This reading from the Bible follows immediately after the story of God's creation of humans in Chapter 2, placing them in the garden, and walking with them daily. It is clearly designed to be a continuation of the mythology of origins, in this case dealing with the origins of suffering, and possibly the origins of evil.
This story employs the standard mythological approach to answering a question such as the question, Why is there so much evil and suffering in this world, given that this world was created by God? Mythology deals with such questions by telling a story about origins. So, if you are engaged in mythological thinking, and you want to know why there is evil and suffering, you are asking for a myth -- a sacred, true story involving the interaction between humankind and the supernatural realm -- about how evil and suffering came about in the first place. That myth will provide the answer to your question.
This story is commonly referred to as "The Fall". Notice, however, that nowhere in the story does it say that humans "fell" from one state into a lower state. So, to refer to the story as being about a "fall" is to provide a certain interpretation of the story. Perhaps that interpretation is correct. But, as we have seen, interpreting a myth can be controversial. Different people may get somewhat different meanings from a story.
Your job is to read this story carefully to see what meaning you can get from it. Try to figure out what is the point of the story. What does it have to say about the origins of evil and suffering?
Think as carefully as you can. The story may be familiar to you, and thus may have become bland. That means you are probably missing most of the punch. As you read, ask questions like these:
| What is the root of the problem that arises between God and the two humans? Is it really just that they broke the one and only rule God had laid down for them? |
| What is the significance of the rule? Was it an arbitrary rule God laid down just as a test? Why then call the tree by such a strange name? |
| Is this really a story about crime and punishment, as most people seem to assume? (They broke a rule and are punished by a God who acts as judge or ruler??) Is God angry with them, and so He zaps them with a wrathful punishment? If it's punishment, is it retribution? |
| Why a talking snake? (People often assume the snake was the Devil. The story does not say that.) |
| Notice there is nothing in this story about eternal damnation. That idea gets introduced elsewhere. |
| How is embarrassment over nakedness in any way logically connected to eating some fruit? |
| Does God feel threatened by the human discovery of evil? If not, what's the point of the last part of the story? |
| Is this story about the origins of evil at all? Most people think of evil as behavior that intentionally and unjustifiably harms others. In this story no one engages in that kind of evil. Perhaps it would be better to say this story is about the origins of sin (and suffering), and that it claims suffering is the result of sinfulness? |