If my POV that for most parts, especially in the early records
of Genesis is to be taken as an analogy or a parable, then that
conversation may not have taken place literally. If it is going to
interest you, I am not one of those who believe that creation took
place in 6-24 hr days.... but this is just my personal view. In any
case, I don't see it as holding a conflicting view of the Bible.
There are many parts of the Bible that is written as analogies and
Jesus Himself told many parables to illustrate specific points.
If u do not wanna take genesis literally, then how do u know
which part to treat seriously and which part u do not ? There r a
lot of fundamental issues which answers lies in genesis, such as
why there r sins etc. It seems too convenient to just take any part
of the genesis and view it seriously yet ignore certain part of it
if it seems outdated
This is simple. Punishment is something that someone inflicts
upon oneself, suffering is what one feels. Obviously, in many
cases, punishment can result to suffering. However one need to
understand that there are cases where there is suffering but no
punishment, and vice versa. At the end of the day, the individual
has to decide if he is suffering or not.
I am diabetic.... but am I suffering? Sure, from the figure of
speech, it can be said that "I am suffering from a disease", but in
my own mind, I am not suffering. I only happen to have a disease
and have come to terms with it and take care of my diet so that
this disease to not worsen. But am I suffering, of course
not.
My definition of suffering is different, from
dictionary.com
suffering: the state of a person or thing that suffers
suffer: To tolerate or endure evil, injury, pain,
or death
In short, suffering is not only mental. There is a physical
element to suffering as well. In the sense from genesis,
god implement the physical trait of suffering (work, sick, death)
and these lead to suffering. Without these physical traits, there
is no suffering. From your example
I am diabetic.... but am I suffering?
Yes, u r suffering. U just cope wih suffering but tat doesn't make
suffering lesser. U still has to undergo the pain of injections and
control of diet. And tis suffering has a physical trait to it. U
got a sickness and tat is why u suffer. Even from a common usage of
the word in the sentence "John is suffering from diabetes" has nothing
to do with his mental readiness, but only physical
attributes.
Punishment.... say I am not happy with my son's results and I
punish him by not allowing him to watch TV. In the meantime, he
finds other things to do... did he suffer? No.....!
I think tis example is not wat the true question really lies. It
is on whether does god create suffering or not. From the bible, it
really is. God invent suffering as a punishment. And for your
example, real punishment means u wanna inflict some suffering to
tis person who u wanna punish. In your case, your son have
restricted freedom of action and he is really suffering from it. If
he do't really care about watching TV, then u r not punishing him
at all 
It is just tat u view suffering as something tat must be
catastrophic. Minor form of punishment still result in suffering,
but it just seems trivial to u.
Secondly, in the passage which u quote earlier, the crux of it is
to state tat the punishment god give to men is suffering. Tat
specific punishment is suffering. It is not saying
all punishment=suffering, but tat
particular punishment is suffering.
But let's take a step back, we cut ourself, we bleed. So we can
also say that God created the bleeding. Or if I spill my coffee
now, I'd screw up my keyboard, and again hold God responsible for
my damaged laptop.... it this a fair game?
Yup, God created the whole infrastructure of spaceship earth. He
created consequences, but we are responsible for the consequences,
not Him....
Lets not say whether do we deserve it or not. Is not about
consequences etc. It is only about who invent and implement
suffering. Did adam invent out suffering and implement it on
himself ? He did not do tat because he is powerless to do tat. He
cannot create death or sickness etc. He cannot even imagine wat is
death. And he is no idiot to implement it on himself. Then is it
god tat invent and create suffering ? Well, obviously it seems tat
he is the one tat come out with suffering. He comes out with the
physcal traits of suffering and cursed men to it. He really shout
out the words himself on his curse. Only with the presence of
physical traits of suffering, then exists suffering. It is not
about consequences, it is not about whether does men deserve it or
not, it is only who create suffering. From the bible, god create
suffering.
