Tag Archives: Rebellion

Divine Regrets

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Yesterday’s post was a bit of speculation about our ideas of original sin, rebellion from the authority of God, the biblical account, and their interface with science – specifically genetics. The post offered:

In a faith discussion that accepts evolution one has to wonder if natural selection would have conferred on them tendencies for behaviors that favored passing on of their genes. Competition for resources and breeding opportunities would have led to behaviors that, for moral agents, would be sinful.  When they were first somehow made aware of God and God’s will for them, a call to trust and obey God would have been in tension with their instincts. It seems instincts won and the rebellion spreads. 

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The Rebellion Spreads

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Last Friday the first reading, from Genesis, recounted the story of “original sin.” It is an event known by various monikers, among which are: “the fall of man,” “the fall from grace,” “paradise lost,” and “eating of the forbidden fruit.” In a post from that day I offered an alternative to our traditional monikers. I suggested that Adam and Eve’s action was  not merely a moral failing but an act of defiance against God’s command. They  consciously chose to disobey God’s explicit instruction not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was no sinful mistake but an act of rebellion in which their desire to define good and evil for themselves was a rejection of God’s authority.

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Original Rebellion

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The first reading today, from Genesis, recounts the story of “original sin,” “the fall of man,” “the fall from grace,” “paradise lost,” “eating of the forbidden fruit,” and a host of other names. Each of the monikers has their origin. The term “original sin” originates primarily from the theological development of Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD) who was the first to systematize the doctrine of original sin as it is understood in Western Christianity. Earlier, Church Fathers, in various forms, did discuss the consequences of Adam’s sin. Some key figures include:

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Rebellion

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“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold” is a quote from the William Butler Yeats poem “The second coming.”

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

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