Lesson video

Hello, my young theologians.

My name is Ms. Marks and I'm going to be your religious education teacher today.

And today, we're going to be using the discipline of theology to look at the story of Eve and the idea of original sin.

So when you're ready, let's go.

So by the end of this lesson, you'll be able to retell the Genesis story of Eve and The Fall and explain different Christian perspectives on this.

Let's start with our key words.

Literal, taking something exactly as it stated without interpreting a deeper or symbolic meaning.

Original sin, the idea that all humans are born with a tendency to sin because of Adam and Eve's disobedience in the Garden of Eden.

Sin, wrong actions, thoughts or behaviours which go against God's laws and commands.

Symbolic, something that represents or stands for a deeper meaning or idea.

And The Fall, the event told in Genesis when Adam and Eve disobeyed God leading to sin entering the world.

And our lesson today will have two sections, firstly, Genesis, Eve, and The Fall.

Secondly, original sin and different Christian views.

So let's get started with our first section then, Genesis, Eve, and The Fall.

Which type of book would have more truth in it? A history book or a book of poetry? Which one would you expect to see more truth in if you were reading it? Pause the video and have a think.

You could talk to the person next to you or talk to me, off you go.

Well done, there were some fantastic ideas there.

It's a hard question, isn't it? Which one would have more truth? A history book that's maybe telling a story of something that happened that people would've fact-checked and known actually happened? Or maybe a poetry book that can tell us the truths about life and meaning and love? And I've certainly learned truth from poetry that I've read about what life is.

Maybe, it was a bit of a trick question for me to ask you.

Perhaps, they contain a different kind of truth.

Maybe, the truth we get in a history textbook is different to the kind of truth we might get in a poem.

Maybe, they can teach us different things.

We'll come back to this later in the lesson.

So when we use the discipline of theology in religious education, we can look at types of texts and interpretations of them, which can then lead to different meanings.

So this is often done by analysing texts and considering the genre of the text to understand the type of truth claims within it.

This can lead to different interpretations and the meaning that people take from that.

So one example is the debate around the roles of men and women, particularly the role of women in leadership in religion.

So here, I have a picture of a Bible bookshelf.

And the Bible, as you may know, is a really important source of authority and text within Christianity.

So it's used a lot when we use theology, when we're thinking about Christian ideas and beliefs.

And the reason this is drawn as a bookshelf rather than just one book is because the Bible is actually a collection of many different books.

So when we look at this, we can see which particular book within the Bible we're looking at when we are discussing different Christian ideas and beliefs.

And the story of Adam and Eve is first told in the Book of Genesis in the Bible.

So you can see here, it's circled in purple where Genesis is, and it's right in the very beginning, it's the first book in the Bible.

Now some Christians read this book a little bit like it is a historical account and they believe it has literal truth.

So the beginning we thought about a history book and a poem and what different truth there might be within that.

And some Christians do read Genesis and other bits of the Bible as if they are historical accounts and literally true.

Other Christians though, read this book a bit like a poetic account.

So like the poem we talked about at the beginning of the lesson and believe it has symbolic truth.

So both have truth, but just perhaps a different kind of truth like we spoke about earlier.

So the word, Genesis, the name of the book that we're talking about has its roots in ancient Greek.

Genesis, Gen from a Greek word meaning, to be born so you might know it in the word, genetics or genes.

So in the Book of Genesis, it's about the beginnings of the universe, the earth and humanity.

And in the story, Adam and Eve are said to be the first humans.

In Genesis Chapter 1, it says that God made humans on the sixth day of creation.

In Genesis Chapter Two, it goes into more detail about how the first humans were created by God.

God created Adam from dust on the ground and breathed life into him.

And God then gave Adam a role to care for the garden called, Eden and the life within it.

And in the middle of the garden, there was a tree, which was the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And God told Adam that he could eat from any tree in the garden except for this one.

God said that Adam will surely die if he eats from that tree.

After Adam met and named all the animals in the garden, God put Adam to sleep and created a woman from his rib.

God did this because none of the other animals were a suitable helper for him.

Now this word can be interpreted in different ways.

In fact, God is called a helper later in the Bible.

Some scholars believe this account of creation was written much later than the first one due to the language used.

But others believe it was all written at the same time.

So time for a quick check then.

