Editing Fall of man (section)

==Traditional interpretations==

===Immortality===
{{Main|Christian mythology|Jewish mythology}}

[[Exegesis#Christianity|Christian exegetes]] of Genesis 2:17<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|2:17|NRSV}}</ref> ("for in the day that you eat of it you shall die", also known as the "commandment to life"), have applied the [[day-year principle]] to explain how Adam died within a day. Psalms 90:4,<ref>{{bibleverse|Psalms|90:4}}</ref> 2 Peter 3:8,<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Peter|3:8}}</ref> and Jubilees 4:29–31<ref>{{bibleverse|Jubilees|4:29–31}}</ref> explain that, to [[God in Christianity|God]], one day is equivalent to a thousand years and thus Adam died within that same "day".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical_studies/noncanon/ot/pseudo/jubilee.htm |title=The Book of Jubilees |access-date=2009-03-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224002549/http://wesley.nnu.edu/biblical_studies/noncanon/ot/pseudo/jubilee.htm |archive-date=2009-02-24 }} Online translation of Jubilees</ref> The Greek [[Septuagint]], on the other hand, has "day" translated into the Greek word for a twenty-four-hour period ({{langx|grc|ἡμέρα|hēméra|label=none}}).

According to [[Meredith Kline]], the death threatened in Genesis 2:17 is "not physical death but eternal perdition (later called 'second death')."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Kline |first=Meredith G. |title=Genesis: A New Commentary |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers Marketing |year=2016 |isbn=9781619708525 |location=Peabody, Massachusetts}}</ref>{{Rp|page=20}} This is because, in [[covenant theology]], the "curse" aspect of the commandment to life is balanced by its blessing, which is "glorified eternal life", symbolised by the tree of life ({{Bibleverse|Genesis|2:9|KJV}}) and the [[Sabbath]] ({{Bibleverse|Genesis|2:2|KJV}}).<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=|pages=19–20}}

According to the Genesis narrative, during the [[antediluvian]] age, human longevity approached a [[millennium]], such as the case of [[Adam]] who lived 930 years. Thus, to "die" has been interpreted as to become mortal.{{sfn|Kugel|1999|pp=50–51}} However, the grammar does not support this reading, nor does the narrative: Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden lest they eat of the second tree, the [[Tree of life (biblical)|tree of life]], and gain immortality.<ref>{{Bibleverse|Genesis|3:22}}</ref><ref>[[Harry Orlinsky]]'s Notes to the NJPS Torah</ref>

===Original sin===
{{Main|Original sin}}
{{Further|Salvation in Christianity|Theodicy and the Bible#The Fall and freedom of the will}}
[[File:Michelangelo Sündenfall.jpg|thumb|300px|''The Fall and Expulsion from Paradise'', fresco painted by [[Michelangelo]] in the [[Sistine Chapel]], [[Vatican City]] (1510–1564)|left]]

==== Roman Catholicism ====
The [[Catechism of the Catholic Church]] says: "The account of the fall in ''Genesis'' 3 uses figurative language, but affirms [...] that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents."<ref>Catechism of the Catholic Church: 390</ref> [[St Bede]] and others, especially [[Thomas Aquinas]], said that the fall of Adam and Eve brought "four wounds" to human nature.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Summa_Theologiae/First_Part_of_the_Second_Part/Question_85#Art._3_-_Whether_weakness,_ignorance,_malice_and_concupiscence_are_suitably_reckoned_as_the_wounds_of_nature_consequent_upon_sin?|title=Summa Theologiae/First Part of the Second Part/Question 85 - Wikisource, the free online library|website=en.wikisource.org}}</ref> They are original sin (lack of sanctifying grace and original justice), [[concupiscence]] (the soul's passions are no longer ordered perfectly to the soul's intellect), physical frailty and death, and darkened intellect and ignorance. These negated or diminished the gifts of God to Adam and Eve of original justice or sanctifying grace, integrity, immortality and infused knowledge. 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."<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|405}}</ref>

