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Consequences of the Fall

Genesis 3

Theologically, the main consequence of the fall is tied to the doctrine of federal headship. Stated simply, in the words of the Puritan primers, "In Adam's fall, we sinned all." The argument is that all humans now have a "sin nature" inherited from Adam. It is this theological argument, more than any other, that lies behind the conservative evangelical insistence on a literal, historical Adam and Eve. The argument is most clearly stated in John Calvin's theology (see "The Development of a Rational Faith" in Views of Mythology: Apostolic Period to the 18th Century. Death also enters the world through their disobedience although their deaths are delayed.

As a consequence of the fall, the relationship between Adam and Eve is broken. Adam was told not to eat from the tree of knowledge. The story does not explain how Eve knew, but she is familiar with the prohibition when the serpent mentions it. Eve is persuaded by the serpent's argument, eats the fruit, and gives to her husband to eat. However, it is not until Adam eats that their eyes were opened, making them aware of their nakedness (Genesis 3: 4-7). Adam's error is in listening to his wife instead of the command of God. When God confronts them, Adam blames Eve for his disobedience, but God reminds him that the error is his, Adam's, for listening to his wife's counsel instead of listening to God. Eve, meanwhile, listened to the serpent instead of listening to her husband. For that reason, God establishes the hierarchy of God-man-woman. The curse on Eve--thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee--is seen as a consequence of her being deceived. The Bible makes it clear that Adam was not deceived. The implication is that women lack the judgement of men and should, therefore, be subject to men. Paul is fairly clear in his teaching that women are to be subordinate to men. He uses the story in Genesis as support for his view, which has been a problem for the modern church, which has struggled with the role of women.

I Corinthians 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
I Corinthians 14:35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

I Timothy 2:11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
I Timothy. 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
I Timothy. 2:13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
I Timothy. 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
I Timothy. 2:15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

When Women's Rights emerged during the 1960's, many women felt the church was too patriarchal and denied the equality of women. As a result, there developed a new interest in the old earth goddess religions, with the consequence that many women joined beliefs like Wicca. In the teachings of the Latter Day Saints, Eve, as the last creative work of God, is the highest creation of God.

Prior to the fall, humans were commanded to fill the earth but, as a result of their disobedience, they are cursed in doing so, woman with pain in childbirth and placed in submission to her husband, man with hard labor until he dies (This is the reason the curse took this particular form--Have children, but now there will be consequences). Eve is given a promise that there is war (enmity) between her seed and the serpent (although the story does not explain what that means). Animals are sacrificed to clothe Adam and Eve (scholars might argue this is a substitutionary death that occurs immediately while their own deaths as punishment will come much later--but that is an interpretation--the story does not explain). God declares Adam and Eve are like "us" (the gods? god and the angels? the Trinity?--the word "us" is undefined. Interpreters have been divided, and most suggestions are based on later "revelation" and probably are not what the people who first read the story understood), but Adam and Eve are banned from the garden and denied eternal life (In other words, humans are banned from eating from the tree of life because, now having the knowledge of good and evil, also having immortality would make them equal to "us," whoever "us" refers to). One suggestion is that "us" refers to the Trinity--this is the view most accepted by conservative Christianity, but certainly, could not have been the view of the writer of Genesis. A second view is that "us" refers to God and the angels. The problem here is that it equates God and the angels, at least with regard to knowledge and eternal life. A third possibility, and the most reasonable literal reading of the verses, is that God is suggesting there are other gods. This, of course, to a monotheist, is heresy, so polytheism (many gods) is rejected. What fits closest to a literal interpretation (multiple gods) and fits logically with the beliefs of Christianity is interpreting this as a reference to the Trinity (In Judaism, the most logical explanation is that it is a reference to God and the angels). Notice, however, that each interpretation is an attempt to explain what the story itself does not explain.

A common image in myth is the one tree, the axis mundi (literally, the axis of the world, like the North/South pole), the center of the world around which all of the universe is ordered. The one tree is not a symbol of darkness. It represents life and light, immortality and knowledge. Unlike other stories about the one tree, which is a tree of light and life, in Genesis, the one tree, the axis mundi, becomes two trees--the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (a tree of enlightenment, metaphorically, a tree of light. This is evident in what the serpent has to say about the value in eating of the fruit of the tree). The issue in Genesis is not whether the tree is evil but that, in eating from the tree, Adam and Eve disobeyed God. By dividing the axis mundi, the tree of light and life into two trees, humans end up with a choice about what the world would be oriented around, Light (Knowledge) or Life (Immortality). By disobeying God and choosing the tree of light (knowledge of good and evil), Adam and Eve (and all humanity) are barred access to the tree of life. This choice helps explain the ambiguous attitude we see in our culture toward education. For instance, people believe

That ambiguous attitude toward education also helps explain why we are falling behind other countries in the quality of our K-12 education, why colleges and universities are villified as representing "liberal leftist" indoctrination, why people are disinterested in supporting public education through their taxes, and the growth of private schooling and voucher systems. How often have people suggested that "liberal schools" are destroying the faith of the youth of America? It is this same attitude behind the recent splurge of book banning in the United States.