Which of these statements is correct about how Christians read the creation story in the Book of Genesis, in the Bible? All Christians read the story as a historical account.

Some Christians read the story as history, others as poetry or all Christians read the story as a poetic account.

Which of these do you think is correct? Pause the video and have a think and I'll see what you've done in a moment.

That's right, the answer is B, some Christians read the story as history, others read it as poetry.

So in Genesis Chapter 3, it says that a serpent, a snake that God had created, spoke with a woman.

The serpent asked her about the tree of knowledge of good and evil and why she couldn't eat from it.

When the woman replied that she would die if she eats from it, the serpent said, "This is not the case." And by eating from this tree, she would gain knowledge of good and evil and be more like God.

And the woman decided to eat the fruit as it looked good and she liked the idea of gaining wisdom.

Adam was there with the woman and she passed some to him and he also ate from the tree.

This was the first time that humans had disobeyed a command from God and so this was the very first sin.

After disobeying God, Adam and the woman realised they were naked and they felt guilty about what they'd done.

They hid from God in the garden.

And when God found them and asked Adam what happened, Adam blamed the woman for giving him the fruit.

This is known as the story of The Fall as humans had fallen into a state of sin from a state of purity with God.

Some Christians believe the story has literal truth, rather like a history book about the first two humans on earth from which all other humans came.

But other Christians believe this story has symbolic truth, rather like a poem about human nature as a whole and our guilty feelings when we go against the commands of God or we do things we know we shouldn't.

So if that's the story of how The Fall happened, what happens next? Well, God gives punishments to Adam and the woman for their sin 'cause they've now disobeyed God for the first time and they're both sent out from the garden so they're no longer allowed to live there in the Garden of Eden with God and they're sent out of this paradise and they have these punishments.

The woman will have pain during childbirth and she'll desire her husband who will rule over her.

Adam will have to work the ground painfully to grow food.

If you remember, they were in the Garden of Eden where everything was growing for them and it's a paradise on earth where they wouldn't have had to work the land to get the food and now Adam's gonna have to work the ground to get food for them and Adam will return to dust.

If you remember at the beginning of the story, Adam is created by God gathering dust and breathing life into it.

And this punishment is that Adam will return to dust eventually.

And then after this, Adam gives a name to the woman, Eve.

So some view Eve as a victim of the serpent's temptation here.

And so she has given in to the temptation of the serpent who kind of tricked her really, we could say into sinning and all these different things happening and the punishment that she and Adam are now given.

But from this, none of these seem to be the punishment that God said they would have.

"Do not eat from this tree for you will surely die." Now this really puzzled me when I was at university studying theology and I wanted to kind of understand, well, why does the text say that they would surely die and then none of these seem to be them dying, do they? Can you think of how these could relate to that threat from God that Adam and Eve would surely die? Is there any way some of these could link to that? Have a think about that, pause the video and talk to the person next to you or you can talk to me.

Well, some theologians have suggested that perhaps Adam and Eve were going to be immortal because they were living with God in the Garden of Eden.

Perhaps they were never going to die, but now because of the sin, they will die one day, which of course, links to Adam returning to dust because he will now go into the ground and return to dust and never will exist and Eve will have pain during childbirth because for the human race to continue, if they're not gonna live forever, they need to reproduce.

So that's one way that some theologians have understood that passage.

So time for another check then.

Is this true or false? Adam and Eve received exactly the same punishment from God after The Fall? Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, that's false, but why? Well, it's false because they're both sent out the garden.

Yes, they have that punishment, but Adam is punished with having to work the ground painfully to grow food.

And he's told he will return to dust, Eve is given great pains during childbirth and she will desire her husband even though he will rule over her.

So we have different interpretations of this story then, the story's there for all Christians in the Bible, but they might interpret it in different ways as we spoke about earlier.

So there can be literal and symbolic interpretations of this story.

So some Christians may read it as a historical account and believe it has literal truth.

This means, that they'll believe perhaps that all humans are direct descendants of Adam and Eve.

So they were the first humans and everyone has descended from them.

The tree, the snake, and the garden all existed.

Some Christians, however, will read this as a poetic story and believe it has symbolic truth.

So this means, that they might believe that Adam and Eve represent human nature and the snake could be the desire to do what we know is wrong.

So it's a story with symbols and meaning in there and it still has truth, but in a different sense to like a historical literal account.

