The Genesis of Good and Evil: The Fall(out) and Original Sin in the Bible

By Mark S. Smith

For centuries, the Garden of Eden story has been a cornerstone for the Christian doctrine of the Fall and original sin. In recent years, many scholars have disputed this understanding of Genesis 3 because it has no words for sin, transgression, disobedience, or punishment. Instead, it is about how the human condition came about. Yet the picture is not so simple. The Genesis of Good and Evil examines how the idea of the Fall developed in Jewish tradition on the eve of Christianity. In the end, the Garden of Eden is a rich study of humans in relation to God that leaves open many questions. One such question is, Does Genesis 3, 4, and 6, taken together, support the Christian doctrine of original sin? Smiths well-informed, close reading of these chapters concludes that it does. In this book, he addresses the many mysterious matters of the Garden story and invites readers to explore questions of their own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
• Release date: Jan 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781611649000

Mark S. Smith

 Mark S. Smith is Helena Professor of Old Testament Literature and Exegesis at Princeton Theological Seminary. His other books include The Memoirs of God: History, Memory, and the Experience of the Divine and Where the Gods Are: Spatial Dimensions of Anthropomorphism in the Biblical World.

Book preview

Genesis 3 is one of the most widely known stories in human history. At the same time, the tale seems buried beneath its huge reception history. Mark Smith masterfully analyzes both the biblical story and its reception history, uncovering the significance of Genesis 3 beyond its traditional interpretation and also reconstructing the logic of its later receptions.

—Konrad Schmid, Professor of Hebrew Bible

and Ancient Judaism, University of Zurich

"Mark Smith’s The Genesis of Good and Evil explodes traditional assumptions that the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3 is all about the Christian doctrine of ‘original sin.’ In its place, Smith offers a far richer and more compelling theological alternative by reading the combined chapters of Genesis 3, Genesis 4, and Genesis 6 as an exploration of human desire, goodness, sin, and evil. Taken together, these chapters deliver a far more complex, textured portrait of the human condition (for good and for evil). Smith also expertly guides the reader through a fascinating interreligious history of the doctrine of human sin (Christian, Jewish, Islamic) with profound implications for how we understand ourselves as humans in today’s world. Highly recommended!"

—Dennis T. Olson, Charles T. Haley

Professor of Old Testament Theology,

Princeton Theological Seminary

Mark Smith’s latest book is an effort ‘to come to grips with Christian claims about the Fall and original sin in Genesis 3.’ He then sets off, in his inimitable way, to explore seven questions that lead him not only back to Genesis 2, and then forward to Genesis 4 and 6, but also beyond: to Augustine, Calvin, the Catholic Catechism, and seemingly every pertinent nook and cranny in the ancient Near East. Spoiler alert: Smith disagrees with a large swath of Christian tradition, finding not a fall in Genesis 3 but a fallout that comes about thereafter, though also remarkable possibilities for human goodness despite our ‘Adam-ness’ and ‘Eve-ness.’ Smith’s goal is to find out what Genesis 3 ‘really says’—which is a hackneyed and usually dubious claim, but not in the case of Smith, whose erudition will educate even the most serious scholar while his fluid prose remains intended for ‘anyone intrigued by what happened in the Garden of Eden.’ Smith ends his study in praise of theological mystery and human curiosity; there is equally also a great deal to praise in this book and in Smith’s work among us.

—Brent A. Strawn, Professor of Old Testament,

Emory University

"Mark Smith’s The Genesis of Good and Evil is a tour de force by one of the best biblical scholars of this generation. He gives a fresh, original, and compelling reading of the story about the origins of good and evil. At the same time, he draws broadly on the long and rich tapestry of Jewish and Christian traditions in weaving his own vision of this central story of ‘original sin’ and ‘the Fall.’"

—William M. Schniedewind Professor of Biblical

Studies and Northwest Semitic Languages,

University of California, Los Angeles

Smith cuts through the miasma of the history of interpretation of Genesis 3 and ‘the Fall’ with his characteristically incisive clarity. As readers hear this classic text speak afresh, they will rethink their deepest assumptions about the human condition and God’s will for us.

