3 The Fall of Adam and Eve Genesis 3

3

The Fall of Adam and Eve Read Genesis 3

She took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6

Genesis 3 tells how Adam and Eve’s intimacy with God and with each other is disrupted. The serpent enters the scene. The serpent represents anything that can separate a person from God. The woman, with the man as her silent partner, speaks to the serpent. They examine the possibility of disobeying God. Will Adam and Eve accept God’s moral order and trust in his love?

The serpent asks the man and the woman if they can eat from every tree in the garden. The woman replies that God forbade them to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden. The serpent misleads them. He tells them that the reason God forbade them to eat this fruit is that it will give them God’s own knowledge of good and evil. Things are always more tempting when they are forbidden, and this is obviously the case here. The woman takes the fruit, eats it, and gives some to the man, who does the same.

The consequences are immediate. The intimacy between Adam and Eve is shattered. They become ashamed of their nakedness. Genesis says “they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves” (Genesis 3:7). They also lose their intimacy with God: hearing God walking in the garden, the man and the woman hide in fear.

When God calls to them, they tell him they are naked. Who told you so, God asks, and continues, “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” (Genesis 3:11).

Adam and Eve now distrust one another. The man takes no responsibility for his actions but blames the woman. The woman blames the snake. The man and the woman have learned what it means to live outside of God’s moral order. It leads to mistrust, blame, and broken relationships.

The man and the woman have discovered that sin causes suffering: the world now becomes a place demanding hard work. The woman loses her equal partnership with her husband, and he will dominate her. The man must work to feed them. The woman must have her children in pain. They must leave the garden of paradise. Another consequence is that the human family will be born into original sin as a result of the sin of our first parents.

God gives Adam and Eve a sign of protection. They receive garments of skin before they are expelled from paradise. Life without suffering—symbolized by a garden of intimacy and sharing for all and with all—is over. Anyone who thinks that humans can create such a place without respecting God’s moral order learns the same lesson Adam and Eve learned. The result can only be disaster.

CCC, 396–405: Man’s first sin