Editing Fall of man (section)

==Other traditions==
===Gnosticism===
{{Main|Gnosticism}}

{{Further|Gnostic texts}}
[[File:Lion-faced deity.jpg|thumb|right|150px|A lion-faced, [[Snakes in mythology|serpentine]] [[deity]] found on a Gnostic gem in [[Bernard de Montfaucon]]'s ''L'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures'' may be a depiction of the Demiurge.]]

[[Gnosticism]] originated in the late 1st century CE in non-rabbinical [[Judaism|Jewish]] and [[Early Christianity|early Christian]] sects.<ref name="Magris 2005">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Magris |first=Aldo |year=2005 |title=Gnosticism: Gnosticism from its origins to the Middle Ages (further considerations) |editor-last=Jones |editor-first=Lindsay |encyclopedia=Macmillan Encyclopedia of Religion |edition=2nd |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Macmillan Inc.]] |pages=3515–3516 |isbn=978-0028657332 |oclc=56057973}}</ref> In the [[History of early Christianity|formation of Christianity]], various [[sectarian]] groups, labeled "gnostics" by their opponents, emphasised spiritual knowledge (''[[gnosis]]'') of the divine spark within, over [[faith]] (''pistis'') in the teachings and traditions of the various communities of Christians.<ref name="May 2008" /><ref name="Ehrman 2005" /><ref name="Brakke 2010">{{cite book |last=Brakke |first=David |year=2010 |title=The Gnostics: Myth, Ritual, and Diversity in Early Christianity |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3EQ1XwHg0o0C&pg=PA18 |location=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |pages=18–51 |isbn=9780674066038 |jstor=j.ctvjnrvhh.6 |s2cid=169308502}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Layton |first=Bentley |author-link=Bentley Layton |year=1999 |chapter=Prolegomena to the Study of Ancient Gnosticism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GC4vwTXJSaMC&pg=PA106 |editor-last=Ferguson |editor-first=Everett |editor-link=Everett Ferguson |title=Doctrinal Diversity: Varieties of Early Christianity |location=[[New York City|New York]] and [[London]] |publisher=Garland Publishing, Inc |series=Recent Studies in Early Christianity: A Collection of Scholarly Essays |pages=106–123 |isbn=0-8153-3071-5}}</ref> Gnosticism presents a distinction between the [[Monad (Gnosticism)|highest, unknowable God]], and the [[Demiurge#Gnosticism|Demiurge]], "creator" of the material universe.<ref name="Kvam 1999" /><ref name="May 2008" /><ref name="Ehrman 2005" /><ref name="Brakke 2010" /> The Gnostics considered the most [[Essential property|essential]] part of the process of [[salvation]] to be this personal knowledge, in contrast to faith as an outlook in their [[Perspective (cognitive)|worldview]] along with faith in the [[Great Church|ecclesiastical authority]].<ref name="Kvam 1999" /><ref name="May 2008" /><ref name="Ehrman 2005" /><ref name="Brakke 2010" />

