Once upon a time, a wonderful, loving father sat his children down and told them that there was a cookie that tastes better than any other cookie. He then said that he actually had the cookie in the other room and would go get it. He came back, set the cookie down in front of them, and told them they could look at it, but they were not allowed to eat it. He did not tell them what would happen if they ate the cookie, just that it was the best cookie ever, and they were not allowed to eat it. Then he left. 

 

The children ate the cookie.

 

When he returned, the wonderful, loving father told them that they were very bad for eating the cookie he had left in front of them. He said that because they disobeyed, he now had to punish them for the rest of their lives, and after they died, he would have to raise them from the dead and punish them for eternity. Because they ate the cookie. 

 

He continued. He said that any children that they had would be getting the same punishment. He said that, since his children had eaten the cookie when told not to, that meant that all of their children would choose the same and would automatically be bad just like they were. He explained that all of their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren—on for all of their potential offspring, would get the same punishment starting as soon as they were born. 

 

He then said that he definitely had to punish them now and had to punish all of their children when they were born, but maybe they didn’t have to be punished again forever after he raised them from the dead. He said that maybe he could make a way for them to go to a happy place instead of a horrible place after he raised them back to life.   

 

He suggested that he would offer this option to their children and all of their offspring as well. All they had to do was be in the right place and the right time to hear a story that would sound completely unbelievable and would go against all of the known science and understanding about the universe, and believe it. 

 

The father was still angry though. He said that since they ate the cookie, he was going to stop talking with them or anyone else until after they died and he raised them from the dead. They would have to find the unbelievable story in a book some time in the future. He didn’t mention that there would be lots and lots of other books with lots and lots of other stories that promised the happy place rather than the horrible place, and that they had to guess the right one. 

 

Then he kicked them out of the house and never spoke with them again. Because they ate the cookie.