The Implications of Two Axis Mundi

The axis mundi or center of the world, the point connecting all things often appears as a tree, a mountain, or a city. The One Tree is often seen as an axis mundi (axis of the world), around which everything revolves. By dividing the one tree of light and life into two trees in Genesis, humans are faced with the test of choosing between light and life. This is a unique situation. Yggdrasil in Norse mythology is the One Tree connecting all of the worlds. In the Iroquois creation myth "Out of the Blue," the tree of life/tree of light is a single tree, an axis mundi that is the source of life and light (Stifler 77-83). In Genesis, the One Tree becomes Two: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (light) and the tree of life. Humans,in Genesis, only have access to the tree of life. By disobeying God and eating from the tree of light (tree of the knowledge of good and evil), humans are denied access to the tree of life.

In Judaism, Mount Sinai and Jerusalem, and especially Solomon's Temple, serve as axis mundi. For Christianity, Christ (the life and the light), the cross (the tree on which Christ was crucified), Mount Calvary (the mountain on which Christ was crucified), and Jerusalem (the City of God) all serve as axis mundi as does Rome for Catholics. For Islam, Mecca is an axis mundi, which is why Muslims pray facing Mecca. The Christmas tree is also a tree of light and life. That's why we use an evergreen and put lights on it. The birth of the Christ child, who will save the world, is symbolically represented by the Christmas tree that brings life and light into the dead of winter.

The result of having the axis mundi divided between two trees in Genesis allows humans access to divine knowledge while denying immortality. Because humans chose divine knowledge in disobedience to God's command, the desire for knowledge is seen as negative, rather than positive. However, in Christ, who is both the light and the life of the world (the axis mundi), humans once again are offered access to the axis mundi, now unified in Christ. The Christian School movement, although initially a reaction to desegregation, eventually justified its existence as a means of protecting faith while providing a "Christ-centered" education. In the New Testament, Christ restores the balance between light and life in his own person. Note the significance of John 3:16 in this context, where Christ, the Rabbi and Great Teacher, tells Nicodemus that Christ had come to give everlasting life (immortality).

The Denial of Immortality

Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Genesis 3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Genesis 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

If Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree of life as well, the story says they would have lived forever and been just like God, just as the serpent said. This ability to give humans eternal life, in the story, is innate to the tree, making the tree miraculous. Since this idea of a magical tree is incompatible with reason and rationality, conservative Christianity rejects that idea for a more rational explanation even though that explanation may not be what the story actually says. Humans are prevented from eating from the Tree of Life--if they do, they will live forever (as if the tree of itself gives eternal life). Conservative evangelicals interpret the story so that there is not a talking snake nor a magical tree. The typical, logical argument by Christian conservatives is that the act of rebellion that would occur if humans ate from the Tree of Life ("God says I will die, but I'll fool him by eating from this tree) would forever bar humans from salvation, so Adam and Eve are prevented from taking that action. Notice, however, that nothing in the story states such an interpretation. Theology provides a rational, extra-textual interpretation to avoid the implications of the literal text. Note: Most people assume that Adam and Eve are driven from the Garden of Eden because of their disobedience, but this is not what the story says. They are expelled from the Garden to prevent them becoming immortal. In the Bible, the tree of life is seen again in Revelation:

Revelations 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Revelations 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Revelations 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Through the actions of Christ, in the New Heavens and New Earth, humans are restored to immortality.

Aside: The image of the axis mundi also appears in literary works. In The Fifth Element, Leeloo (Milla Jovovich) represents the axis mundi. Early in the story, we are told that her DNA includes all of the complexity of life (representing the tree of life), and, in repelling the Ultimate Evil, Leeloo releases a beam of light (representing the tree of light) that destroys that cosmic evil. Note, too, that Leeloo, overwhelmed by the evil of the world as she is exposed to the vicissitudes of war, is able to overcome that through Love as Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) declares his love for her, restoring the balance of male and female, the yin/yang.

Dominion Over the Earth

Christianity and Western Civilization historically have interpreted this to mean that the earth belongs to humans to do with as they please and that human lives matter more than the lives of any other creature. As a result of that idea, Western humans have engaged in the wholesale slaughter of animals as in the destruction of the buffalo in the U.S. West and have used this idea to support things like animal testing, strip mining, and so on. In more recent years, with the rise of the ecological movement, there has been a parallel movement in Christianity to see "dominion" as meaning "stewardship," redefining human attitudes toward the environment although the original word translated as dominion in Genesis 1 means subjugate (literally, tread on). However, there has also been resistence to ecological efforts, spearheaded by some in the conservative evangelical movement, decrying efforts toward conservation, whether solar and wind energy or electric cars.

The conservative evangelical interpretation of Genesis continues to have far-reaching influence on contemporary Christianity as well as political policy in the United States.

Sources

King James Bible. eSword. Software. Rick Meyers. 14.1.0. 2000-2024.

Stifler, Bill, ed. Mythology: Reading Myth by the River. Create, McGraw Hill, 2021.