Ah, the eternal question of the "Problem of Evil." There's a reason why 2,000 years of theologians have called it the "problem" of evil, it's a very difficult question to answer. But there is an answer, and depending on where you come down on the predestination issue, you may have a different idea of what the answer is. What you propose, God knows an all our possible responses and has a contingency plan for each is a common idea held by hard-core Arminians that emphasize that man's will is totally free, and God is sovereign only as long as He doesn't interfere with the absolute freedom of man. (Obviously, I've worded that in a heavily bias way) I'm not one of these.<br><br>I agree with what's been said here, that God in fact DID intend for the fall to happen. I think you've backed yourself into a corner with a false dichotomy. He must have intended it because He knew it was going to happen even before He said "Let there be light." He put that tree there knowing they would eat it; He told them not to eat it knowing that they would, and He allowed the serpent to tempt Eve while He watched and did nothing. If He didn't intend it to happen, He could have stopped it at any time. Does that make Him responsible? No. He didn't force them to eat of the fruit; they decided to eat it of their own free will. God cannot be the author of evil because He has no evil within Him. The best definition of evil that I've heard was simply that evil is the absence of God, in the same way that darkness is the absence of light. Since God cannot be an absence of Himself, He cannot create evil. However, He can create other creatures with free wills that give them the capacity to create evil for themselves.<br><br>Why did God allow it? Ah, now that's a much bigger question, and perhaps beyond the scope of your question. Any time you ask "Why" you go up a whole level of abstract-itiude. :-) But briefly I believe that the greater good and the greater glorification of God has been served by all of redemptive history that has happened in the wake of the fall than might have happened had Adam and Eve simply lived forever in the garden without a care in the world.<br>
