In Christianity, the Fall of Man, or simply the Fall, is believed to refer to the transition of the first humans from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience to God. In the origin stories of Christianity, the first humans, Adam and Eve, live at first with God in a paradise, but are then deceived or tempted by another creature to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil from which God had forbidden them to eat. After doing so, they become ashamed of their nakedness and God consequently expels them from paradise. The Fall is not mentioned by name in the Bible, but the story of disobedience and expulsion is recounted in both in different ways.
In other religions, such as Judaism, Islam, and Gnosticism interpretations of the Fall vary.
In Christianity, Fall of Man can refer to the wider theological inferences for all humankind drawn from Eve and Adam's sin, which was called original sin, such as the biblical teachings of Paul as recorded in Romans 5:12-19 and 1 Cor. 15:21-22. Some Christians believe the Fall corrupted the entire natural world, including human nature, causing people to be born into original sin, a state from which they cannot attain eternal life without the gracious intervention of God. Protestants hold that Jesus' death was a "ransom" by which man was made forever free from the sin acquired at the Fall, and other denominations believe that this act made it possible for man to be free without necessarily ensuring it.
The term "prelapsarian" refers to the sin-free state of humanity prior to the Fall. It is sometimes used in reference to sentimental recollections of a past time when conditions stood in sharp contrast to the present; this situation is called nostalgia.
From the Book of Genesis
In Genesis, the first book of the Jewish and Christian Bibles, God creates Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, in his own image. God places them in the Garden of Eden and forbids them to eat fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (often symbolized in European art and literature as an apple tree). A serpent persuades Eve to eat fruit from the forbidden tree. Eve shares the fruit with Adam and they immediately become ashamed of their nakedness.
Tradition labels the penalties assessed by God on Adam and Eve for their sin "curses"; however, the passages from Genesis explicitly curse only the serpent and the ground, not the man and the woman.
From the Quran
God announced to the angels that he would create a vicegerent (man) on the earth. The angels questioned this, wondering why God would create something with the capacity to disobey him
God then commanded the angels to prostrate (bow down) to Adam. The angels prostrated but Iblis (Satan, Devil), out of loyalty, refused to bow to anyone else but God. God cursed him because of his disobediance. Iblis sought respite and vowed to mislead Adam who was the cause of his disgrace. He misled Adam and his wife Eve to eat from a tree that was forbidden for them by God.
This disobedience displeased God and He ordered Adam and Eve to leave paradise and go to earth. God promised that the earth will be a dwelling place for them and their children a limited time (Until the Day of Judgment).
God warns men and women that they should not allow themselves to be deceived by Satan and fall into disobedience (disbelief, polytheism and sins) which will eventually lead them to Hell. If men and women obey God, they will lead a successful life on earth and will get paradise as a reward.
God punishes them by expelling them from the Garden of Eden. God's punishment extends to Adam and Eve's descendants, who must strive, suffer, and die.
The Qur'an Al-A'raf (The Elevated Places) verses 7:11-27 detail the story of the Fall.
Other traditions
In Gnosticism, the snake is thanked for bringing knowledge to Adam and Eve, and thereby freeing them from the Demiurge's control. The Demiurge banished Adam and Eve, because man was now a threat.
Ancient Greek mythology held that humanity was immortal during the Golden Age, until Prometheus brought them fire to help them live through cold. The gods punished humans allowing Pandora to release the evil (death, sorrow, plague) into the world due to her curiosity.
In classic Zoroastrianism, mankind is created to withstand the forces of decay and destruction through good thoughts, words and deeds. Failure to do so actively leads to misery for the individual and for his family. This is also the moral of many of the stories of the Shahnameh, the key text of Persian mythology
Interpretations
Judaism and Islam
Judaism and Islam interpret the account of the fall as being simply historical, Adam and Eve's disobedience would have already been known to God even before He created them, thus draw no particular theological implications for human nature. Quite simply, because of Adam's actions, he and his wife were removed from the garden, forced to work, suffer pain in childbirth, and die. However, even after expelling them from the garden, God provided that people who honor God and follow God's laws would be rewarded, while those who acted wrongly would be punished. Some Muslims believe that Adam and Eve were clothed in the Garden and stripped when they were expelled
Christianity interprets the fall in a number of ways.
Traditional Christian theology accepts the teaching of St Paul in his letter to the Romans"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and of St John's Gospel that "God so loved the world that he sent his only son (Jesus Christ) that whoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life"
The doctrine of original sin, as articulated by Saint Augustine's interpretation of Saint Paul, provides that the fall caused a fundamental change in human nature, so that all descendants of Adam are born in sin, and can only be redeemed by divine grace. Sacrifice was the only means by which humanity could be redeemed after the Fall. Jesus, who was without sin, died on the cross as the ultimate redemption for the sin of humankind.
One tradition within Christianity is that the serpent of Genesis was Satan.
Catholicism
Catholicism teaches that "the account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man."
Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of.
