Before Human Sin and Evil: Desire and Fear in the Garden of God

Traditional Western Christianity has understood Genesis 3 as narrating "the fall" and "original sin." Terms such as sin, evil, disobedience, transgression, rebellion, punishment, fault, and guilt are, however, absent from Genesis 3, while desire and fear are expressly marked in the chapter. Accordingly, this chapter does not represent "the fall" or "original sin" but humanity's primordial condition. The story of humanity in Genesis 3 also does not end there. Rather, verbal connections show that its story continues into Genesis 4 and 6, suggesting a "fallout" issuing in what may be called "primordial sin."