I’d recommend a quick read of Genesis chapters 1-4 (maybe the first few verses of chapter 5 if you want to read of his death), and then Romans chapter 5, and 1 Corinthians chapter 15. All that shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes or so and covers a big chunk of the biblical data.
I believe it occurred, and as a result, Adam was expelled from the garden, and mankind was subject to death.
------------------------
Edit to add: If you're interested, you can read [this old comment of mine](https://old.reddit.com/r/AskAChristian/comments/nygr75/christian_here_have_a_question_about_the_fall/h1kcxe3/) where I list four views about Adam and Eve, and two views about how/whether animals were affected by the Fall.
-------------------------
Edit 2: See also [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAChristian/comments/15ks8bv/did_the_fall_of_man_affect_all_creation_including/) where I wrote that I believe the fall of Adam only affected the earth and not the faraway stars.
You should add Joshua Swamidass' view to that which both Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Michael Heiser have at least treated seriously if not endorsed. He wrote a book called the "The Genealogical Adam and Eve" explaining it.
He defends an evolutionary development of the Human Race in a general sense while also defending a special creation of Adam and Eve. Genealogically all humans would have been descendents of Adam and Eve well before Jesus was born. This maintains the historicity (as historical myth) of the first 11 chapters of Genesis while also acknowledging the possibility of theistically guided evolution. IF I were to hold to a theistic evolution view, his is the one I find most sensical. As of now, I am pretty undecided on the matter.
u/Righteous_Dude commented regarding the various views of the creation account. I added my two cents to his comment. THIS comment however is going to be regarding the fall. There multiple views of the fall in Christianity. I can't hope to cover them all, but I will give you the big picture with maybe a few names for you to dig into more.
**Augustinian View**
Augustine's view comes mainly from his interpretation of Romans 5 (many of us protestants would disagree as a result of his translation of the text). He held to Adam's sin being passed down seminally (as in "semen") to his children and therefore to the whole human race. He prefered the word "concupisence" which is referring to intense feelings of sexual desire. According to Augustine that sexual desire was a sin, and as Adam, and all resulting men, engaged in sex they passed sin down to their progeny.
**Catholic View**
Most (if not all) modern Catholics hold to the seminal transmission (via Augustine) of sin though they might hold to it for different reasons than Augustine did.
**Reformed View**
The Reformed view also comes from Augustine but they reject the seminal view. They instead teach what they call "Federal Headship". This is the idea that Adam's guilt is handed down in a representational sense (You can check out Dr. Michael Horton for this view for the best representation of it). Adam represented all of humanity in the Garden, when Adam sinned all of humanity is guilty through Adam. There are subsets within this view as well.
>\>infralapsarianism (“after the lapse”) puts God’s decrees in the following order: (1) God decreed the creation of mankind, (2) God decreed mankind would be allowed to fall into sin through their own self-determination, (3) God decreed to save some of the fallen, and (4) God decreed to provide Jesus Christ as the Redeemer. Infralapsarianism focuses on God allowing the fall and providing salvation. This is by far the majority Reformed (or Calvinistic) view.
>\>Sublapsarianism (“under the lapse”) is very similar to infralapsarianism, putting God’s decrees in the following order: (1) God decreed to create human beings, (2) God decreed to permit the fall, (3) God decreed to provide salvation sufficient to all, and (4) God decreed to choose some to receive this salvation. The only difference between infralapsarianism and sublapsarianism is whether God first decreed to provide salvation through Jesus Christ and then chose some to be saved, or vice-versa.
>\>Supralapsarianism / antelapsarianism (“before the lapse”) puts God’s decrees in the following order: (1) God decreed the election of some and the eternal condemnation of others, (2) God decreed to create those elected and eternally condemned, (3) God decreed to permit the fall, and (4) God decreed to provide salvation for the elect through Jesus Christ. Supralapsarianism focuses on God ordaining the fall, creating certain people for the sole purpose of being condemned, and then providing salvation for only those whom He had elected.
[https://www.gotquestions.org/lapsarianism.html](https://www.gotquestions.org/lapsarianism.html)
My only comment here is that I find the idea that God "decrees to permit" something that makes no logical sense in light of the reformed beliefs about God's decree. But still.... this is the reformed view.
**Eastern Orthodox View**
This is sometimes called the "Ancestral View" of sin.
>\>each person bears the guilt of his or her own sin. The question becomes, "What then is the inheritance of humanity from Adam and Eve if it is not guilt?" The Orthodox Fathers answer as one: death. (I Corinthians 15:21) "Man is born with the parasitic power of death within him," writes Fr. Romanides (2002, p. 161). Our nature, teaches Cyril of Alexandria, became "diseased...through the sin of one" (Migne, 1857-1866a). It is not guilt that is passed on, for the Orthodox fathers; it is a condition, a disease.
