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Reflections For Lent 2026 Part Three: The Fall Of Adam

Reflections For Lent 2026 Part Three: The Fall Of Adam

Last updated on: March 8, 2026 at 1:16 am by Henry Karlson

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Reflections For Lent 2026 Part Three: The Fall Of Adam 2026-03-08T01:16:26-05:00 Henry Karlson

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After the fall of Adam and Eve, it was up to Christ to fulfill God’s intention for humanity. Photograph: Sailko: Last Supper, Tree of Life and other stories by Taddeo Gaddi in the Santa Croce Refectory / Wikimedia Commons

Scripture does not specifically provide us a singular origin for evil. It presupposes some sort of evil was already present in the world before the fall of Adam and Eve. There are suggestions that indicate Satan and other similar spirits had their own fall due to pride. One of the ways that pride was interpreted by people of many different religious traditions is that Satan was unwilling to bow down to and show respect to humanity (a tradition which is found not only in Christianity, but in Islam as well). Whether or not that is the reason for Satan’s rebellion, Genesis suggests that there came to be a place in creation mostly untainted by sin, the Garden of Eden, which is where Adam and Eve initially lived. They were sinless, but they still had to decide for themselves if they would remain that way; that is, with their free will, they would have to make a test or choice to show if they would remain sinless. God told them that they could eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden of Eden but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; if they obeyed, they would have their choice reinforced by grace; they would be free from sin, and so free to partake of the tree of life, but if they did not, they were told they would perish. We are told that a serpent, which is often seen as a manifestation or vessel for Satan, tempted Eve to take from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, saying that instead of dying, she would become like God:

Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, `You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen 3:1-6 RSV).

Eve decided to do as they serpent told her to do; she ate, and then shared some of it with Adam. Upon consuming it, they did acquire knowledge they did not have, for they were aware of themselves and the world around them in a new way. Instead of perceiving the world in purity, they were clothed with sin, giving them a tainted vision of reality: “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons” (Gen. 3:7 RSV). This is the kind of knowledge they gained from the tree. It is not that they did not know good from evil, for if they did not, they would not know it was good to obey God; what they did not know was the experience and change which takes place when one sins. As soon as they ha disobeyed God, their relationship with God, and the world around, them, changed, and it changed for the worse. They now know evil by having done evil themselves. They were ashamed of what they had done and experienced the world in and through that shame. Similarly, they saw the choice they made corrupted them from within, making them less than they were before their sin, and it was that corruption which meant that their life would come to an end, that they would die, and not just any kind of death, but the death which was itself tainted by sin, so that in their death, corruption would continue, affecting them in their spirit even as it affected them in their body. That corruption, if not stopped, would end with the annihilation of their existence.

The fact that the serpent (and, so, Satan, directly or indirectly) encouraged disobedience shows evil had to already have some power in the created order; it already existed. Adam and Eve had been given a place to live, one which was free from corruption, and with it, the sorrows that evil brings with it. That is, the lived in paradise, and indeed, for them, any place they lived would have been paradise, because they were free from sin, and so they experienced the world in a way where the corruption of sin did not affect them. That is why, once they sinned, they found themselves kicked out of paradise, as they now knew (and so experienced) evil (and the pain and suffering which evil brings with it).

Until modern times, most commentators interpreted the story as saying Adam and Eve were the first humans and they were created by God free from sin, giving them the freedom to choose if they, and all humanity, would follow God and God’s ways. Their disobedience, like the fall of Satan, was seen as being the result of pride because they were led to believe they could become God’s equal. Science, of course, presents a major problem with this interpretation. Scientifically, it is difficult, if not impossible, to talk about a first man and woman, as humanity came to be (as with all evolutionary shifts) as a group, not individuals. Even if, somehow, it could be suggested that Adam was the first born of the group that would be designated as humans, evolution indicates not all humanity would be directly descended from Adam; there would be other families, other humans alongside him, making it difficult to see how all humanity can be seen to fall in and with Adam (which is why Pope Pius XII, in Humani Generis contended against polygenism).

How seriously should we take the Genesis creation myth, and with it, the story of Adam and Eve’s fall? Is it possible to believe that there remains (as with many other myths and legends) some historical kernel which grounds the myth to history? It is possible to suggest there could have been some sort of “historical” Adam and Eve? Yes, but to explore this possibility, we have to bring science, myth, and theology together, and enter the realm of speculation (and in doing so, try to keep Christian doctrine intact, overcoming the objections or fears of Pope Pius XII).

