Fall of Humanity: Then and Now
The Rise and Fall of Humanity, with hope for redemptive salvation.
Introduction
as usual, this is not a piece that is meant to proclaim my inherent authority on this topic. I am still a student of this subject and simply reconstructing notes ina clean and concise format — for public scrutiny. I am merely attempting to navigate through my faith and better understand where I sit in this spectrum of spirituality and secularism.
Part One: The Fall Then
Human Nature Defined
Genesis one and two both depict the creation narrative of our universe and arguably more importantly humanity as a whole. Genesis 1 focuses heavily on the cosmic bodies, the inception of life, and the superior dominion of humanity over the earth. Genesis two opens with the 6th day of creation when a man was formed from the dust. God mentions the only thing that was not good during the creation of the natural universe was the absence of a partner for the man. So He took a rib from the man and created women who were worthy of equal value and dignity.
Towards the end of the chapter, humanity was given their commandments to be fruitful and multiply, Adam was to name the animals, the two would tend to the garden (earth), work, love each other, and most importantly never eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16–17, NLV).
It was in Eden where God would first dwell with his people. He considered the garden to be a symbol of his earthly throne room. It was in this action and his communication with humans that we can infer that He wanted to establish a relationship with Humanity (Hiles, et al., 2015)
Disobedience and Consequences
After Eve and subsequently Adam knowingly disobeyed God in an act of arrogance to become equals to the all-powerful deity Humanity was delivered the curse as a result of their actions. The consequences such as painful labor for the women and suffering labor (work) for men. As promised by God, death was introduced into the world. Although death was not instantaneous, it was like slow cancer metastasizing throughout humanity (Shuster, 2013). Our first real exposure of sin and death was when Abel was murdered by his brother. Additionally, the two were banished from the Garden.
Although God was just and faithful to his promise of punishment He also offered grace by condemning the serpent and foreshadowing the redemption of humanity through the sacrifice of His only son, Jesus Christs (Genesis 3:14–15, NLV)
Purpose, Meaning & Prosperity
According to the article, the tree of knowledge of good and evil is placed enter of the garden as a symbolic reminder that God himself should be the center of our life (Shuster, 2013). If we are a temple for the spirit and the Garden is a throne room for God, then we can deduce that we should emulate the throne room as we house God within in the form of the spirit. That is the integral component of producing a flourishing life. If we know of God, love him and fear him simultaneously then we will rever his commands out of fervor instead of acting like Cain who merely claimed god but did not truly embody him (Hiles & et al., 2015)
So, our purpose based on the initial commands of God to man could be interpreted as the framework needed to implement if we are to live a life worth living. That would be to be fruitful and multiply (gene propagation), show dominion over the earth and animals (our ego expressing our intellectual superiority and also our advised suggestion to maintain habitable order on our miraculous paradise called Earth). Place God first and establish a relationship with him. Lastly, never impose arrogance by attempting to become equals to Him as the resulting action will surely be death.
What About Atheists and Pantheistic Worldviews
From an Atheistic perspective purpose and meaning for life could be derived from several key sources as proposed by a list of psychologists such as Dr. Viktor Frankl who proposed that meaning should be assigned to suffering to make suffering tolerable and enjoyable. Dr. Csikszentmihalyi in addition to the Dalai Lama suggests that deriving fulfillment from challenges that balance between novelty and the domain of the known make work more pleasurable. Csikszentmihalyi calls this the Flow state. Peterson also agrees to the above suggestion for finding meaning and purpose in life but proposing the purpose of life as denoted in genesis to expand the garden is the symbolic representation of exploration. Exploring the domain of the unknown, learning, being challenged, and in essence continually repeating the Hero’s Journey (Campbell, 1993).
Human nature based on the text from Genesis could be explained by the likes of Dawkins, Dalai Lama, and Harris. Harris and Dawkins would argue that gene propagation and survival were the implied meanings of the text to “be fruitful and multiply.” The Dalai Lama speaks heavily on secular ethics especially in his book Beyond Religion where he explores the humanistic values necessary to create a flourishing and fulfilling life that is rooted in compassion and mindfulness (Gyosto, 2015). Human nature from these individuals’ perspectives would suggest that we are innately oriented for survival. As individuals, we are more likely to be deceitful and “sinful”. However, we are members of society so it is less prevalent to act out those behavioral patterns whether the adherence to such societal norms is a result of willful obedience or fear of the negative consequences of breaking the rules and laws. So, we are wired to survive however the Dalai lama claims we are more likely to pursue an ethical life as opposed to being innately evil as a result of being a participating member in society (Gyosto, 2015).
I will continue with the fall part two later. But I am breaking a biblical serious down on here as well. they are lengthy reads (~30 minutes apiece) but I believe that they are certainly worth the read. At the minimum, I would greatly appreciate your input and comments as well!!
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this article, make sure to applaud it for me down below! I love writing these for myself as reconstructed notes made public, however, your support in the form of a follow or a clap (or a few) rewards me by allowing others to see this article — and my feed — as well. Thank you again, for the support, hoping that I am worth the claps and follow!
References
Campbell, J. (1993). The hero with a thousand faces. London: Fontana Press.
Gyotso, D. L. (2015). Beyond religion: Ethics for a whole world. New York: Harper Element.
Hiles, J. S., & Smith, A. F. (2015). Evaluating wisely. In Grand Canyon University (Ed.), The beginning of wisdom: An introduction to Christian thought and life (2nd ed.). Retrieved from http://lc.gcumedia.com/cwv101/the-beginning-of-wisdom-an-introduction-to-christian-thought-and-life/v2.1/#/chapter/3
Lundahl, B. W., Nimer, J., & Parsons, B. (2006). Preventing Child Abuse: A Meta-Analysis of Parent Training Programs. Research on Social Work Practice, 16(3), 251–262. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049731505284391
Pereda, N., Guilera, G., Forns, M., & Gómez-Benito, J. (2009). The prevalence of child sexual abuse in community and student samples: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 29(4), 328–338. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2009.02.007
Roodman, A. A., & Clum, G. A. (2001). Revictimization rates and method variance. Clinical Psychology Review, 21(2), 183–204. doi:10.1016/s0272–7358(99)00045–8
Shuster , M. (2013). The mystery of original sin: We don’t know why God permitted the Fall, but we know all too well the evil and sin that still plague us. Christianity Today, 57(3), 38–41. http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLA0001935909&site=eds-live&scope=site
Stoltenborgh, M., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Ijzendoorn, M. H., & Alink, L. R. (2013). Cultural–geographical differences in the occurrence of child physical abuse? A meta-analysis of global prevalence. International Journal of Psychology, 48(2), 81–94. doi:10.1080/00207594.2012.697165
