The Fall and Its Consequences according to Genesis, Chapter 3

Abstract

A COMPLETE discussion of the Fall would require a threefold treatment: (I) an analysis of Genesis, chap. 3, for the purpose of determining its exact teaching; (2) a comparison of the Hebrew story with any similar traditions among other peoples, for the purpose of discovering its relation to them; and (3) an examination of the doctrine of the story in the light of all the knowledge on the subject obtainable, for the purpose of determining its theological value. The present paper, as its title is meant to indicate, will deal only with the first of these topics. Indeed its scope will be still further limited. Since it has been satisfactorily (to the writer) shown that the Jahwist's account of Paradise originally contained but one miraculous tree, and that the second is an interpolation, the tree of life will be ignored or only incidentally mentioned; in other words, the object will be to show what Gen., chap. 3, in its original form taught concerning the Fall and its consequences.' At the outset the question forces itself upon one, whether the story of the Fall is meant for history or allegory; i. e., whether its author therein attempts to describe the actual experience of a first man and woman or simply to hold a mirror