It is very common among modern, western Protestants to describe the biblical story in terms of four parts: Creation (Gen 1-2), Fall (Gen 3), Redemption (NT), and Restoration/New Creation (Rev 21-22).
And although I will work with this schema (though I prefer a slight modification by using “failure” instead of “fall”), it should be noted that there are some significant problems with it.
One of the problems is that it is assumed that all Christians adhere to this fourfold formula. This is simply not true. This fourfold understanding is very much a modern, western Protestant view—and even then not all western Protestants affirm it.
NB: Ironically, we pride ourselves on the fact that our heritage is derived from Judaism. Yet, Judaism does not look at the biblical story this way. In particular, they do not typically view the events in Genesis 3 as a “fall” narrative.
In addition, this view has tragically contributed to the long history of Christian antisemitism. Of course, this conviction does not necessarily entail antisemitism but it has surely stoked its fire (all one must do is look at Martin Luther and his convictions of the Jewish people).
This fourfold reading of the biblical story has also led many Christians to conclude that the OT is something of the past and to be ignored. All one must do is look at how many western Christians today have little to no understanding of the OT to find confirmation of this.
Another problem with looking at Genesis 3 as a narrative of the “fall” of humanity is that it assumes that what was lost in the Garden was “our salvation.” This view is often overly simplified so that the Gospel becomes nothing more than the conviction that Jesus brought us salvation and someday we will be restored to the Garden presence of God.
Now, there is certainly truth here, but there is also much that is missing. In fact, what is missing is the primary focus of the biblical story.
In addition, the conviction that the biblical story is about us getting saved and going back to Eden places too heavy a focus on “us” and “our salvation.” Sure, Jesus came to bring us salvation and someday those who have faith in Christ will be restored to His Edenic presence in the New Jerusalem (Rev 21-22). But there is more, much more.
Problems with an overly simplified Gospel
There is a cascade of problems that arise from this conception which I can only briefly articulate here.
For one, this understanding leads too many Christians to think that getting “saved” is the goal. Once saved, we are done—though we should be good Christians and try to follow Jesus well, even though this is not necessarily a part of the package. There is little to no call for a “cross-bearing love”; which is even deemed too “works-centric.”
Second, it fails to reckon with the fact that the Gospel is not about me or you. The Gospel is about Jesus!
Third, this view denies the Christian, and even the human responsibility, to care for God’s creation. Some Christians even go so far as saying that when everyone who is going to be saved has been saved God will destroy the present creation and usher in a new one.
NB: the Scriptures teach that God will resurrect and restore His creation (Rom 8:19-22). The indication that it will be “burned up with fire” (2 Pet 3:7) is a reference to the coming judgment and purifying of evil and not the disillusion of creation.
Understanding the “Fall” as a “Failure”
What is far more important, however, is what is missing from this me-centric, salvation-oriented view of the biblical story. The biblical narrative centers of the mission and purpose of humanity and not simply our need to “get saved” (I am not denying that we need to “get saved”; just that there is much more to the story than this).
Humanity was created to bear God’s image (Gen 1:26-27). Adam and Eve were to reflect God’s being and nature to the creation and to rule over it in his stead.
The “fall”, then, was not so much a “fall” as it was a “failure” to carry forth the mission for which they were created.[1]
They failed to rule well. Of course, to rule well Adam and Eve needed to know “good and evil/bad.” They needed to have the ability to discern what is right and what is wrong so that they could rule well!
The question was not whether they were to eat from the “tree of good and evil/bad,” but when.
The need for wisdom
The depiction of Adam and Eve in Eden standing before the trees is that of children who do not yet know right from wrong. Compare Deut 1:39: “Moreover, your little ones who you said would become a prey, and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, . . . .”).
What Adam and Eve were confronted with at the tree was whether or not they would gain wisdom at the behest of Satan or at the behest of God. God said don’t eat it (the implication is “I’ll let you know when!”).
This leads to an important point in the conversation. Namely that the Bible must be understood as wisdom literature. Even the application of the laws (which I will address in a future post) needs wisdom. What is murder and what is not murder?
Hence, Ps 1:1-3a:
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water. . . .
(note that the wise person is “like a tree”).
The source of wisdom
The Scripture is clear, “The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov 1:7). The source of wisdom is the Lord!
Instead of trusting in the Lord as the source of wisdom, and not eating because God had said not to eat, Adam and Eve choose to decide for themselves and to listen to the serpent. Note that Eve, “saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes” and she “took from its fruit and ate,” and then she “gave also to her husband with her, and he ate” (Gen 3:6).
NB: A great exercise is the read through Genesis and watch for how the characters in the story reproduce the failure of Adam and Eve. For example in the Abraham and Sarah story: note:
He listened to the voice of his wife Gen 16:2 (Gen 3:17)—as Eve did the Serpent.
Sarah “saw” and she “took” and she “gave” Gen 16:3 (Gen 3:6)—Eve did the fruit
He said, “do what is good in your eyes” Gen 16:6. This is the consequence.
The account of Abraham and Sarah repeats the failure, not the fall per se, of Adam and Eve.
The point is that the story of Adam and Eve centers on their decision to discern whether it was right to eat from the tree based on their own wisdom or God’s! As a result, the era of human self-rule began.
We can certainly call this a “Fall”, as long as we recognize that it is much more than that.
NB: I will address this in a future post but it deserves mention here. Much, if not most, of the problems we see in the world today, are the result of humanity being in power!
This is why I would say that “getting saved” is more than just confessing our sins. It entails a recognition that we have deemed ourselves as Lord and not Jesus. We have made ourselves kings/queens and have attempted to rule on our own; instead, of acknowledging that Jesus is the world’s true King and that we need His wisdom to rule well.
Conflict between male and female over who rules: the Curse misconstrued?
Another problem with many modern conceptions of the “fall” is that curse (Gen 3:14-19) is too often assumed to be prescriptive (as if God is proscribing the way it out to be) instead of descriptive (describing the way it is going to be).
Most notably, this understanding manifests itself in the words of God to Eve (Gen 2:16). In speaking to Eve, the Lord explains that instead of her and Adam co-ruling as they were intended they will now rule as rivals
NB: Adam and Eve: were so unified in their rule prior to Genesis 3 that they did not recognize their differences or their nakedness. After all, we are not often “ashamed” of being naked when we are alone. Shame enters the picture only after we realize that someone else is present.
NB: for further insights into this discussion see my earlier posts here
There is, of course, always more to say. The Genesis account is indeed mission-critical for establishing the basis of a Christian worldview.
In my next post, we will look at the laws of Israel and how they were meant to help Israel establish a just society. That is, they were intended to shape a nation to do what Adam and Eve were supposed to do.
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[1] I am indebted (but only a little: I can’t be too indebted to him or he will expect me to buy the pizza next time we are together) to Dr Jace Broadhurst for reminding me of this term in a recent text message conversation.
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