The Anchoress is one of my favorite bloggers, because she manages to mix pointed political commentary with pointed spiritual commentary. She takes her religion (Catholicism) very personally and very seriously, and I gain insights every time I read her thoughts.
Today, she talks a bit about Adam, Eve, and the Fall and puts forth the following observation (emphasis mine):
Their awareness of their vulnerability might have led to their excuse-making, too. Until that point they had enjoyed a blissful relationship with the Creator – there would have been no reason to fear and yet, suddenly attuned to their vulnerability, they feared enough to hem and haw and blame anyone else around, and aside from the serpent there was only each other.
Was the first sin, then, simple disobedience? That doesn’t really seem likely. Obedience, like anything else, must be learned.
Rather, I think the first sin was humanity not trusting in God but trying to guard themselves by hiding from him; humans covering themselves up both physically and metaphorically – with fig leaves and with the sloughing off of blame onto others – rather than revealing themselves and taking responsibility for their actions.
The taint of Original Sin: God has been trying to get us to trust Him, to reveal ourselves to Him and to be vulnerable (open) to Him ever since.
For those who have been through the temple, this observation carries even more weight in light of who makes the suggestion. Food for thought; read the whole thing. ..bruce..
I think it is interesting that The Anchoress thinks that the first sin was not trusting in God. Although I believe this is a mortal failure on our part, it seems to me that the first sin was wanting to be “Like God”, or as another translation put it, “as gods”. That prideful lie is Satan’s oldest temptation. The desire to be a god shows up every time we try to control our circumstances, the people around us, our future, instead of trusting him. As His created, he does not want us to become a god, but to become godly, or Christ-like – taking on his values, attitudes and character. To my way of thinking, that was our first and greatest sin.
Just a comment!