In the light of modern scripture scholarship, the future [[Pope Benedict XVI]] stated in 1986 that: "In the Genesis story [...] sin is not spoken of in general as an abstract possibility but as a deed, as the sin of a particular person, Adam, who stands at the origin of humankind and with whom the history of sin begins. The account tells us that sin begets sin, and that therefore all the sins of history are interlinked. Theology refers to this state of affairs by the certainly misleading and imprecise term 'original sin.'"<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ratzinger|first=Joseph|title=In the Beginning|publisher=Eerdmans|year=1986|isbn=978-0802841063|pages=72}}</ref> Although the state of corruption, inherited by humans after the primaeval event of original sin, is clearly called guilt or sin, it is understood as a sin acquired by the unity of all humans in Adam rather than a personal responsibility of humanity. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, even children partake in the effects of the sin of Adam, but not in the responsibility of original sin, as sin is always a personal act.<ref>''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', para. 404, 405.</ref> [[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.<ref>''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', para. 405.</ref>

==== Protestantism ====
{{Main|Augustinian soteriology|Original sin|Protestant theology}}
{{Further|Predestination in Calvinism|Sola fide|Sola gratia|Total depravity}}

In [[Covenant theology]], the first man, [[Adam]], is said to have failed to fulfill the commandment to life and the [[Covenant of Works]], which is summarized in {{Bibleverse|Genesis|2:15-17|KJV}}. In verse 15, humanity is to "dress" and "keep" the [[Garden of Eden]] (KJV), or to "work it" and "take care of it" ([[New International Version|NIV]]). In verse 17, God gives the "focal probationary proscription", that Adam must not eat of the [[tree of the knowledge of good and evil]], and a curse is attached if the proscription is transgressed, which is spiritual death.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=|pages=19–20}} The Covenant required 'perfect and personal obedience',<ref>Westminster Confession, VII.2; https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/ccc/westminster/Of_Gods_Covenant_With_Man.cfm.</ref> but Adam freely and willfully transgressed the commandment by accepting [[Satan]]'s lie in {{Bibleverse|Genesis|3:4-5|KJV}}, demonstrating pride and a rejection of [[Creationism|God's authority as Creator]], preferring his own will to God's, leading to a corruption of his whole nature, which extended to his progeny, as is described in Article 14 of the [[Belgic Confession]].<blockquote>We believe that God created man out of the dust of the earth, and made and formed him after his own image and likeness, good, righteous, and holy, capable in all things to will, agreeably to the will of God. But being in honour, he understood it not, neither knew his excellency, but wilfully subjected himself to sin, and consequently to death, and the curse, giving ear to the words of the devil. For the commandment of life, which he had received, he transgressed: and by sin separated himself from God, who was his true life, having corrupted his whole nature; whereby he made himself liable to corporal and spiritual death. And being thus become wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all his ways, he hath lost all his excellent gifts, which he had received from God, and only retained a few remains thereof, which, however, are sufficient to leave man without excuse; for all the light which is in us is changed into darkness, as the scriptures teach us, saying: ''The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not:'' {{bracket|{{Bibleverse|John|1:5|KJV}}}} where St. John calleth men darkness.<ref name=":1">{{cite wikisource |title=The Belgic Confession |wslink=The Constitution of the Reformed Dutch Church of North America/The Confession of Faith |last=de Bres |first=Guido |date=1559 |publisher= |location= |page= |pages= |scan=}}</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Cole Thomas Expulsion from the Garden of Eden 1828.jpg|thumb|275x275px|''Expulsion from the Garden of Eden'', 1828 [[Oil painting|oil-on-canvas]] painting by [[Thomas Cole]] (1801–1848), now in the collection of the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Boston|Museum of Fine Arts]] in [[Boston]], United States.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xkFRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA44 |page=44 |title=American Painting of the Nineteenth Century: Realism, Idealism, and the American Experience  |author=Barbara Novak |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2007|isbn=978-0-19-530942-3 }}</ref>]]
By the inverse to the concept of [[imputed righteousness]], Adam, as the [[Federal headship|federal head]] of humanity, brought condemnation and death to all by his violation of the commandment to life. Kline justifies this interpretation by referencing {{Bibleverse|Romans|5:12-19|KJV}}, in which it says "For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous."<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=21|pages=}} In saying that, as a result of the Fall, man has become "wicked, perverse, and corrupt in all his ways," the Confession expresses the doctrine of [[total depravity]], which means that man is completely helpless and unable to rescue himself from sin, and "cannot inherit the kingdom of God" ({{Bibleverse|1 Corinthians|15:50|KJV}}) but must be rescued by the second Adam, Jesus Christ, who is from heaven, as it says in {{Bibleverse|1 Corinthians|15:22|KJV}}, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|page=|pages=9–10}}

