The Bible Book

33

it and gives some to Adam.

Immediately, the couple see that

they are naked. Ashamed, they

sew fig leaves together to cover

themselves and hide. Later, Adam

admits to eating the fruit but

blames Eve: “She gave me some

fruit from the tree, and I ate it”

(3:12). Eve passes on responsibility

too: “The snake deceived me, and

I ate” (3:13).

God’s punishments are swift

and severe. He condemns the

serpent to crawl and eat dust for

the rest of its life. Eve is told she

will suffer excruciating pain in

childbirth and be ruled by her

husband. Cursing the ground from

which Adam was made, God tells

Adam he must forever toil before

he can eat. Finally, God expels

Adam from the garden—Eve leaves

with him—and places cherubim

(angelic hybrid creatures) and a

flaming sword on the east side

of Eden to keep them out.

The creation of death

It soon becomes clear that there is

a price for gaining wisdom—pain,

toil, scarcity, fear, and suffering.

Denied access to fruit from the

Tree of Life, humans are now

mortal and will die. As God informs

Adam, “For dust you are and to

dust you will return” (3:19). Cast

adrift, humankind is now in

constant danger from the evil

within themselves and from others.

Humankind and free will

In Christian thought, a sinful act

is a deliberate action, attitude, or

thought against God. This includes

things that are done but should

not be (sins of commission) and

those that are not done but should

be (sins of omission). The fact

that all choices are open to sin

takes humankind down a path of

perpetual wrongdoing, frequently

referred to in the Bible as “slavery.”

For Christians, the exercise of

free will is central to the story of

the Fall. Adam and Eve’s actions

show that human beings have the

freedom to make poor choices,

but there is a price to pay. Up to

this point, Adam and Eve have

chosen to obey God. In the face

of temptation, they make unwise

choices that have catastrophic

results. God insists that the couple

face up to what they have done—

with every exercise of free will

comes a consequence (desirable

or not) for which responsibility

must be taken.

Theologians have long

been occupied by the matter

of theological fatalism, or the

incompatibility between the

concepts of free will and God’s

omniscience. If people can choose,

how can God foresee their choices?

Judaism accepts this as a paradox

beyond human understanding,

believing that God exists outside

of time. His knowledge of the past,

present, and future does ❯❯

See also: Sodom and Gomorrah 48–49 ■ David and Bathsheba 118–19 ■

The Crucifixion 258–65 ■ Salvation through Faith 301

GENESIS

The serpent descends from the

Tree of the Knowledge of Good

and Evil to tempt Eve in the

defining moment of the Fall. For

its part in the catastrophe, the

serpent is cursed above all

livestock and all wild animals.

The role of the serpent

No one knows why the crafty

serpent is chosen to tempt

Eve into disobedience. Unlike

most animals in the Bible, it

is able to talk, implying that

it is more intelligent than

other animals. Whispering

into Eve’s ear in Genesis 3:5,

it causes her to doubt God.

The Genesis account does not

mention Satan, although the

wily serpent is seen within

Christianity (but not Judaism)

as the devil or his mouthpiece.

Satan is later specifically

alluded to in Revelation 20:2

as “that ancient snake, who

is the devil, or Satan ...”

Snakes are not always

represented as evil entities

in the Bible. They are also

seen as strong, courageous

creatures. For example,

Moses’s staff turns into a

snake on his command

(Exodus 4:3) and God asks him

to make a statue of a serpent

with the power to heal snake

bites (Numbers 21:8).

By the sweat of your

brow you will eat

your food until you

return to the ground.

Genesis 3:19

US_030-035_The_Fall.indd 33 21/09/17 11:25 am