So when you heard me telling the story of The Fall, did you think it was meant to be taken as literally true or symbolically true? And what might have influenced you to have that view? Have a think about this.

You can pause the video and talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

So time for another check.

Is this true or false? The story of The Fall only has truth in it if it's seen as a literal historical truth, is that true or false? Pause the video, have a think and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, yeah, that's a false statement.

It's a bit of a tricky one, isn't it? But why is it false then? Well, some Christians believe the story of The Fall has symbolic truth in it about human nature in general and the desire to do what we know is wrong.

So that kind of pull to do something even though we know it's wrong and that's the kind of truth that it can have in it.

So let's do a practise task to see what we've learned then.

Using the image as a prompt, give two different interpretations of the story of The Fall in two paragraphs and you must include the following words, symbolic and literal.

So pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've written in a moment.

Well done, that was some really good thinking there.

So I asked you to give two different interpretations of the story of The Fall, and your answer might look something like this.

Some Christians will read this as a symbolic story about temptation and guilt.

Adam and Eve did not literally exist, but represent human nature in general.

Other Christians will read this as a literal story about the first humans on earth causing sin to enter the world.

Adam and Eve literally existed and all humans are descended from them.

So well done for all of your hard work there.

So onto our second section then, original sin and different Christian views.

So the story of The Fall is written in Genesis, which is in the Old Testament part of the Bible.

Saint Paul wrote much of the New Testament part of the Bible and he referred to the story of The Fall and the roles of Adam and Eve and his letters to the early followers of Jesus.

His writings show the link between sin and death that the punishments of Adam and Eve seem to relate to.

He blamed Adam for sin entering the world, but he also emphasises the role of the temptation of Eve by the serpent.

Some of the writings of Saint Paul have influenced Christian groups to not have female leadership, as Paul goes on to say that because of the temptation of Eve, a woman should remain silent in church, not have authority over men, and that they'll be saved through childbearing, through having children.

And this has been used by different Christian groups to support traditional gender roles for men and women.

And again, links back to the punishment given to Eve that her husband will rule over her.

So do these passages show Eve as a victim or a victor? Have a think about that, you can pause the video and talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

So along with the Bible, also, early Christian thinkers have helped to shape beliefs and interpretations in their religion and we have one here.

Building on the ideas found in the Bible, Augustine, in our picture, a fifth century Christian develops the idea of original sin.

Augustine believed that humans were sinful by nature because of the actions of Adam and Eve as told in Genesis Chapter 3.

So as humans are born, they are already sinful in their human nature.

Augustine interpreted the story of The Fall as having literal truth and that the original sin from Adam and Eve is passed down through the sexual act that creates new human life.

So for Augustine, every human that's born, it would've been from a sexual act between two people and so therefore, you could trace that chain all the way back to Adam and Eve because he has that literal interpretation of the story that we've been reading.

And so the original sin is passed down through that act person to person, to everyone on earth today, and it's part of human nature for Augustine.

So here's a quote from Augustine on this in his book, "The City of God," "For God created man upright, but man being of his own will corrupted begot," which means, had children, "Corrupted and condemned children.

For we are all in that one man since we are all that one man who fell into sin by the woman who was made from him before the sin." So I think you can see the story in here, the way that he's interpreting the story of The Fall that happened that we were reading earlier.

So what does it mean for humans to be corrupted and condemned? And who does Augustine blame for the sin of humans? Have a think about those questions.

You could pause the video and talk to someone next to you or talk to me.

So for Augustine here being corrupted and condemned means, being born in a sort of sinful state with that human nature stained by the original sin that Adam and Eve did.

And interestingly, he seems to blame more one man who could be Adam, but that he fell into sin because of the woman who is Eve.

So perhaps, he's blaming both of them, or perhaps, you could argue that he's blaming one more than the other.

This quote is showing us that all humans are from Adam's line because remember, Augustine has that literate interpretation to the story and they're all born sinful because of this.

And the quote does seem to blame Eve for Adam falling into sin.

So how could that influence a Christian's view about Adam and Eve today? How could it influence their view about the roles of men and women today? Have a think about that, you can pause the video or talk to someone next to you or talk to me.

So time for another check then.

The concept of original sin was developed from ideas in the Bible by early Christian thinker, Augustine, is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

That is true, well done.