Indeed, {{Bibleverse|Genesis|3:15|KJV}} ("And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel"), known as the [[protevangelium]], is interpreted as a gracious declaration of the [[Covenant of Grace]], in which God effects reconciliation with humanity and vanquishes the devil through [[Atonement in Christianity|Christ's atonement]], which delivers from [[Sin in Christianity|sin]].<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=|pages=22–23}} This covenant is symbolically sealed when it is said that God "clothed" Adam and Eve's nakedness, due to which they were ashamed.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=24|pages=}} However, man was defiled and had to be expelled from the [[Garden of Eden]], with the earth "cursed" for his sake, in an overthrow of man's previous "dominion" over the earth which was gifted to him in {{Bibleverse|Genesis|1:26|KJV}}.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=|pages=23–24}} In {{Bibleverse|Genesis|3:24|KJV}}, "cherubim" and "a flaming sword" guard the [[Tree of life (biblical)|tree of life]], access to which is only restored when Christ "vicariously suffered the sword of judgment on the tree of death and so reopened the way to the tree of life."<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=24|pages=}}

==== Eastern Orthodoxy ====
{{Main|Eastern Orthodox theology}}

[[Eastern Orthodox Christianity]] rejects the idea that the guilt of original sin is passed down through generations. It bases its teaching in part on Ezekiel 18:20,<ref>{{bibleverse|Ezekiel|18:20|NRSV}}</ref> which says 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 characterising the change in human nature as the introduction of a "deliberative will" ({{lang|grc|θέλημα γνωμικόν}}) in opposition to the "natural will" ({{lang|grc|θέλημα φυσικόν}}) created by God which tends toward the good. Thus, according to [[Paul the Apostle]] in his [[epistle to the Romans]], non-Christians can still act according to their conscience.

Eastern Orthodoxy believes that, while everyone bears the consequences of the first sin (that is, death), only Adam and Eve are guilty of that sin.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Original Sin - Questions & Answers |url=https://www.oca.org/questions/teaching/original-sin |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=www.oca.org}}</ref> Adam's sin is not 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 [[Divinization (Christian)|theosis]], seeking union with God).<ref>{{Cite web |title=An Online Orthodox Catechism » Catechism » OrthodoxEurope.org |url=http://orthodoxeurope.org/page/10/1.aspx |access-date=2023-05-11 |website=orthodoxeurope.org}}</ref>

===Meta-historical fall===
{{Main|Meta-historical fall}}

The biblical fall of man is also understood by some [[Christian theology|Christian theologians]], especially those belonging to the [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox tradition]], as a reality outside of empirical history that affects the entire history of the universe. This concept of a [[meta-historical fall]] (also called metaphysical, supramundane, or atemporal) has been most recently expounded by the Eastern Orthodox theologians [[David Bentley Hart]], [[John Behr]], and [[Sergei Bulgakov]], but it has roots in the writings of several [[early Church Fathers]], especially [[Origen]] and [[Maximus the Confessor]].<ref name="Hart 2018"/> Bulgakov writes in his 1939 book ''The Bride of the Lamb'':

