follow the footstep of his wicked ancestor.

A diligent study of the Bible explains it when God cursed the ground everyone is affected unless you are not living on this planet and the curse came as a result of Adam's rebellion.
So when God later promised to bless the planet {Psalms 67:6-7} He is talking about the time when His own government will reign in all the earth! Matthew 6:10

Note how the Psalmist put this words:

The earth will give its produce; God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us, And all the ends of the earth will fear him. Psalms 67:6-7

By that time all inhabitants of planet earth would have come to know that it's wrong to choose humans as rulers over us! 1Samuel 8:10-18

It took me while to carefully read through all of your points so that I understand your interpretation, but points seems to raise as many questions as it answers.

Like If the curse is not a punishment on individuals, but merely a consequence of Adam's rebellion, then we're still left with innocent people, including infants babies, suffering and dying because of something they never chose. Whether we call it "punishment" or "consequence," the moral issue remains the same.

Regarding Ezekiel 18, your explanation is possible, but the chapter's main point is broader: God repeatedly emphasizes individual responsibility. That seems difficult to reconcile with the idea that all humanity continues to suffer because of a single ancestor's act thousands of years ago.

On John 9, Jesus did more than reject parental guilt. He explicitly rejected the assumption that the man's blindness was caused by someone's sin. That seems to push against the idea that every instance of suffering is traceable to personal wrongdoing.

And on the curse itself: if God imposed the curse and has the power to remove it, why allow it to continue for thousands of years? If the purpose is to prove that human rule fails, wouldn't an omniscient God already know that outcome? Why must billions of humans and countless animals suffer through the demonstration?

Finally, saying that everyone will eventually learn that human rulers fail doesn't fully address the original question. The issue isn't whether human governments are imperfect. The issue is why a just and loving God would choose a system in which untold suffering becomes the means of teaching that lesson. Hope this puts a lit on this.

Yorimichi:
Like If the curse is not a punishment on individuals, but merely a consequence of Adam's rebellion, then we're still left with innocent people, including infants babies, suffering and dying because of something they never chose. Whether we call it "punishment" or "consequence," the moral issue remains the same.

I have told you earlier that God doesn't know any of us until we choose to be His friend so whether adults or babies we are all enemies from God's standpoint {Psalms 51:1} we must love His standard or leave His planet! Ezekiel 18:31

Yorimichi:
Regarding Ezekiel 18, your explanation is possible, but the chapter's main point is broader: God repeatedly emphasizes individual responsibility. That seems difficult to reconcile with the idea that all humanity continues to suffer because of a single ancestor's act thousands of years ago.

Who will remove the suffering if we are not sure of what caused it?
So for God to remove it and see to it that this will never be repeated we must all agree never to try going back to what Adam did!

Yorimichi:
On John 9, Jesus did more than reject parental guilt. He explicitly rejected the assumption that the man's blindness was caused by someone's sin. That seems to push against the idea that every instance of suffering is traceable to personal wrongdoing.

God didn't inflict suffering rather it started from the day Adam and Eve turned their back on God so the solution lies with complete obedience to God through whatever means He chooses to redeem us.

Yorimichi:
And on the curse itself: if God imposed the curse and has the power to remove it, why allow it to continue for thousands of years? If the purpose is to prove that human rule fails, wouldn't an omniscient God already know that outcome? Why must billions of humans and countless animals suffer through the demonstration?

You keep on going back on what i have told you that God never claim to be Omniscient. The billions you are seeing are nothing but dust to God {Genesis 2:7} so it's after we have been redeemed that God will views us as His children. John 1:11-12

Yorimichi:
Finally, saying that everyone will eventually learn that human rulers fail doesn't fully address the original question. The issue isn't whether human governments are imperfect. The issue is why a just and loving God would choose a system in which untold suffering becomes the means of teaching that lesson. Hope this puts a lit on this.

Well God has set a time when He will put an end to all of these but until then we must humbly seek righteoness from God! Zephaniah 2:2-3

Yorimichi:
Your take is quite an interesting one but if the story isn't meant to be taken literally, then what is the basis for doctrines like sin, the Fall, and the need for salvation?

And while understanding what it means to be human is important, that doesn't answer whether God exists, what morality is based on, or why suffering exists. Those questions remain either way.

Those were invented for control. It is all for social engineering.

sonmvayina:
Those were invented for control. It is all for social engineering.

I'll really love to hear more about this cos that's certainly one possible explanation, but simply calling them inventions for social control doesn't demonstrate that they are false.

Many ideas can be used for social control, religious, political, and even secular ones. The real question is whether these doctrines emerged because people were trying to manipulate others, or because they were attempting to explain human nature, morality, suffering, and our sense that the world is not as it should be.

If you think they're inventions, what evidence convinces you that they were deliberately created for control rather than sincere attempts to answer those questions? I'll really love to hear more from you

Yorimichi:
I'll really love to hear more about this cos that's certainly one possible explanation, but simply calling them inventions for social control doesn't demonstrate that they are false.

Many ideas can be used for social control, religious, political, and even secular ones. The real question is whether these doctrines emerged because people were trying to manipulate others, or because they were attempting to explain human nature, morality, suffering, and our sense that the world is not as it should be.

If you think they're inventions, what evidence convinces you that they were deliberately created for control rather than sincere attempts to answer those questions? I'll really love to hear more from you

Constantine wanted a single religion for his empire. He knew that religion was what brought people together and people rarely fight during religious ceremonies. He invited all the religious leaders to Nicaea to fashion out a religion for his empire. They could either choose between Christianity or Mithrasm. They voted to go with Christianity. They spent the next days formulating it's creed. Simple.
Before them each society has its own codes that govern their society.
The Christians had to invent the ide of original skin and then then proceeded to create a solution for it...then Catholicism was born.
What was obtainable in the Jewish society was that sin was regarded as a personal thing. Your life was completely your responsibility. If you break any of the laws there are set down modalities for admitting you back into their society. Even in African society it was so...

Yorimichi:
Whenever animals first became capable of experiencing pain, fear, hunger, disease, injury, and distress.

But the timing isn't really the issue. The question is whether their suffering is justified. If animals are not moral agents and cannot sin, why should they suffer as a consequence of human actions at all?

Do You mean that animals started "suffering" as a consequence of human action?