This first sin was "transmitted" by Adam and Eve to all of their descendants as original sin, causing humans to be "subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin." Baptism is considered to erase original sin, though the effects on human nature remain, and for this reason the Catholic Church baptizes even infants who have not committed any personal sin.[7]
Protestantism
* Among the teachings of Protestants John Calvin and Martin Luther were, in a variation and adaptation of the Pauline-Augustinian teaching, that God foresaw and predestined those who were to be redeemed by grace and those who were to be eternally condemned, thus giving humanity, in its sinful state, no real choice in spiritual matters, except to act at God's direction. (See Calvinism.) Calvinists (and others) holding this view are named Infralapsarians. Those who hold predestination to be superior to the Fall, and the creation, fall, and redemption to be part of God's eternal purpose are named Supralapsarians. (See supralapsarianism and infralapsarianism.)
* Some Protestants (including some of the above mentioned Lutheran and Calvinist groups) understand the account of "the fall" in Genesis 2 and 3 not as a historical-factual account of the origins of human sin, but rather as the narrative myth that the Israelite people used to express their recognition that man's relationship with God was broken, (a "myth" in the sense that the truth contained in the narrative does not depend upon its historical factuality). This view has the advantage of not conflicting with the evolutionary description of human origins, while preserving the traditional biblical idea of man's moral failure and need for redemption.
* Some more liberal Protestants [8] see the person and work of Jesus Christ as God's act to restore relationship, but tend not to view this restoration in terms of a sacrifice necessary for an unpaid debt.
Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy rejects the idea that the guilt of original sin is passed down through generations. It bases its teaching in part on a passage in Exodus saying a son is not guilty of the sins of his father. The church teaches that in addition to their conscience and tendency to do good, men and women are born with a tendency to sin due to the fallen condition of the world. It follows Maximus the Confessor and others in characterizing the change in human nature as the introduction of a "deliberative will" (θέλημα γνωμικόν) in opposition to the "natural will" (θέλημα φυσικόν) created by God which tends toward the good. Thus according to St Paul in his epistle to the Romans, non-Christians can still act according to their conscience. Nonetheless, as a consequence of Adam's sin, seen merely as the prototype (since human nature has been degraded) of all future sinners, each of whom, in repeating Adam’s sin, bears responsibility only for his own sins, humans became mortal. Adam's sin isn't comprehended only as disobedience to God's commandment, but as a change in man's hierarchy of values from theocentricism to anthropocentrism, driven by the object of his lust, outside of God, in this case the tree which was seen to be "good for food", and something "to be desired" (see also theosis, seeking union with God).
Pelagianism
Pelagianism rejects the doctrine of original sin entirely, holding that the fall did not permanently taint human nature, and that humans are therefore capable of choosing good even without divine aid.
In other religions, such as Judaism, Islam, and Gnosticism interpretations of the Fall vary.
In Christianity, Fall of Man can refer to the wider theological inferences for all humankind drawn from Eve and Adam's sin, which was called original sin, such as the biblical teachings of Paul as recorded in Romans 5:12-19 and 1 Cor. 15:21-22. Some Christians believe the Fall corrupted the entire natural world, including human nature, causing people to be born into original sin, a state from which they cannot attain eternal life without the gracious intervention of God. Protestants hold that Jesus' death was a "ransom" by which man was made forever free from the sin acquired at the Fall, and other denominations believe that this act made it possible for man to be free without necessarily ensuring it.
The term "prelapsarian" refers to the sin-free state of humanity prior to the Fall. It is sometimes used in reference to sentimental recollections of a past time when conditions stood in sharp contrast to the present; this situation is called nostalgia.
From the Book of Genesis
In Genesis, the first book of the Jewish and Christian Bibles, God creates Adam and Eve, the first man and woman, in his own image. God places them in the Garden of Eden and forbids them to eat fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (often symbolized in European art and literature as an apple tree). A serpent persuades Eve to eat fruit from the forbidden tree. Eve shares the fruit with Adam and they immediately become ashamed of their nakedness.
Tradition labels the penalties assessed by God on Adam and Eve for their sin "curses"; however, the passages from Genesis explicitly curse only the serpent and the ground, not the man and the woman.
From the Quran
God announced to the angels that he would create a vicegerent (man) on the earth. The angels questioned this, wondering why God would create something with the capacity to disobey him
God then commanded the angels to prostrate (bow down) to Adam. The angels prostrated but Iblis (Satan, Devil), out of loyalty, refused to bow to anyone else but God. God cursed him because of his disobediance. Iblis sought respite and vowed to mislead Adam who was the cause of his disgrace. He misled Adam and his wife Eve to eat from a tree that was forbidden for them by God.
This disobedience displeased God and He ordered Adam and Eve to leave paradise and go to earth. God promised that the earth will be a dwelling place for them and their children a limited time (Until the Day of Judgment).
God warns men and women that they should not allow themselves to be deceived by Satan and fall into disobedience (disbelief, polytheism and sins) which will eventually lead them to Hell. If men and women obey God, they will lead a successful life on earth and will get paradise as a reward.