—Jacqueline E. Lapsley, Dean and Vice President

for Academic Affairs, Professor of Old Testament,

Princeton Theological Seminary

With a welcoming voice and his characteristic erudition, Mark Smith takes on some of the most profound questions in Western religions. As he readily acknowledges, this book raises more questions than it answers; it could not be otherwise. But for those interested in further explorations, it also offers a wealth of resources.

—Christopher B. Hays, D. Wilson Moore Associate

Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies,

Fuller Theological Seminary

Smith has written a valuable book, providing detailed analysis of biblical (especially Genesis 3–4; 6) and relevant ancient Near Eastern literature, an exploration of broad theological issues such as the nature of humanity in Genesis and ‘the mystery of God,’ and an overview of the ways ‘original sin’ has been understood by Christian theologians. Smith concludes that it is better to speak of the ‘fallout’ of what happens in Genesis 3 rather than ‘the Fall.’ This is a volume that will prove useful to the general reader and the specialist alike.

—David L. Petersen, Franklin N. Parker Professor

Emeritus of Old Testament, Candler School

of Theology, Emory University

Mark Smith has taken up a most overworked, often misread text. He addresses a most vexed and insistent theological notion. He does so, moreover, with great attention to detail, patience with theological nuance, and wide-ranging critical awareness. The outcome of his work is a rich, fresh, and suggestive theological exposition of a very old issue. Smith cannot and does not seek to void the lingering over-read of the text by church tradition. But he does invite reconsideration of matters of sin and evil. He is, moreover, alert to the contemporary urgency of the issue and offers a most welcome interpretive encounter.

—Walter Brueggemann, William Marcellus McPheeters

Professor Emeritus of Old Testament,

Columbia Theological Seminary

Was there a ‘Fall’? Was there an ‘original sin’? The prolific author Mark Smith offers insight and writes with clarity and profundity on these pivotal topics that are so vital to biblical theology. While not all will agree with every element of his analysis of the relevant texts, his reflections will provoke better understanding and further discussion. All those who are interested in these important questions will have to reckon with Smith’s perspective.

—Tremper Longman III, Distinguished Scholar

and Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies,

Westmont College

"This disarmingly honest, thoughtful, and gracefully written book addresses questions that regularly occur to readers of the biblical narratives in Genesis 1–11, but particularly in chapters 2, 3, 4, and 6. Their queries concern the nature of evil, the Fall, original sin, Satan, guilt, innocence, the implications of being human, and the ‘wrongness’ of human curiosity. Depending on the individual readers, the questions may be considered of general interest or of personal concern.

When examining specific questions and their implications, Mark S. Smith draws from knowledge and insights in the works of ancient and premodern theologians and biblical commentators typically found on traditional Christian and Jewish bookshelves as well as from research found on the bookshelves of twenty-first-century historians and language experts, all specialists in different aspects of ancient Israel’s culture and the contemporaneous civilizations of the pre-Christian, ancient Near East. Smith, a highly regarded expert in the field, answers old theological questions for himself and for a new generation of questioners.

The book reads quickly. It is an action adventure for the restless mind that has a satisfactory but open-ended conclusion. For those interested in how Smith pulls this off, he provides a large section of endnotes containing references and sidebar discussions."

—Ziony Zevit, Distinguished Professor of Biblical Literature

and Northwest Semitic Languages and Literature,

American Jewish University, Los Angeles

Smith has produced a thought-provoking, engaging discourse that clearly respects the mysteries of the divine/human drama portrayed in the Genesis 3–6 narratives. Smith’s book is as much about the subject matter—good and evil—as it is about interpreting the Scriptures: Smith invites readers’ awareness of the nature of the narrative, religious message, and the scope often used by Christian readers. Readers will be intrigued by Smith’s arguments and compelled to dialogue about their understanding of sin, human will, and the condition of humanity. This is a must-read book for scholars and churches and for anyone who seeks further understanding of commonly held beliefs. This book asks us as readers to reflect on who or what is the great nemesis or enemy—sin? the devil?—and how the Genesis 3–6 narratives contribute to modern views of sin, good, and evil.

