Hi Acubed. Some really good questions, it's great to see someone actually thinking these things through and looking for answers.
If God is omnipotent why would he need to ask people things (Adam for example) or test people's faith?
You are right that God knows ahead of us what we will do, and what we will say even before it is a word on our lips (Psalm 139).
However God allows testings of our faith because it produces endurance and character. Romans 5:3-4 says: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” James chapter 1 tells us that we should "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
You know when you've met someone who has really suffered in life? They often have a deep, inner beauty that is very attractive and admirable. Sometimes suffering, horrible though it is to endure, produces really good fruit. The bible calls being tested "refined" and "tried by fire", which is just like gold being put in the furnace to remove the impurities, so your refined gold is pure gold. Isaiah 48 says "See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."
It also shows whether a church is real or not: Revelation 2:2-3 says, “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.“ Here, the testing proves the person's salt, so to speak.
If he does love us, again why test the faith?
Sometimes we see our trials as God hating us, but actually He uses them to turn around for our good. We just don't always see that, or at least not until a long way down the road, long after the trial has been and gone. But, for example, I've been through some trials, and some I can see why they happened, and I know I am a better person for it. People have even been helped because of it. But there are also some trials I've had that remain a mystery to me, and perhaps will until I meet Him face-to-face. Thats where faith comes in: its about trusting that God knows what he's doing, and is doing what he knows (even though we don't always).
This leads on to: if the bible is the true word of God, why would he go out of his way to get things wrong - for example saying that there are two lights on the sky which go around the earth. Surely god could have told us the earth goes round the sun. It's like he's going out of his way to convince people the things written are not true.
Which bible verse do you speak of? The ones I find support what we know:
Two words sprint to mind: urban legend. People do like to twist the bible and it's meaning, so you need to see the context carefully. For example, the bible speaks of the sun rising and setting, but we still speak of that today, yet we all know that is the appearance it has, rather than the actual journey. Likewise, the bible talks of the "four corners of the earth", meaning all directions: North, South, East and West. It can't be twisted to mean the bible is saying the earth is flat, because it isn't. You could just as easily extrapolate that to maps with a little compass symbol on the side. The map writer isn't saying the earth is flat, but is trying to show you directions more easily.
Does anyone's know Of any creation stories which say the earth is round and orbits the sun?
Job explains that the earth is suspended in space (Job 26) and that the 'heavens' fix their rule over the earth (Job 38).
The thing is, the bible isn't a book about astronomy, though it has some parts thrown in here and there; it is a book about the lifespan of humanity and where we fit with God. It is a book about our sin making a wall between us and God, and Jesus knocking that wall down so we can have full and confident access to God. It is about the message of trusting God rather than ourselves, or any false teaching.
Forgot one! For those (the minority I know) who believe pain in pregnancy and childbirth is down to eve, why did Jesus dying not absolve this sin?
Jesus dying absolved all sins, for all time, and for ever.
But the consequences of sin remain. We see people still sinning alls round us, and even those who come to God for forgiveness, battle with sin each day.
When Eve sinned, the perfect earth was no long perfect, and that's when sickness, death, sorrow and suffering came into the world. Before the introduction of sin (and it's consequences, life in the garden was perfect.
But that's not the end of the story! God promises in heaven there will be no more sorrow of dying, or crying. None at all. It will all be over and new.
Also who did Cain and Abel reproduce with?!
The same way evolutionists believe the cavemen reproduced; with the females around them.
Don't forget, they lived much longer than we do today, and had far more children than we have in the modern time. They would have bred like rabbits to start with! But the gene pool would be much more pure at the start, so less physical problems with marrying a half sister or a cousin and the like.
I was just with a catholic friend who was saying the bible is more a tool to help you understand god, would you agree?
Yes and no. Yes in the sense that the bible is useful to learn about God; his ways, his thoughts, his rules, his love, his dealings with mankind, but its not JUST that. Its the living word, the inspired word of God, and is like a two-edged sword, it cuts to the bone and is an incredible book.