In Gnosticism, the [[Serpent (Bible)|biblical serpent]] in the Garden of Eden was praised and thanked for bringing knowledge (''gnosis'') to Adam and Eve and thereby freeing them from the [[Dystheism|malevolent]] Demiurge's control.<ref name="Kvam 1999" /> Gnostic Christian doctrines rely on a [[dualistic cosmology]] that implies the eternal conflict between good and evil, and a conception of the serpent as the [[Salvation|liberating savior]] and bestower of knowledge to humankind opposed to the Demiurge or [[creator god]], identified with the [[Yahweh|Hebrew God]] of the [[Old Testament]].<ref name="Kvam 1999" /><ref name="Ehrman 2005">{{cite book |last=Ehrman |first=Bart D. |author-link=Bart D. Ehrman |year=2005 |orig-year=2003 |title=Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew |chapter=Christians "In The Know": The Worlds of Early Christian Gnosticism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=URdACxKubDIC&pg=PA113 |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=113–134 |doi=10.1017/s0009640700110273 |isbn=978-0-19-518249-1 |lccn=2003053097 |s2cid=152458823}}</ref> Gnostic Christians considered the Hebrew God of the Old Testament as the evil, [[false god]] and creator of the material universe, and the [[Monad (Gnosticism)|Unknown God]] of the [[Gospel]], the father of [[Jesus Christ]] and creator of the spiritual world, as the true, good God.<ref name="Kvam 1999" /><ref name="Ehrman 2005" /><ref name="May 2008">{{cite book |author-last=May |author-first=Gerhard |year=2008 |chapter=Part V: The Shaping of Christian Theology – Monotheism and creation |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6UTfmw_zStsC&pg=PA434 |editor1-last=Mitchell |editor1-first=Margaret M. |editor1-link=Margaret M. Mitchell |editor2-last=Young |editor2-first=Frances M. |editor2-link=Frances Young |title=The Cambridge History of Christianity, Volume 1: Origins to Constantine |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=434–451, 452–456 |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521812399.026 |isbn=9781139054836}}</ref><ref name="EB1911">{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Valentinus and the Valentinians|author=Bousset, Wilhelm|author-link=Wilhelm Bousset|volume=27|pages=852-857|short=x}}</ref> In the [[Archontics|Archontic]], [[Sethianism|Sethian]], and [[Ophites|Ophite]] systems, [[Yaldabaoth]] (Yahweh) is regarded as the malevolent Demiurge and false god of the Old Testament who generated the material universe and keeps the souls trapped in physical bodies, imprisoned in the world full of pain and suffering that he [[Creationism|created]].<ref name="Litwa 2016">{{cite book |author-last=Litwa |author-first=M. David |year=2016 |orig-date=2015 |chapter=Part I: The Self-deifying Rebel – “I Am God and There is No Other!”: The Boast of Yaldabaoth |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HwcBDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 |title=Desiring Divinity: Self-deification in Early Jewish and Christian Mythmaking |location=[[Oxford]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=47–65 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190467166.003.0004 |isbn=9780199967728 |lccn=2015051032 |oclc=966607824}}</ref><ref name="Fischer-Mueller 1990">{{cite journal |last=Fischer-Mueller |first=E. Aydeet |date=January 1990 |title=Yaldabaoth: The Gnostic Female Principle in Its Fallenness |journal=[[Novum Testamentum]] |volume=32 |issue=1 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]] |pages=79–95 |doi=10.1163/156853690X00205 |eissn=1568-5365 |issn=0048-1009 |jstor=1560677}}</ref><ref name="Arendzen4">{{Catholic Encyclopedia |wstitle=Demiurge |volume=4 |first=John Peter |last=Arendzen}}</ref>

However, not all Gnostic movements regarded the creator of the material universe as inherently evil or malevolent.<ref name="EB1911" /><ref name="Logan 2002">{{cite book |author-last=Logan |author-first=Alastair H. B. |year=2002 |orig-date=2000 |chapter=Part IX: Internal Challenges – Gnosticism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6fyCAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA923 |editor-last=Esler |editor-first=Philip F. |title=The Early Christian World |location=[[New York City|New York]] and [[London]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=1st |series=Routledge Worlds |pages=923–925 |isbn=9781032199344}}</ref> For instance, [[Valentinianism|Valentinians]] believed that the Demiurge is merely an ignorant and incompetent creator, trying to fashion the world as good as he can, but lacking the proper power to maintain its goodness.<ref name="EB1911" /><ref name="Logan 2002" /> All Gnostics were regarded as [[Heresy in Christianity|heretics]] by the [[Proto-orthodox Christianity|proto-orthodox]] [[Early Church Fathers]].<ref name="Kvam 1999" /><ref name="Ehrman 2005" /><ref name="May 2008" /><ref name="Brakke 2010" />

===Islam===
{{Main|Adam and Eve in Islam}}

{{Further|Islamic views on sin}}
[[File:Expulsion from 'the Garden'.jpg|thumb|right|[[Persian miniature]] depicting the expulsion of Adam and Eve, observed by the [[Angels in Islam|angel]] [[Riḍwan]], the Serpent, the Peacock, and [[Iblis|Iblīs]].]]

