What if Adam Never Sinned?

Here are a couple of questions regarding the primitive freefall of humankind: 

First: Was Adam’s sin sheer coincidence, a flukish happenstance of history? Or was it more or less inevitable, the crunch of the apple the result of freewill, where sub-angelic creatures (that would be us), and daft ones at that, were thrown into a carnival world of “epistemic distance,” where both God and the devil were in proximity to Adam only relative to his desire for them?

In other words, was the Fall a tragic contingency of history or an anthropological necessity?  This question is older than Methuselah...literally.

Also, and this borders on the nonsensical, but it bugs me nonetheless, what if Adam had obeyed his conscience and refused to taste the apple or even look at it after Eve had offered it to him as an afternoon snack? How would that have played out among their offspring? Would we have been half-fallen, quasi-sinners? If our inaugural papa chose not to sin, whereas our first mother did sin, which flawed gene of devilry wins out down the line? Would we have inherited the legacy of semi-original sin (whatever that may be)? This is so-called “middle knowledge” I’m glad I’m not privy to.

It’s also pub talk. Beer babble that involves a couple of conundrums that cannot be solved by the intimations of Scripture, much less brandy and cigars.

Yes, the above questions border on the nonsensical, but the assumption that these questions make is anything but nonsensical. Which takes us back to our original question, which was not: Was there a Fall? Yes, there was. Rather: Did the Fall have to happen or did it not have to happen?

I don’t know. If the Fall was a necessity then Adam needs an apologist. If it was a fluke of history then Pelagianism isn’t quite so pseudodox. Feel free to think about that one and get back to me.

Here’s a medieval joust of sorts that looks at the above question from a salvation perspective: Thomas Aquinas taught that if Adam had not sinned then the incarnation would not have happened, chiefly because there would have been no logical need for it. John Duns Scotus, one of his contempories, argued just the opposite: Had Adam and Eve not sinned then Jesus’ incarnation and death on a cross would have happened anyway, as a pure act of divine love.

What I love is what both men believe in reality. We are flawed creatures with warpes senses of ourselves. This is the non-hypothetical state that affords us the unique perspective to pose the above hypothetical questions.

The upshot is this: We Christians believe that the devil snaked his way into the garden. And Adam was duped. Ergo (and much ink hath been spilled on this ergo alone; see Paul and Augustine), we were duped. Whatever the answer to above questions regarding the necessity of the Fall, the fact is we are flawed creatures: less mischevious than demons, more angelic than snails, and more tragic than the extinction of dinosaurs. We are equal shmucks relative to one another.

We all need a way to crawl out of the dark hole of the underbelly of the cosmos (i.e. our sin nature), which is what the cross is for. This is the denoument of our faith story. Some theology is too rarefied for the Church to draw adequate breaths of oxygen. Welcome to the halls of Academy, where some corridors lead to a house of mirrors and others lead to a logical Black Hole. Black holes and houses of mirrors can be fun, granted you know what you look like and have a sense of gravity. 

The upshot is this: We sin in spades and then we sin some more. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. And he was raised so that we might have life. Turns out, Adam has an apologist after all. And hypothetical “middle knowledge” is relegated to the pub.

Comments

[Mitch Greer]

You have excellent musings here. You pose a gret question. The reality of Adams fall is as real as the fact that Adam chose to do wrong and not deceived. Adam seems clearly to be held responsible for his decision to eat. Same as any body is responsible for their choice to do either wrong or righteously. Simple isn't it. No one forced Adam and hence he is rightly held responsible and culpable with no possible excuse. I chose to do wrong and am therefore held responsible in the same way. No difference between Adam and myself. If Adam had not fallen, and when it became my turn and I still may have fallen or possibly not fallen. Happens I did sin and am held to the responsibility. Simple.

[Will Banister]

Thanks, Mitch. Good thoughts. I love how Adam's response to God in Genesis, i.e. "the devil made me do it" was a reason, an excuse and cause for punishment all wrapped into one, which is why the Pentateuch is so brilliant, in my opinion. So much happening on so many levels. Cheers!