—Mignon R. Jacobs, Dean and Chief Academic Officer,

Professor of Old Testament Studies,

Ashland Theological Seminary

The Genesis of Good and Evil

The Genesis of Good and Evil

The Fall(out) and Original Sin in the Bible

MARK S. SMITH

© 2019 Mark S. Smith

First edition

Published by Westminster John Knox Press

Louisville, Kentucky

19  20  21  22  23  24  25  26  27  28—10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Westminster John Knox Press, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202-1396. Or contact us online at www.wjkbooks.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NJPS are from The TANAKH: The New JPS Translation according to the Traditional Hebrew Text, copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society and used by permission.

Scripture texts marked NABRE are from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C., and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, 1971, and 1973 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission.

Book design by Sharon Adams

Cover design by Marc Whitaker/MTWdesign.net

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Smith, Mark S., 1955– author.

Title: The genesis of good and evil : the fall(out) and original sin in the Bible / Mark S. Smith.

Description: First edition. | Louisville, Kentucky : Westminster John Knox Press, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and indexes. |

Identifiers: LCCN 2018037050 (print) | LCCN 2018044433 (ebook) | ISBN 9781611649000 | ISBN 9780664263959 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Eden—Biblical teaching. | Bible. Genesis, I-XI—Criticism, interpretation, etc. | Fall of man—Biblical teaching. | Sin, Original—Biblical teaching.

Classification: LCC BS1237 (ebook) | LCC BS1237 .S65 2018 (print) | DDC 233/.14—dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018037050

Most Westminster John Knox Press books are available at special quantity discounts when purchased in bulk by corporations, organizations, and special-interest groups. For more information, please e-mail [e-mail].

For my parents,

always

Contents

Abbreviations

Introduction: What Are Original Sin and the Fall? Why Study Them Today?

The Fall in Christian Imagination

Original Sin in Western Churches Compared with Other Traditions

The Scope and Plan of This Book

Fundamental Points of This Study

Editions of English Translations Used in This Book

Writing Hebrew and Greek Words

Terms for the Bible and Its Parts

Scope and Retrospective Reading

1. How Common in the Scriptures Is the Fall?

The Fall in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible?

The Fall in Deuterocanonical Literature?

Where Did the Idea of the Fall Come From?

The Fall in the Dead Sea Scrolls?

The Fall in the New Testament?

Was the Serpent in the Garden Satan or the Devil?

2. What Was the Original Sin in Genesis 3 according to the Scripture and Christian Theologians?

Deuterocanonical and Intertestamental Literature

The New Testament

Augustine

John Calvin

3. How Do Scripture Scholars Interpret Genesis 3 Today?

Recent Biblical Scholarship: The Lack of Sin in the Story

Human Development as Opposed to a Story of the Fall?

The Emblematic Nature of the Two Trees of Eden

A Story behind the Story?

The Date and Setting of Genesis 2–3

4. Is Genesis 3 about Human Sin?

What Genesis 3 Says and Doesn’t Say

The Woman in the Garden

In the Beginning Was Human Desire

The Result of Eating the Fruit: Fallout, Not Fall

The Mystery of God in Genesis 2–3

5. Where Does the Story of Human Sin Begin in Genesis?

The Literary Relationship of Genesis 3 and 4

Literary Linkage between Genesis 3 and 4 in the First Mention of Sin

Further Literary Links between Genesis 3 and 4

So How Are We to Understand Genesis 3–4? Fallout, Not Fall

The Mystery of God in Genesis 4

6. Where Does Human Evil Begin in Genesis?

From Sin to Evil in Genesis 6

The Mystery of God in Genesis 6

Creation and Flood

The Author of Genesis 3–4 and 6 as Retrospective Reader-Writer

7. Are Human Beings Basically Evil according to Genesis?

Are Humans Basically Evil?