In [[Islam]], it is believed that [[Adam in Islam|Adam]] ({{Transliteration|ar|Ādam}}) and [[Eve in Islam|Eve]] ({{Transliteration|ar|Ḥawwā}}) were misled by [[Iblis|Iblīs]] (otherwise referred to as {{Transliteration|ar|[[Shaitan|al-Shayṭān]]}}, {{lit|the Devil}}),<ref name="Awn 1983" /><ref name="EI2">{{cite encyclopedia |author1-last=Gardet |author1-first=Louis |author2-last=Wensinck |author2-first=A. J. |year=1971 |title=Iblīs |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C. E. |editor1-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |editor2-last=van Donzel |editor2-first=E. J. |editor2-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel |editor3-last=Heinrichs |editor3-first=W. P. |editor3-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs |editor4-last=Lewis |editor4-first=B. |editor5-last=Pellat |editor5-first=Ch. |editor5-link=Charles Pellat |editor6-last=Schacht |editor6-first=J. |editor6-link=Joseph Schacht |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam#2nd edition, EI2|Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition]] |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=3 |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_3021 |isbn=978-90-04-16121-4}}</ref> who tempted them with the promise of [[immortality]] and a kingdom that never decays,<ref name="Awn 1983" /><ref>{{qref|20|120|b=y}}</ref> saying: "Your Lord has forbidden this tree to you only to prevent you from becoming angels or immortals.".<ref>{{qref|7|20|b=y}}</ref> Adam and Eve had been previously warned of Shayṭān's scheming against them,<ref name="Awn 1983" /><ref>{{qref|20|117|b=y}}</ref> and had been commanded by [[God in Islam|God]] to avoid the [[Tree of the knowledge of good and evil|tree of immortality]] that Shayṭān referred to.<ref name="Awn 1983" /><ref name="EI2" /> Although God had reminded them that there was enough provision for them "Here it is guaranteed that you will never go hungry or unclothed, nor will you ˹ever˺ suffer from thirst or ˹the sun’s˺ heat.",<ref>{{qref|20|118-119|b=y}}</ref> they ultimately gave in to Shayṭān's temptation and partook of the tree anyway.<ref name="Awn 1983" /> Following this [[Islamic views on sin|sin]], "their nakedness was exposed to them, prompting them to cover themselves with leaves from Paradise.",<ref>{{qref|20|121|b=y}}</ref> and were subsequently sent down from [[Jannah|Paradise]] ({{Transliteration|ar|Jannah}}) onto the Earth with "enmity one to another".<ref name="Awn 1983" /> However, God also gave them the assurance that "when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance will neither go astray ˹in this life˺ nor suffer ˹in the next˺."<ref>{{qref|20|123|b=y}}</ref>

[[Ulama|Muslim scholars]] can be divided into two groups regarding the reason behind Adam's fall: the first point of view argues that Adam sinned out of his own [[Free will in theology|free will]], and only became a [[Prophets and messengers in Islam|prophet]] later, after he was cast out of paradise and asked for forgiveness. They adhere to the doctrine according to which [[Ismah|moral infallibility/immunity from sin]] (''‘iṣmah'') is a quality attributable to prophets only after they have been sent on a mission.<ref name="dogma">{{rp|p=194}} Stieglecker, H. (1962). Die Glaubenslehren des Islam. Deutschland: F. Schöningh. p. 194 (German)</ref> According to the second point of view, [[Predestination in Islam|Adam was predestined by God's will]] to eat from the forbidden tree, because God planned to set Adam and his progeny on Earth from the beginning and thus installed Adam's fall.<ref name="dogma" />{{rp|p=194}} For this reason, many [[Tafsir|Muslim exegetes]] do not regard Adam and Eve's expulsion from paradise as a punishment for disobedience or a result from abused [[Free will in theology|free will]] on their part,<ref name="Lange-2016">{{cite book |last= Lange|first= Christian|author-link= |date= 2016|title= Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions|url= |location= Cambridge United Kingdom|publisher= Cambridge University Press|page= |isbn=978-0-521-50637-3}}</ref>{{rp|p=171}} but rather as part of [[Hikmah|God's wisdom]] (''ḥikmah'') and plan for humanity to experience the full range of his attributes, his love, forgiveness, and power to his creation.<ref name="Lange-2016" /> By their former abode in paradise, they can hope for return during their lifetime. Unlike [[Iblis|Iblīs]] (''[[Shaitan|al-Shayṭān]]''), Adam asked for forgiveness for his transgression, despite God being the ultimate cause of his Fall. For that reason, God bestowed mercy upon Adam and his children. Some Muslim scholars view Adam as an image for his descendants: humans sin, become aware of it, [[Repentance in Islam|repent for their transgressions]] (''tawba''), and return to God. According to this interpretation, Adam embodies humanity and his Fall shows humans how to act whenever they sin.<ref name="dogma" />{{rp|p=194}}

