FREE WILL; THE ORIGINAL SIN
Free will/ Freewill is the original sin: An amateur think piece
Free Will; The Original Sin
In Christian belief, humans are born sinners from the inherited original sin. But what was the original sin?
One particular story I remember from my childhood was the tale of Adam and Eve. My religious studies teacher said Adam and Eve were the first humans; the garden of Eden is where they lived. God made a man and named him Adam and then a woman named Eve. In the garden of Eden many kinds of trees grew with fruits of different kinds. They had all there was: fruits, birds, rivers — but God only had one instruction: “You may eat from any tree of this garden, but do not eat from that tree.”
However, in that very garden there was a snake. The snake was clever with its words, and so it convinced Eve to eat an apple from the very tree God spoke of, and so did Adam. When God found out of their defiance, God banished them from the garden, and as a consequence, we carry the original sin from birth and spend our lives atoning for this sin.
From this story, although simplified, the lesson we get from this is that the original sin is disobedience. It is simple to make this conclusion: God ordered us not to do something, and then Adam and Eve did it regardless; hence, the original sin is disobedience. However, if we look at it closely, there are details that tell us a different story. Look, I’m not a theologian or any renowned person in this field whose opinion bears weight — what I’m saying is I have no significant credentials that may be taken into account in discussing this topic; I’m simply a person who wonders.
In deciphering Genesis in this amateur think piece, it is important to note that in my interpretation all that occurred in Genesis did not happen literally; instead, it is an attempt to make us understand humanity in the form of tales and the use of symbolism, and I would like to reiterate that all of what I write in this essay is my own personal interpretation.
With that said, I would like to start by quoting from Genesis 2:9, “Yahweh God caused to grow every kind of tree that is pleasing to see and good to eat, also the tree of life in the middle and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” It is a bit misleading to think that this line is merely discussing what trees existed in the Garden of Eden; rather, it points out 4 subjects: the action of eating, the various kinds of trees, the tree of life, and finally, the tree of knowledge.
When it writes ‘to eat,’ it doesn’t literally mean to consume something, but rather it is to partake in something or do something.
The various kinds of trees represent abundance; however, it is also important to note that these trees are described as ‘pleasing to see and good to eat.’ ‘Pleasing to see’ speaks of when an action or something evokes positive emotions like tranquility or joy, making us, the observer, feel good. Like how seeing kindness from others is pleasing to see. And good to eat, which simply tells us that it is also good to do the same.
The tree of life represents eternal life, not the absence of death or immortality but rather a life with God. And it is no mistake that it specifically states where the tree of life is; it is in the middle. It tells us to live a life with God; we must put God at the center of our lives — a divine dependency. To lead life with faith.
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Finally, the tree of knowledge. In the Bible it specifically writes “The knowledge of good and evil,” because it feels the need to directly tell us that it does not give us “all” knowledge but only the knowledge of what is good and evil. It emphasizes the knowledge of both; there is a reason it was not represented as separate trees but as one. Essentially, this represents our moral compass. That is, to know what is right, we must also know what is wrong, because only then can we make a choice.
These trees represent our path in life; the tree of life and the tree of knowledge represent the choices that we may make in this life or the life we choose to lead. Genesis 2:16–17 states, “Then Yahweh God gave an order to man, saying, ‘You may eat of every tree in the garden, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you will not eat, for on the day you eat of it, you will die.’” In this passage, God clearly forbids us, man, to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and yet God also does not encourage us to eat from the tree of life. This specific detail interests me most. That is because it led me to interpret that this passage is not an order from God per se but instead a warning.
“For on the day you eat of it, you will die.” Verbatim, this can be interpreted as a threat, like death literally. It’s like God is saying you will die if you disobey my order. But instead, it speaks of the death of innocence. “You will die” may be a blunt way to put it, but it is true that a part of you will die. It was a warning because as you become aware of what is right and wrong, you will now have to make a choice, based on your own principles. To part ways from divine dependency, you will now have to choose according to your own moral autonomy. This line not only tells us of the death of our innocence but also the death of connection with the divine because, in this sense, as we become aware or knowledgeable of evil, only then can we choose what is right as we know it. This warning was a foreshadowing of what’s to come.