Cain and Abel as Opposite Exemplars of Primordial Humanity

Other Good People in Genesis 1–11

Epilogue: My Questions about Genesis

Do Christians Need the Devil?

Is Free Will an Adequate Explanation for Human Disobedience?

In Praise of Theological Mystery and Human Curiosity

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index of Ancient Sources

Index of Subjects

Abbreviations

Introduction

What Are Original Sin and the Fall?

Why Study Them Today?

The title of this book refers to the Garden of Eden, and the subtitle refers to the standard Christian interpretation of what happened there. As a child, I learned about original sin at my Catholic parochial school (Blessed Sacrament, located in Washington, DC). I learned that original sin was inherited by humanity from Adam and Eve as a result of their disobedience in the Garden of Eden and that it could be washed away by the sacrament of baptism. For many years this cornerstone of Christian doctrine played little role in my thinking. I encountered the concept later when I studied theology at the Catholic University of America. There I first read the writings of John Calvin, the theological giant central to the Reformed tradition. Calvin’s major work, Institutes of the Christian Religion , lays out a highly potent form of original sin. For Calvin, human beings are sinful in their entirety because of the original sin of Adam and Eve. The result was the Fall of humanity from God’s grace. ¹

I do not accept Calvin’s reading of Genesis 3. As we will see, the basis in Genesis 3 for his understanding is debatable. However, my engagement with Calvin and other Christians of different backgrounds has become a critical piece of my identity as a Catholic Christian (catholicus Christianus), to use Augustine’s term.² Jews as well as Jewish sources have also influenced my identity very deeply, while I must say that I am only beginning to take recognition of Islamic tradition. The voices of these traditions have graced this little book, which is my effort to come to grips with Christian claims about the Fall and original sin in Genesis 3.

This book is intended for anyone, religious or not, who is interested in what Genesis 3 really says. In this book, you will see how Genesis relates a dramatic, primal account of humanity that will hold surprises for Christians who read Genesis 3 as an account of the Fall. This book is also for Jewish readers interested in how their notion of the evil inclination fits into the picture. Biblical scholars and theologians concerned with the Garden story will find help in this book, but you don’t have to be a scholar or a theologian to read it. It is meant for anyone intrigued by what happened in the Garden of Eden.

The Fall in Christian Imagination

Let us begin by noting the central place that the Fall has held in Christian imagination. In what is arguably its greatest literary expression in English, the epic poem Paradise Lost written by John Milton (1608–1674) opens with these lines:

Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit

Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste

Brought death into the world, and all our woe,

With the loss of Eden, till one greater Man

Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,

Sing, Heavenly Muse, . . .

You may recognize in these words some of Milton’s biblical and classical sources. In opening in this way, Milton echoes Genesis 3, in particular the fruit of the tree that Adam and Eve ate in the Garden of Eden and the resulting loss for all humanity. Milton’s phrase, one greater Man, evokes the comparison of Adam and Christ that Paul made in two of his letters, Romans and 1 Corinthians (as we will see shortly in chapter 1).³

The Argument that Milton added as a preface to book 1 of Paradise Lost tells his readers how "the poem hastens into the midst of things [in medias res]."⁴ Christian readers may recognize something of their own nature in Milton’s theme and even in his evocation of the Latin expression in medias res. This expression applies not only to the approach that book 1 of Paradise Lost takes at the start of its epic story. It also captures a fundamental dimension of human life: when we were born, we hastened into the midst of things, with all the givens of our parents’ world. The story behind each of us is deeply informed by the genetic and physical condition of our family’s generations along with their cultural identities and historical experiences; we have in us what we have received from generations past and from our parents. Thus our story begins well before we enter the world. And in turn, well after we have returned to dust, the arc of our lives—through all that we do—will continue in countless small, mostly invisible, ways. We belong to a story line that we neither begin nor complete.⁵

This is true of the larger Christian story as well. Milton’s words recall not only the basic facts of the Christian story. They also evoke the great reality and epic story that Christians enter in medias res. This story on earth begins with Adam and Eve, and Christians enter it in medias res with the original sin accrued from humanity’s first pair. Central for Milton, as it was for Augustine⁶ (not to mention many early Christian writers),⁷ the situation into which we have entered in medias res has been characterized as the Fall.⁸ For Western churches, original sin resulted from Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God when they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, contrary to the divine command. As descendants of Adam and Eve, all humanity partakes of this state of sin.

