Sarah’s Blog Post:
The Garden of Eden with the Fall of Man (1617)
by Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Elder
Original Sin: why was it introduced in the first place? Did God create the human condition knowing man would sin or did God create man with the intention of only good and then evil was introduced unknowingly? Genesis reveals how man came to be in his sinful state alongside free will. Sin and free will were introduced in this creation story hand in hand; it was through free will and choice that sin was introduced into this world.
Based off of the text in Genesis original sin and the concept of evil were presented by God purposefully and strategically. God gave the decision to Adam and Eve and they did have free will, but God did know that it was going to end in sin. The concept of sin is brought about through the introduction of free choice. Had God not given man the ability to choose to eat the fruit, then sin would not have existed. God decisively allowed man to make a decision regarding the tree of knowledge and it was through that decision that sin and ultimately “evil” became part of humanity.
This is a complicated notion because how is it that “God created the human in his image” (p.159), but man has the ability to sin? This implies that god, and therefore humans, are not perfect, god, and therefore man, can be evil, and god, and therefore we, can make mistakes. I find this interesting because God could have created Adam and Eve with the ability to not sin and since God is all-powerful, He could have done it so it wouldn’t influence our free will. If God didn’t want sin to exist, then Adam and Eve wouldn’t have had a choice about eating the fruit. It is evident from this account that God did want there to be sin in the world and the only way for sin to come about was by giving man free will. I don’t think this means humans are inherently evil. Rather, each human has the ability to choose a good or evil path and creates and forms his or her own moral character out of his or her own free will. This story elucidates an important concept in the human world. Free will is both a blessing and a curse. It can be a wonderful thing if used correctly, but it can also lead to one’s failure and this story demonstrates the risks that come along with having free choice.
Great insight Sarah! I think you made an excellent interpretation about how free will and sin go hand in hand. There are infinite choices we can make at any point in time, but ultimately, like you said, there are two paths one can take, good or evil. In the third paragraph you said, “I find this interesting because God could have created Adam and Eve with the ability to not sin and since God is all-powerful, He could have done it so it wouldn’t influence our free will.” Assuming God is “all-powerful” as we have read, I think that he could have easily created Adam and Eve so that they could have both a sin-free state of mind and free will, but then again- is that God letting them be completely free? No. Seeing that he presented both characters with a choice, I think perhaps God wanted to trust and see that Adam and Eve would make the “right” decision, taking the sin-free path. He knew that with free-will, there would be decision making, completely uninfluenced by him, and depending on their decisions, there would be different outcomes. I ask myself, did God know exactly what the final outcome would be? Or with his almighty power, did he prepare for all the possibilities, and therefore outcomes? If God created human with complete free-will, it would make sense for him to react according to our personal decisions. If God knows every decision human will make, does that give human any free-will when making a decision of their own?
Great work Sarah:)
I agree that freewill is both blessed and cursed, but I don’t think the punishment from God is the curse of it, instead, I think it is the blessing from Him. Adam and Eve ate the fruit, and they got the knowledge of good and evil. In the story, it seems like God banished them from the garden and punished them, but is that really a punishment? God gave man the power and abilities to grow food from ground to make sure they have things to eat, and gave woman the ability to give birth of new generation. Personally, I think God blessed Adam and Eve and prepared them; then, He pushed them into the outside world to explore their own lives, as a father push his grown-ups out of the safety home. If there is really a curse on freewill, I think it will be locking Adam and Eve up in the garden forever without having any knowledge, shamefulness, and abilities to support themselves and each other as a human being when they chose not to eat the fruit which was a possibility. If we really want to find a necessary punishment from the punishment God gave to them, it would be the original punishment that God had promise them in the first place. He said that if they ate the fruit of knowledge about good and evil, they shall die. He did not lie. Adam and Eve did not die imminently after they ate the fruit, but they did die in the end and had a taste of what death looked like from the death of their son — Abel.
Choice and free will had a huge part in original sin. If god created humans in an imperfect image, then he knew that humans would sin. He himself killed all humankind once. This god brought sin into the world, so he must be delinquent in part.