So Andeep and Sofia are discussing why some Christians may read the story of Eve, The Fall, and original sin in a symbolic way.

Andeep says, "At the time of the Bible and Augustine, there wasn't any scientific knowledge of the human race.

So the story can't be read in a literal way.

To say all humans descend from two people doesn't match the science." So there just wasn't the scientific knowledge at the time of the Bible being written, but also, Augustine that we have now.

So it just doesn't match and it can't be taken in a literal way according to Andeep.

But Sofia says, "The story has a talking snake, which we know doesn't exist in nature today.

The snake could be a symbol of human desires to do the wrong thing, tempting us to sin.

The story contains symbolic and not literal truths." Many Christians today interpret the story of The Fall in a symbolic way.

Many Roman Catholic Christians read the story in a symbolic rather than a literal way.

So here we've got Danielle, who's a Roman Catholic, and she says, "I don't believe the story of The Fall is literally true, but I do believe that humans are born with a tendency towards sin within our nature, and that God's love means that we can find forgiveness for our sins through Jesus." What do you think Danielle believes about original sin from what she's said here? Pause the video and have a think, you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

That's right, it looks like Danielle believes that humans are born with original sin, but rather than it being the guilt of sin that they've kind of carried from before from someone else who's done something, it's the fact that human nature has a tendency towards doing sin.

That's what the original sin is for her.

Most Quakers also interpret the story in a symbolic way and do not teach a belief in original sin as humans are created in God's image and so are not born in a sinful state.

And this is another passage that's in the Bible about when humans are created.

So here's Tamara, who's a Quaker, and she says, "I don't believe the story of The Fall is literally true.

The word, Adam is Hebrew for man.

So the story is about humanity in general.

It's an important symbolic story about how each person becomes aware of their wrongdoings as they grow." So what do you think Tamara believes about original sin? Have a think about this, you could talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Yes, that's right.

Tamara does not believe in original sin as humans are creations of God and so cannot be sinful at birth.

Time for another check then, all Christians believe that due to Adam and Eve's actions, humans are born with original sin.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

That is false, but why? Well, there's different views in Christianity about original sin.

Some Christians do believe that Adam and Eve's sin led to all humans being born with a tendency to sin.

So it's not that they're born with the sin in them, but they're just born likely to sin as part of being humans.

Others believe the story is symbolic about human nature in general, it's not the fault of Adam and Eve.

We're not born carrying this.

It's just how humans are.

So time for another practise task to see what we've learned.

Saint Augustine, Danielle, and Tamara had three different views on The Fall and original sin.

For each person complete the table below with the views given.

So for each of them, you're going to say, did they have a literal or symbolic understanding of the story? And then what did they believe about original sin? So pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, some really good thinking there.

So I asked you for each person, Saint Augustine, Danielle, and Tamara to say whether they had a literal or a symbolic understanding of the story of The Fall.

And then to say what they believed about original sin.

And your answer may look something like this.

Saint Augustine believed the story had literal truth.

He believed it was a literal story and then we all literally descend from Adam and Eve.

And what did he believe about original sin? Well, he believed that Eve caused Adam to sin and all humans were born of the sin of Adam as his descendants.

Danielle, our Roman Catholic said the story had symbolic truth.

It wasn't a literal story, but symbolic more like a poem.

But she did believe that humans are born with a tendency to sin within their nature and the story shows this symbolically.

So she does believe in such a thing as original sin.

Tamara, who is a Quaker, believed the story has symbolic truth as well, but also, the story is symbolic about our human awareness of sin.

We're not born sinful because we are creations of God.

So Tamara did not believe in original sin, even though she had the same interpretation that it was symbolic rather than literal.

So well done for all your work there.

So let's summarise what we've learned in this lesson.

Eve and original sin.

When using theology, we consider different interpretations of meanings of text and sources of authority.

The story of the first sin is known as The Fall and is interpreted literally by some Christians and symbolically by others.

Some sources blame Eve for The Fall and for sin entering the world.

Original sin is an idea taken from texts in the Bible, but developed by Saint Augustine and many Christians today believe original sin is the natural tendency of humans to sin, but not all Christians believe that humans are born with this.

So I wonder whether you think that story should be read as a historical account or a poem and which kind of truth it might have in there for Christians.

I'll see you again soon, bye-bye.