<blockquote>Empirical history begins precisely with the fall, which is its starting premise. But this beginning of history lies beyond empirical being and cannot be included in its chronology. ...[With the] narrative in Genesis 3, ...an event is described that lies beyond our history, although at its boundary. Being connected with our history, this event inwardly permeates it.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Bulgakov |author-first=Sergei |author-link=Sergei Bulgakov |year=2001 |origyear=1939 |chapter=Evil |title=The Bride of the Lamb |translator-last=Jakim |translator-first=Boris |location=[[Grand Rapids, Michigan]] |publisher=[[Wm. B. Eerdmans]] |page=170 |isbn=9780802839152}}</ref></blockquote>

American philosopher and Eastern Orthodox theologian [[David Bentley Hart]] has written about the concept of an atemporal fall in his 2005 book ''[[The Doors of the Sea]]'', as well as in his 2018 essay ''The Devil's March: Creatio ex nihilo, the Problem of Evil, and a Few Dostoyevskian Meditations''.<ref name="Hart 2018">{{cite book |author-last=Hart |author-first=David Bentley |author-link=David Bentley Hart |year=2018 |chapter=The Devil's March: Creatio ex nihilo, the Problem of Evil, and a Few Dostoyevskian Meditations |editor1-last=Anderson |editor1-first=Gary A. |editor2-last=Bockmuehl |editor2-first=Markus |editor2-link=Markus Bockmuehl |title=Creation ex nihilo: Origins, Development, Contemporary Challenges |location=[[Notre Dame, Indiana]] |publisher=[[University of Notre Dame Press]] |pages=297–318 |doi=10.2307/j.ctvpg86fq.17 |isbn=9780268102562}}</ref>

===Subordination===
In the subordination exegesis of the Fall, the natural consequences of sin entering the human race were prophesied by God to Eve in Genesis 3:16: the husband "will rule over you". This interpretation is reinforced by comments in the [[First Epistle to Timothy]], where the author gives a rationale for directing that a woman (NIV: possibly "wife"):
{{blockquote|...should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man [NIV: possibly "husband"]; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.|source=1 Timothy 2:11–14<ref>{{Bibleverse|1 Timothy|2:11–14}}</ref>}}

Therefore, some interpretations of these passages from Genesis 3 and 1 Timothy 2 have developed a view that women are considered as bearers of Eve's guilt and that the woman's conduct in the fall is the primary reason for her universal, timeless, subordinate relationship to the man.<ref name=Kroeger>Kroeger, Richard C. and Catherine C. Kroeger. ''I suffer not a woman: rethinking 1&nbsp;Timothy 2:11–15 in light of ancient evidence''. Baker Book House, 1992. {{ISBN|0-8010-5250-5}}</ref>{{rp|21}}

Alternatively, Richard and [[Catherine Clark Kroeger]] argue that "there is a serious theological contradiction in telling a woman that when she comes to faith in Christ, her personal sins are forgiven but she must continue to be punished for the sin of Eve." They maintain that judgmental comments against women in reference to Eve are a "dangerous interpretation, in terms both of biblical theology and of the call to Christian commitment". They reason that "if the Apostle Paul was forgiven for what he did ignorantly in unbelief", including persecuting and murdering Christians, "and thereafter was given a ministry, why would the same forgiveness and ministry be denied women" (for the sins of their foremother, Eve). Addressing that, the Kroegers conclude that Paul was referring to the promise of Genesis 3:15<ref>{{Bibleverse|Genesis|3:15}}</ref> that through the defeat of Satan on the cross of Jesus Christ, the woman's child (Jesus) would crush the serpent's head, but the serpent would only bruise the heel of her child.<ref name=Kroeger/>{{rp|144}}