–January 20, 2020–

by Austin Wyman

The problem of “original sin” is often misunderstood in Genesis 3. Despite God’s explicit warning, Adam and Eve’s sin is not consuming the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Behind their action of disobedience against their creator is the intention of selfishness. The first two humans were motivated by self-interest and that is what ultimately led to the downfall of humanity. From there, Genesis becomes a social commentary on how society has digressed as a result of humans’ motivation by self-interest. Cain killed his brother Abel in order to advance his position with God. Thus, the first example of human murder is the fault of self-interest. The sexual promiscuity between humans and the Nephilim is the product of self-interest and is looked down upon by God. Kass describes self-interest has become the natural instinct of human civilization, as families begin to separate and tribes begin to form in order to sustain individual priorities. Finally, the Noah narrative demonstrates God’s attempt to put an end to this trend of selfishness among the human species by wiping them from the earth. Noah is seen as someone who is righteous and exceptional to the nature of humankind. Noah does not demonstrate the same selfish tendencies as his kin, which is why God chooses him and his family to survive alone. He sees Noah and his family as the best chance to restart the world and begin human nature anew, with Noah’s selflessness as an example for other generations to follow. If this was the plan, then why does wickedness still persist? Aside from the obvious answer that this story was not meant to be taken literally, the major character flaw of humanity persisted within Noah’s line, despite him being a righteous man. His youngest son Ham saw an opportunity in exposing his father’s nudity, for which Noah cursed his son’s children to be punished. Thus, the trend of pursuing self-interest persists as humanity’s primary flaw.