The fall: Genesis 3:1–4. The serpent was the most crafty of God’s wild animals. He approaches Eve, asking, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden God said, ‘You must not eat, and you must not touch it or you will die.’”
I believe that this chapter was called ‘The Fall’ not only because it unravels the act of ‘disobedience’ itself but also because the fall started from doubt. There are three details that are of interest here: what the serpent represents, the location of the tree according to Eve, and the specific rule ‘you must not touch it’ added by Eve.
The line ‘The serpent was the most crafty of God’s wild animals’ led me to believe that the serpent was never a separate being; it was not the work of the devil or whatnot; it is simply our critical thinking. Because humans are indeed the most crafty of wild animals. The serpent represents our way of thinking or maybe even overthinking — to put it bluntly, the serpent represents our brain.
“Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’? Doubt does not present itself immediately; it first plants sprouts of questions such as this. Doubt alone is not a sin, as it is synonymous with curiosity. So, in the same paragraph, Eve corrects this as she says, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat, and you must not touch it or you will die.’” Though subtle, the little changes by Eve greatly change the meaning. Even in this tale, it demonstrates our tendency to exaggerate and maybe even misinterpret God’s words.
Earlier, Genesis 2:9 states that the Tree of Life is in the middle of the garden; however, Eve now states that the Tree of Knowledge is in the middle. Though it is commonly assumed that both trees were in the middle, I like to think that this misplacement was no mistake. As the tree of knowledge of good and evil represents our moral autonomy or our own moral compass, placing it at the center of our lives means we get to decide what is truly right and wrong; in doing so, it detaches and disentangles the tree of life and what it represents in our lives.
The line “You must not eat, and you must not touch it” translates to “You must not partake in it, and you must not associate with it,” and “it” speaks of the fruits of knowledge of good and evil. This can be correlated to our way of not sinning or not doing things you’re not supposed to by simply detaching from it altogether.
As many believe this is the start of temptation and whatnot, in my interpretation this is the gift and sin that we carry as humans. To elaborate, in Genesis 3:4–5 it writes “The serpent said to the woman “You will not die, but God knows the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.”
This verse, as I see it, is the first demonstration of greed and even pride. As I’ve mentioned, the serpent represents our way of thinking. To translate this in my interpretation, the line translates to “You have nothing to lose when you partake in it; only then will you understand and only then can you truly know what is good and evil.” This is curiosity, and so knowledge from experience is what we seek; we do not heed warnings because, again, knowledge is what we seek.
The line “your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.” speaks of enlightenment from experience, that through our understanding and knowledge alone we can now discern what is good and evil, like gods as we know it.
The verse continues, Genesis 3:6–7, ‘The woman saw that the fruit was good to eat and pleasant to the eyes and ideal for gaining knowledge.’ She took its fruits and ate them and gave some to her husband. He ate it. Then their eyes were opened, and both of them were naked.
“The woman saw that the fruit was good to eat and pleasant to the eyes and ideal for gaining knowledge.” Eve was essentially thinking that it was good to do the same, as it is pleasing to see and ideal for gaining knowledge. This line tells us that we seek knowledge through experience, not faith. Eve thinking this and finally eating the ‘fruit’ and sharing it with Adam, the original sin was committed. The sin was not merely an act of disobedience, but it is our very own gift of free will after all, because we were made to be curious, to think, and to choose. Despite restrictions or whatnot, we insist that we must see it for ourselves. There are no serpents to blame; there are no demons to blame for mischief, only our choices and their consequences. No warnings will stop us, not even a warning from God, because we are free to think and free to choose — this is free will, just how Eve was free to think that the fruit was good to eat, pleasing to see, and ideal for gaining knowledge, and just like her, we suffer the same consequences from our very own free will. Free will is the very blessing that we hold close to divinity, and yet it is that same free will that breeds the same sin, the original sin.
