The Fall Essays

Submitted By robertsm7
Words: 902
Pages: 4

Pizza
9/2/10
Dr. Cohen

Whose Fault is the Fall?

Who is to blame for the fall of man and the rise of sin? It is difficult to put all the blame on one creature because all are linked together indirectly. In order to discuss this argument further, we need to examine those suspected of initiating the fall. Each party has their own reasons as to why they are blamed; however some reasons are more convincing than others. I can conclude from these explanations that God is at fault for the fall. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made”(Gen. 3: 1) clearly introduces a deceptive creature and provides an inkling for the future of Adam and Eve. The serpent persuades Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of the tree by taking God’s words and twisting them. He also continues to tell them they “will not die”(Gen. 3: 4) and Eve cannot resist the temptation, as we already know. We witnessed that even God’s first human beings are subject to temptation. One may look at the serpent and conclude that he is the one creature at fault for the fall, but that is not necessarily the case. Can the serpent be at total fault even if it only convinced two people to violate God’s command? The serpent was brought into being by God to test Adam and Eve’s loyalty to Him; we cannot just exclude God from the situation. Although the serpent was reprimanded by God in Genesis 3: 14, does that justify His plan to test Adam and Eve? It seems as if Adam was brought into this situation unwillingly by Eve. We understand that Eve was persuaded to eat the fruit, but did she have to convince Adam to eat it as well? Adam tries to explain the situation to God; “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree…”(Gen. 3:12) Adam’s attempt of saving face is futile and God proceeds to punish them both. Eve wanted to be godlike by eating the fruit even though it meant disobeying God’s one command. If her trust in God was stronger, she would have resisted the serpent’s malicious plan to deceive her. Eve successfully damaged God’s relationship with human beings according to Garden disobedience and punishment, a summary of Genesis 3. Despite their disobedience, “…the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife…”(Gen 3:21) This illustrates for us God’s consistent love and care for the beings he has created. Is it really Eve’s fault for conceding to persuasion? Coming into a world knowing nothing but your creator and his one rule leaves little room for the expansion of knowledge. Curiosity merged with the lure of the serpent’s words got the best of Eve and led to the “disintegration of earlier connectedness” of the relationship between the created and the Creator. Yet the question still remains, which party is most at fault? We recognize God as all knowing and all powerful, but why would He choose to test Adam and Eve? Did he want to bring sin into the world? As I mentioned before, God created the “crafty” serpent, Adam, and Eve. If he is all knowing, he would be aware of the betrayal that would follow their