Original Sin in Western Churches

Compared with Other Traditions

For an official formulation about original sin, we may turn to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.⁹ In paragraph 403 we hear that "the Church has always taught that the overwhelming misery which oppresses men [sic] and their inclination toward evil and death cannot be understood apart from their connection with Adam’s sin and the fact that he has transmitted to us a sin with which we are all born afflicted, a sin which is the ‘death of the soul.’ Paragraph 408 states: The consequences of original sin and of all men’s [sic] personal sins put the world as a whole in the sinful condition aptly described in St. John’s expression, ‘the sin of the world’ [John 1:29]. This expression can also refer to the negative influence exerted on people by communal situations and social structures that are the fruit of men’s [sic] sins. According to paragraph 405, original sin, though proper to each individual, . . . does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants. Paragraph 419 declares: We therefore hold, with the Council of Trent, that original sin is transmitted with human nature, ‘by propagation, not by imitation’ and that it is . . . ‘proper to each.’" In committing this original sin, this first human pair—and all humanity as well—suffered what has come to be called the Fall. This doctrine has been traditionally based on Genesis 3, with its description of Adam and Eve’s disobeying the divine command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.¹⁰ Other Western churches, such as the Lutheran and Reformed traditions, also hold a strong view of original sin.¹¹

Yet other traditions offer alternative interpretations of the Fall. Instead of original sin, ancestral sin is the term used in Eastern Orthodox tradition.¹² Its approach emphasizes the physical and moral consequences of Adam and Eve’s actions for humanity (such as corruption and death). However, ancestral sin does not impute their sin and guilt to all humanity. Ancestral sin is not a matter of biological transmission. Eastern Orthodox tradition is also less focused on the deliberate disobedience of the divine imperative and the resulting ancestral sin. Instead, rather like children, Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan.

Lacking a notion of original sin or ancestral sin, Jewish tradition notes momentous changes in the wake of Adam’s sin.¹³ Some rabbinic authorities recognized death as a consequence of Adam’s act.¹⁴ Others held that death was preordained already at the time of creation.¹⁵ While rabbinic views varied about the effects of Adam’s actions, original sin or ancestral sin was not a traditional Jewish notion. Instead, rabbinic tradition zeroed in on the notion of the evil inclination of humanity suggested by Genesis 6:5 (as we will see).¹⁶ The Qur’an likewise addresses Adam’s disobedience in Sura 7, which retells the Adam and Eve story.¹⁷ As suggested by various passages in the Qur’an,¹⁸ humans like Adam are susceptible to temptation by Satan (Iblis or shaitan). The teaching of God in the Qur’an saves from the error and transgression resulting from Adam’s sin.¹⁹ In their different ways, Eastern Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all acknowledge serious repercussions resulting from the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Yet these traditions, unlike Western Christianity, do not hold that humans are generally sinful or utterly depraved as a result of original sin.

So why is it important today to think about original sin? This concept has long informed the thinking of millions of Christians belonging to Western churches.²⁰ Without this belief, there would be for many Christians no real point in Jesus taking away the sin of the world.²¹ This correspondence between original sin and Christ’s salvific work in the world remains foundational in Western Christian theology. It also shapes the thinking of Christians the world over when it comes to a variety of other issues, in particular the human capacity to be and do good. Original sin expresses the moral dimension of the human person. It conveys the fundamental notion that as moral beings we are deeply imperfect; we can hardly help committing moral offenses or lapses against others. For Christians, it also speaks to our relationship with God. Original sin is not simply about a basic lack in human persons. It acknowledges God as the ultimate point of reference for the human condition; it implies an aspiration to behavior and belief worthy of