<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"]how can God have ordained the Fall, but not intended it?</font><hr></blockquote><p> God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established (WCF 3:1)… After God had made all other creatures, He created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after His own image, having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfill it: and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject unto change. Beside this law written in their hearts, they received a command, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which while they kept, they were happy in their communion with God,and had dominion over the creatures (WCF 4:2). Thus God meant to ordain the fall, but yet without responsibility for ANY sin, thus it happened the way Gen 3 portrays, by man and his "free" will (agency is a better term) taking a sinful action against God.<br><br>Though answered above, you may further ask WHY did God desire for there to be a fall? (1) Adam and Eve were created perfect (2) they walked with God in the garden (3) and, they walked in a covenant of works from the beginning (4) but, does the covenant of works and the perfect world display the full range of God’s nature? How is God to be more fully glorified if His nature is not more fully put on display? Someone asked me once to think about this statement: Is grace greater than the very act of creation itself? Which is the greater act on God’s part and more fully displays all His attributes/nature? <br><br>We must realize that God is love. Adam and Eve, though they walked with God, never experienced the full range of God’s nature until after the Fall (no greater love hath a man than this that he lay down his life for another….and neither could mankind experience all of God's nature....) thus, for mankind to understand the love of God he had to understand more of the full range of God’s nature: God is love, but also holy and thus, just. Man had to fall, so grace could be revealed. <br><br><blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>[color:"blue"] Since God created (or in some cases allowed) everything that has happened, is happening, and will happen, how can God not have intended for man to fall? Does he, say, have all the possibilities mapped out, and if we do this then this happens (cause and effect)?</font><hr></blockquote><p> There is only one possibility of what does/will happen, not multiple and God is completely sovereign in all; thus may without violating His control of things or violating man’s free agency, foreordain only one possibility and it come to pass to accomplish the counsel of His will.<br><br>You may enjoy this thread on infralapsarian and supralapsarian and read this article Infra-Supra. Also read the article Double of Predestination

Reformed and Always Reforming,