God punishes them by expelling them from the Garden of Eden. God's punishment extends to Adam and Eve's descendants, who must strive, suffer, and die.
The Qur'an Al-A'raf (The Elevated Places) verses 7:11-27 detail the story of the Fall.
Other traditions
In Gnosticism, the snake is thanked for bringing knowledge to Adam and Eve, and thereby freeing them from the Demiurge's control. The Demiurge banished Adam and Eve, because man was now a threat.
Ancient Greek mythology held that humanity was immortal during the Golden Age, until Prometheus brought them fire to help them live through cold. The gods punished humans allowing Pandora to release the evil (death, sorrow, plague) into the world due to her curiosity.
In classic Zoroastrianism, mankind is created to withstand the forces of decay and destruction through good thoughts, words and deeds. Failure to do so actively leads to misery for the individual and for his family. This is also the moral of many of the stories of the Shahnameh, the key text of Persian mythology
Interpretations
Judaism and Islam
Judaism and Islam interpret the account of the fall as being simply historical, Adam and Eve's disobedience would have already been known to God even before He created them, thus draw no particular theological implications for human nature. Quite simply, because of Adam's actions, he and his wife were removed from the garden, forced to work, suffer pain in childbirth, and die. However, even after expelling them from the garden, God provided that people who honor God and follow God's laws would be rewarded, while those who acted wrongly would be punished. Some Muslims believe that Adam and Eve were clothed in the Garden and stripped when they were expelled
Christianity interprets the fall in a number of ways.
Traditional Christian theology accepts the teaching of St Paul in his letter to the Romans"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" and of St John's Gospel that "God so loved the world that he sent his only son (Jesus Christ) that whoever believes on him should not perish, but have everlasting life"
The doctrine of original sin, as articulated by Saint Augustine's interpretation of Saint Paul, provides that the fall caused a fundamental change in human nature, so that all descendants of Adam are born in sin, and can only be redeemed by divine grace. Sacrifice was the only means by which humanity could be redeemed after the Fall. Jesus, who was without sin, died on the cross as the ultimate redemption for the sin of humankind.
One tradition within Christianity is that the serpent of Genesis was Satan.
Catholicism
Catholicism teaches that "the account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man."
Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin consisted of.
This first sin was "transmitted" by Adam and Eve to all of their descendants as original sin, causing humans to be "subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin." Baptism is considered to erase original sin, though the effects on human nature remain, and for this reason the Catholic Church baptizes even infants who have not committed any personal sin.[7]
Protestantism
* Among the teachings of Protestants John Calvin and Martin Luther were, in a variation and adaptation of the Pauline-Augustinian teaching, that God foresaw and predestined those who were to be redeemed by grace and those who were to be eternally condemned, thus giving humanity, in its sinful state, no real choice in spiritual matters, except to act at God's direction. (See Calvinism.) Calvinists (and others) holding this view are named Infralapsarians. Those who hold predestination to be superior to the Fall, and the creation, fall, and redemption to be part of God's eternal purpose are named Supralapsarians. (See supralapsarianism and infralapsarianism.)
* Some Protestants (including some of the above mentioned Lutheran and Calvinist groups) understand the account of "the fall" in Genesis 2 and 3 not as a historical-factual account of the origins of human sin, but rather as the narrative myth that the Israelite people used to express their recognition that man's relationship with God was broken, (a "myth" in the sense that the truth contained in the narrative does not depend upon its historical factuality). This view has the advantage of not conflicting with the evolutionary description of human origins, while preserving the traditional biblical idea of man's moral failure and need for redemption.
* Some more liberal Protestants [8] see the person and work of Jesus Christ as God's act to restore relationship, but tend not to view this restoration in terms of a sacrifice necessary for an unpaid debt.
Eastern Orthodoxy
Eastern Orthodoxy rejects the idea that the guilt of original sin is passed down through generations. It bases its teaching in part on a passage in Exodus saying a son is not guilty of the sins of his father. The church teaches that in addition to their conscience and tendency to do good, men and women are born with a tendency to sin due to the fallen condition of the world. It follows Maximus the Confessor and others in characterizing the change in human nature as the introduction of a "deliberative will" (θέλημα γνωμικόν) in opposition to the "natural will" (θέλημα φυσικόν) created by God which tends toward the good. Thus according to St Paul in his epistle to the Romans, non-Christians can still act according to their conscience. Nonetheless, as a consequence of Adam's sin, seen merely as the prototype (since human nature has been degraded) of all future sinners, each of whom, in repeating Adam’s sin, bears responsibility only for his own sins, humans became mortal. Adam's sin isn't comprehended only as disobedience to God's commandment, but as a change in man's hierarchy of values from theocentricism to anthropocentrism, driven by the object of his lust, outside of God, in this case the tree which was seen to be "good for food", and something "to be desired" (see also theosis, seeking union with God).
Pelagianism
Pelagianism rejects the doctrine of original sin entirely, holding that the fall did not permanently taint human nature, and that humans are therefore capable of choosing good even without divine aid.
