What "Ishmael" could have been

I recently read a plot summary for a philosophical novel titled Ishmael.  I view the book (or summary I guess) as flawed and I do not agree with all of its ideas because I view it through the lens of the Gospel.  Nevertheless, the following is a collection of some of the things that the author said, but has been altered (and very much so) by me.  It is quite clear that the Gospel changes Daniel Quinn's story drastically.

The fall of man.  The fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil provides God with the knowledge of who shall live and who shall die--knowledge which He needs to rule the world (so says Quinn).  The fruit only nourishes God though (another Quinn idea).  If man were to eat from this tree, he might think that he gains God's wisdom (without actually doing so) and consequently destroy the world himself through his arrogance.  Thus, we are familiar with the warning that man must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or he will certainly die.  Despite prior warning, we, man, rendered ourselves above the laws governing life.  Having ate the fruit, we decided that we should be God, that we know better than Him.

We produce enormous food surpluses, which allows us to thwart God.  We decide when we should go hungry and when we should eat!  "When you have more food than you need, then God has no power over you"-- this is what man thinks.  So we declare that we are "those who know good and evil".  Meaning, we think that we rule the world.  We try to take the place of God, never realizing that it is better to live in His hand than to die.  Man thinks "the world belongs to man" but really man should declare "man belongs to God".

Man thought the world was made for them and that man is here to conquer and rule the world.  Man thought that they could bring about paradise this way (and remember: direction, not intention, determines destination).  But we forget: paradise was already given.  By attempting to create our own paradise, we have not accomplished it.  Man, actually sent himself out of paradise in attempt to make his own better paradise.  Man, no matter how hard he labors to save the world, is just going to go on defiling and spoiling it. 

Reconciliation is the only answer.  Jesus bridged that gap.  God went from paradise to our rotting land in order to bring us back to paradise.  Our searching will never amount to anything without Jesus, our Guide.  Our purpose, thus our joy and fulfillment, will never be found when we are out of place.  This is why we are never satisfied.  We must live once again in God's hand, a place in which we don't often see as appealing because we humans love to be in control.  We must realize that all other destinations are imperfect and fleeting.  Our only hope and true, lasting pleasure is found simply where God is.  When we embrace Jesus and what He has done, only then can we stand in undeserved privilege, confidently rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.