Of temptation, admitting one's fault, and faith in God (among others) in just one story

Sometimes when I look at the story of the original sin backwards, it strikes me that it is very much like the myths that we know of today. Sometimes I go thinking that maybe the story was created in an attempt to explain some of man’s predicaments: why there are temptations, why man succumbs to temptations, why man suffers, etc. But even if I don’t look at the story that way, my interpretation of it stays the same.

Sometimes the original sin is invoked by men to tell women that women are embodiments of temptation; that it is because of women that men commit sin. But I guess it should not be viewed as such.

I think the original sin should be viewed as an illustration of how weak man (meaning, both man and woman) is in the face of temptation (as illustrated by Eve believing the serpent, and Adam succumbing to temptation and biting into the forbidden fruit); of man’s incapacity to admit his fault and to take responsibility for his actions; and of man’s tendency to blame others for his mistakes (as illustrated by Adam blaming Eve for making him bite the fruit, instead of himself for being not wise or strong enough to have fought the temptation and chided Eve instead). To this day, many still blame others for their weaknesses, for their failures, for their wretched existence.

I don’t think the original sin is a question of who tempted whom, or who made whom do what. Neither is it a gender issue. I think it is about man being handicapped in making the right choices. (And may be that explains why, to this day, making the right choices is often a struggle to many.) Eve could have chosen not to listen to the serpent’s speech. Adam could have stopped Eve from listening to the serpent; or, if Eve persisted, he could have left her do the biting. He could have chosen not to have anything to do with the forbidden fruit. Instead, he took the fruit from Eve and bit it.

Finally, the original sin can also be about man’s lack of faith in God, as illustrated by Eve (and Adam) believing in the serpent, rather than trusting God’s warning.



//First posted by SEB in Ms. LJ Galleta’s blog in www.iluko.com .