Within the [[Shia Islam|Shīʿīte]] [[Islamic schools and branches#Shīʿa Islam|branch of Islam]], Muslim followers of the [[Alawites|Alawite sect]] believe that their souls were once luminous stars worshipping [[Ali|ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib]] in a world of light, but that upon committing sins of pride they were banished from their former state and forced to transmigrate in the world of matter.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Olsson|editor1-first=Tord|editor2-last=Özdalga|editor2-first=Elisabeth|editor3-last=Raudvere|editor3-first=Catharina|title=Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perspectives|date=1998|publisher=Routledge|location=England|pages=214–215|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A16QAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA214|language=en|isbn=9781135797256}}</ref>

===Agricultural revolution===
{{Main|Religion and agriculture}}

Authors such as [[Isaac Asimov]], [[Daniel Hillel]], and [[Daniel Quinn]] suggest that some of the Genesis 3 narrative's symbolism may correlate to the experience of the [[Neolithic Revolution|agricultural revolution]].<ref name="Asimov">{{cite book |author-last=Asimov |author-first=Isaac |title=Asimov's Guide to the Bible |publisher=Avon |year=1971 |pages=32}}</ref><ref name="Quinn">{{cite book |author-last=Quinn |author-first=Daniel |title=Ishmael |publisher=Bantam |year=1992}}</ref> Hillel writes: "The expulsion from the Garden of Eden is a folk memory of the beginning of agriculture. With that transition, humans no longer dwelled idyllically in a parkland, feeding on wild fruits or animals, but had begun the toilsome cultivation of cereals."<ref name="Hillel">{{cite book |author-last=Hillel |author-first=Daniel |title=The Natural History of the Bible: An Environmental Exploration of the Hebrew Scriptures |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |year=2006 |pages=245}}</ref> This interpretation is not widely held in academic theology nor accepted as a historical fact, but appears in ecological, anthropological, and literary discussions that explore the societal transformations associated with the Neolithic era.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scott |first=James C. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/990684513 |title=Against the grain: a deep history of the earliest states |date=2017 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-18291-0 |series=Yale agrarian studies |location=New Haven |oclc=990684513}}</ref>

The serpent of the Genesis narrative may represent seasonal changes and renewal, as with the symbolism of Sumerian, Egyptian, and other creation myths.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mason |first=Robert T. |title=The Serpent as Divinity |url=http://www.native-science.net/Divine_Serpent.htm |access-date=2017-09-22 |website=native-science.net}}</ref> In [[Mesoamerica]]n creation myths, [[Quetzalcoatl]], a feathered serpent agricultural deity, is associated with learning as well as renewal.<ref>{{cite web |last=Briggs |first=Austin |title=Quetzalcoatl |url=http://austinbriggs.com/aztec-history/quetzalcoatl/?doing_wp_cron=1506112287.9478530883789062500000 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923051108/http://austinbriggs.com/aztec-history/quetzalcoatl/?doing_wp_cron=1506112287.9478530883789062500000 |archive-date=2017-09-23 |access-date=2017-09-22 |website=austinbriggs.com}}</ref>