It is important to think about how the first man and woman used their gifts. Adam and Eve could have done anything else, like gone hiking and looked at the hills. They, on their own recognizance, created original sin. Even if a creator had predetermined their lives, it would create paradoxes on paradoxes if god changed their destinies.
When god comes through the Garden of Eden looking for Adam and Eve on the night they ate the apple, he calls for them because they are hiding. Why would he call to them if he did not know that something was awry already? He only appeared to Adam and Eve in very direct ways. He appeared to Adam in order to create Eve. He appeared to Adam and Eve to give them instructions regarding the tree of knowledge. My interpretation is that he knew what Adam and Eve had done that night. He would only be calling to them because he wanted them to come back to Him. He is in a very powerless and accepting position. He can accept that Adam and Eve have acted against him, and he knows that he cannot do anything to change them.
Great Post Sarah! I find it to be an intriguing thought process to try and understand why God created humans in his image. Usually when you think of an absolute ruler of all, a God you think of one who takes total power leaving those he/her rules over with no option in whether or not to follow the commandments set forth. But when the heavenly father created Adam he gave him the same ability he possessed which is choice. Choice is such a powerful thing to have because it does tie directly into free will. And when a person is given free will it leaves them with the opportunity of possibly doing something their God would’ve never wanted them to do , causing them to become disobedient, make sinful mistakes and fall in the path of evil. God is one who is not controlling but it wise and observant, he wanted to be naturally good with total dictatorship
*^ God is one who is not controlling but is wise and observant, he wanted his creations to be naturally good without total dictatorship, even if evil presents its face. He is one who doesn’t wish to control others but grants humankind with the same opportunity he has, to make decisions, leaving room to face the consequences of their disobedience to god from their choices and hopefully learn from it. One would say God is a patient observer who likes to test his creations but is wise enough to see what will occur. the greatest question of all is why not prevent what you can already see coming from the gift of free will & choice?
Sarah, I find your point really interesting. It is true that God, since he “created the human in his image”, could have chosen to give humans free will without giving them/us the option to go down the path of sin. It certainly complicates the thought as to why God chose to give Adam and Eve free will when he must have known that they would not be able to resist. Thus, as you stated, it is true, that he created ‘faulty’ humans, humans who would not always choose to do the right thing and who would not stay away from evil. One could argue that the purpose of our existence is the ability to enact ‘free will’, and with that also comes the realistic perspective that not every person will choose to do the right thing. When we talk about ‘human nature’, it is evident, from the very beginning of our existence, that good and evil always existed within each person. The question why God chose to allow us free will with the opportunity to sin, is a rather complex one, and one might have to look towards the reasons of the author himself, in this case, Moses, to see why writing the story in this way, would also be important, since we need to rely on his words as the only facts that tell us the creation story. Establishing that humans have free will, but will also sin, thus might serve a larger purpose for the audience who reads the Genesis story, allowing them to see that humans in general will be making the wrong decisions despite the fact that God created us ‘in his image.’
Erroll, Your point about Adam and Eve’s decision to create original sin made me think about the notion of original sin, but also how human emotion, such as being curious and/or feeling tempted played a decisive part in their decision-making. As you stated, they could have chosen to enjoy the scenery, go for a walk etc. but instead they were mesmerized by the apple that was offered to them. Feeling tempted and being curious, in my eyes, is one of the main characteristics of every human being. We experience these tests of our will power in various ways on a regular basis. God giving us free will also means that more complex emotions, such as temptation will play a part in our decisions. One can argue that curiosity and temptation most likely always leads to us wanting to satisfy our wants and needs without thinking about possible consequences. This is clearly displayed with the Genesis story and the fact that Adam and Eve couldn’t resist, but to take a bite from the apple. One could argue that thus giving humans free will will automatically lead to sin, just because of the complex underlayers of what free will means when humans execute this kind of freedom.
Great post. I myself am a catholic and from experience from having graduated from a catholic school, they often teach that original sin was introduced by man, therefore introducing evil into the world. In the Catholic denomination, one is baptized with three “attributes”, we are baptized as priest, prophet, and king, being that we are children of God. We are often told that we are also divine like God due to us being created “in God’s image”. I am not here to get theological, I am just giving an example of my religion’s beliefs. I often ask myself, how different would the world be if Adam and Eve not disobeyed god.