I would like to take this whole thing to its beginning. God created Adam, and Eve. He ordered them not to eat from the fruit of some tree. They ate, and he got upset. He is supposedly a forgiving god, but he would never let go of this one mistake. For thousands of years, he would not allow himself to "simply" forgive Adam and eve, or just don't blame their descendants for their mistake. So he sent his son to be killed on the cross in order to allow himself to forgive that historic mistake. It is a very puzzling and unusual logic. How a forgiving God is unable, or not willing to forgive one single mistake for thousands of years, and in the same time is NOW able to forgive millions of atrocities that are committed by all of us?
Please do not take offense of my question. It is very important for us to examine the entire picture. Moslems do not allow anybody to question things without throwing the label blasphemy at him, and so are the old Christians and Jews, however, let us rationally and dispassionately discuss this premise. Thanks.
I have considered this exact issue for awhile now and offer this perspective.
God created mankind (represented by Adam and Eve), with the ability to choose between good and evil.
In the first climatic test, the good is represented by God, Who lays out the one rule upon which Adam and Eve will determine their destiny. His opposition, the evil, is really represented by Adam and Eve's own selfish desires.
Note that, ... as their benefactor, God has gifted Adam and Eve with all that they, likely, could wholesomely desire, ... with the exception of the fruit of one tree in the garden. God even explained to them His reasoning for this restriction ... the fruit of the tree would kill them ... they would die in the day (from God's standpoint) that they ate of it.
Having set up the premise, He stands aside to allow mankind to choose ... will they choose the known good, or will they opt for the unknown possibile (and warned against) evil.
God, obviously, knows that Adam and Eve will, ultimately, choose poorly in the garden, and so, will, inevitably come to know evil ... firsthand ... by their own experience.
So they did ... in the first generation, their older son Cain killed his younger brother Abel.
We would suppose that such an experience would affect any person so as to move them from an affinity for evil to an affinity for good ... but such is not the case.
Some persons are, indeed, so affected by the suffering and sorrow brought into the world by evil that they do seek for the answer(s) to banishing such evil. I would venture that this is the segment of humanity which, ultimately, seeks for and finds God (Who proclaims Himself as the source of good in the universe).
Others are so twisted in their morality so as to revel and participate in the evil of their experience.
Still others are complacent concerning the evil which befalls others, and are only noticeably moved when evil directly affects them personally.
I would say that God has allowed this because it is His desire to glean from amongst the teeming descendants of Adam and Eve, individuals who will stand with Him for good in the universe.
He has allowed us (as mankind) to learn of the effects of good versus the effects of evil, both corporately and individually. Having such experiential knowledge, we can knowledgeably choose between one or the other.
Those who choose the good, God, ultimately, gleans to Himself, to live with Him.
Those who choose evil, or even choose to do nothing in the face of the evil that affects others, God allows to conclude their physical lives in the world which they have chosen.
I don't think that it is a matter of forgiveness. I believe that God forgives all those who truly love Him and who wish to be with Him.
The process of that forgiveness (how God works it out) may not be understood by all, but I believe that God willingly forgives His children, those that choose Him ... and love Him ... and love one another (which mandates our forgiveness of one another) ... even as we, ourselves, love our children. When they're not perfect, we may correct them, but we surely forgive them.
I believe that God does no less.Matthew 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:
15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Luke 11:11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?