We can believe that there was a group of humans which emerged together, and Adam and Eve were among them (or even came later). But we can also believe that the people Genesis named as Adam and Eve existed at some point in history. They might not have been the first humans. They might not even be close to being the first humans. But they might be some humans chosen by God for a mission, a mission which would have them represent humanity, its purpose, and its potential, so that in them, all humanity shares a common destiny. They would have had a special relationship with God (similar to Israel later in history), one which granted them special graces, graces that might even have allowed them to be free from sin (perhaps given to humanity over time similar to the way graces were given to the people of Israel; so that, humanity slowly was given graces, first to produce Adam and Eve, and later, through Israel to produce Mary, the Mother of God and Jesus, the God-man). This means, thanks to the grace given to them, Adam and Eve’s actions, their choices, were important, and what they did would affect all humanity. They represented the height of “natural” humanity, of human nature free from the contamination of sin, and so in and with them, we find the first universal spokesman and woman for all humanity; they failed to follow God, that is, they gave a no to God, and so lost their grace; that choice would eventually be overcome, and fixed, with Mary and her yes, the yes which would then serve as humanity’s yes to God, a yes which would lead to her giving birth to Jesus, the God-man). The grace given to Adam and Eve (just as the grace given to Mary) gave them the potential to choose for themselves not just their own future, but also, the future of humanity, that is, where whether or not humanity would embrace the full purpose and mission God gave to it. The disobedience of Adam and Eve showed humanity was not yet ready to do so.

It might be asked, what was that purpose, what was Adam and Eve (and later Mary and Christ) expected to do? They were to be stewards of creation. Not only were they expected to guide and protect it, they were expected to share the grace they had been given so that as stewards of creation, they could be God’s instruments in creation, working to free it from the contamination that Satan’s fall had brought to it. Sadly, they failed, as they failed to obey God, and so keep the grace they had initially been given. They joined in with the rest of creation experiencing the corruption of sin, and the pain and sorrow sin brings with it. Because they were given so much potential, they also, in their fall, made the situation much worse. That is, in them and with them, the world would either receive the healing it needed, or it would find itself much worse off, and because of their sin, it is the latter which happened.

Thus, we do not need to believe that Adam and Eve were the “first” humans, in a temporal sense, but we can say they were first in the honor and authority they possessed (similar to the way the Pope of Rome is “first” among equals). Science cannot and will not know this, and so, through science, we can neither affirm or deny this, but theologically, it would seem, there has to be some “Adam” and some “Eve,” who came into the world uncorrupted, and who left it, not only corrupted, but making things worse. In Adam and Eve we see the first attempt of God to have humanity fulfill its purpose, that is, to overcome the evil corrupting creation from within creation itself. Though they failed, that purpose for humanity remained. While they were not given the gift of the tree of life, which would have been theirs if they had fulfilled that purpose, it remained something which God intended for humanity once humanity fulfilled its purpose. And this is what happened with Mary and Jesus, the second Eve and Adam. Salvation history had God work with humanity to share with it those graces it needed in order to bring about the new Eve, Mary, one who could reverse the bad decisions of Adam and Eve. This is why it is said at the Annunciation, when Gabriel told her God’s plan and Mary said let it be as God intended, it is said she made a choice, one which was to affirm God and God’s way, and so begin the process that led to the salvation of the world. Her yes meant she accepted a special pregnancy, one which allowed her to give birth, not just to another man, nor to just another undefiled man, but to the God-man, the messiah who would not only be able to fulfill God’s intentions for humanity, but to transcend it by bringing humanity (and the rest of creation) into a newly forged union with God, a union which not only brings with it the tree of life, but deifying graces.

The Christian faith is a faith filled with hope. While it reveals to us all the pain and sorrow we have caused, as a result of our sin, it also shows us God’s eschatological goal for us, a goal which is to have us share in and participate in the divine life, the life of love. Despite the way Adam and Eve cut humanity from the tree of life, Christianity tells us God continued to be at work with us, with human history, in order to make sure our purpose would be fulfilled. Adam and Eve’s failure would not have the last word. Providence, revelation, and grace raised up prophets and other religious leaders (not just with the people of Israel, but throughout all the world), to make sure we were not completely cut off from God and God’s grace. Again, God worked with humanity to produce, as it were, the new Eve (Mary, the Mother of God), who was given a special grace, the kind similar to Adam and Eve, so that she could make a decision for the rest of humanity and do what Adam and Eve had failed to do. Then, through her, through her yes, Jesus was born, and he, as the God-man, took on the sin of the world and overcame it. Jesus fulfilled what Adam did not. In him and through him, while on the cross, the corruption of sin was shown for what it is; it is limited and has an end. Christ’s resurrection from the dead is one of the ways this is demonstrated. The cross, therefore, was the means God accepted to restore us (and all creation) to what God intended us to be. On the cross, the God-man fulfilled what Mary had started, indeed, what was started with Adam and Eve. Sin has been vanquished. The cross had restored to us our access to the tree of life, though now, to attain it, we have to first die to the self, and indeed, die, but in our death, we will find the victory Christ had over death is shared with us; now our death can lead us to a new life, that is, eternal life, with all the beatitude which is found in and with God in eternity.

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N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

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