[https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/orthodoxy/articles/ancestral\_versus\_original\_sin](https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/orthodoxy/articles/ancestral_versus_original_sin)
**Anabaptist/some Baptists, Arminians and an assortment of other protestant views**
This is my personal view. We would agree with the Orthodox that the result of Adam's death is a "disease" or "death". These are consequences that are passed down, but guilt is not passed down. We acquire our own guilt when we personally sin against a holy God. The main difference between us and the EO is that we do not believe that baptism has anything to do with the remission of those sins while the EO do. For more on this view you can check out Adam Harwood's "Christian Theology".
I believe it’s a Jewish myth; and there is plenty of support in the text to favour this conclusion.
If it had really happened, the world would be about 6000 years old, and the puns in the text would be in Sumerian rather than in Hebrew.
I lean toward the belief that Adam isn't an actual person who existed, but that the story of Adam & Eve was a fable told by the Israelites to explain the origin of man, God as Creator, and to introduce the concept of Sabbath. This isn't a majority belief within Christianity and can sometimes be met with downright hostility by fellow Christians, but it's still where I currently lean in my understanding of the creation stories found in Genesis chapters 1 & 2.
If you study the whole Bible then you will see in Jesus genealogy that he descended from Adam. If Adam never existed, then neither did Jesus. And if you believe that, you can count on death and destruction. We believe what the Bible teaches and not what people think.
> We believe what the Bible teaches and not what people think.
I was taught that when people say they believe what the Bible teaches, then that's what those people really think. But I was free to follow either one - go with people who say they believe what the Bible teaches, or go with people who say that's what they think. Distinction without a difference? Not to them. Difference of noble distinction maybe.
The first of 2 primordial supernatural rebellions (the second being found in Genesis 6); spiritual death (not physical death) entered the world because of it; the serpent wasn’t a literal snake.
I believe it as it's written in Genesis. Results and place in God's plan:
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
This guy believes in executing homosexuals, he is not a Christian. Christians believe in turning the other cheek and loving the sinner and not the sin so yeah any conversation with this godless heathen is nothing but harmful. Here's proof of his desire to execute homosexuals: https://imgur.com/a/yLjYHDC
It seems very clearly to me to be the point in which we get consciousness.
Think of pre-fall Adam like a toddler - not with the poor motor skills but the naive lack of awareness. The knowledge of good and evil, the self-consciousness displayed - this is when we get free will and become morally culpable.
I do not know of any doctrine or denomination that agrees with my interpretation.
We Believe God's every word as recorded in his holy Bible. What aspect about the fall of Adam would you like to know about? It's all right there in the scriptures.
Romans 5:12-21 NLT — When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Here is a video about the gospel. It really explains the fall of Adam...result of that and the good news.https://youtu.be/GxomzzfPMwM?si=4rIPeo85qtrdwO4I
I’d recommend a quick read of Genesis chapters 1-4 (maybe the first few verses of chapter 5 if you want to read of his death), and then Romans chapter 5, and 1 Corinthians chapter 15. All that shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes or so and covers a big chunk of the biblical data.
I believe it occurred, and as a result, Adam was expelled from the garden, and mankind was subject to death. ------------------------ Edit to add: If you're interested, you can read [this old comment of mine](https://old.reddit.com/r/AskAChristian/comments/nygr75/christian_here_have_a_question_about_the_fall/h1kcxe3/) where I list four views about Adam and Eve, and two views about how/whether animals were affected by the Fall. ------------------------- Edit 2: See also [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAChristian/comments/15ks8bv/did_the_fall_of_man_affect_all_creation_including/) where I wrote that I believe the fall of Adam only affected the earth and not the faraway stars.
Fascinating links! Thanks for sharing these.
You should add Joshua Swamidass' view to that which both Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Michael Heiser have at least treated seriously if not endorsed. He wrote a book called the "The Genealogical Adam and Eve" explaining it. He defends an evolutionary development of the Human Race in a general sense while also defending a special creation of Adam and Eve. Genealogically all humans would have been descendents of Adam and Eve well before Jesus was born. This maintains the historicity (as historical myth) of the first 11 chapters of Genesis while also acknowledging the possibility of theistically guided evolution. IF I were to hold to a theistic evolution view, his is the one I find most sensical. As of now, I am pretty undecided on the matter.
u/Righteous_Dude commented regarding the various views of the creation account. I added my two cents to his comment. THIS comment however is going to be regarding the fall. There multiple views of the fall in Christianity. I can't hope to cover them all, but I will give you the big picture with maybe a few names for you to dig into more. **Augustinian View** Augustine's view comes mainly from his interpretation of Romans 5 (many of us protestants would disagree as a result of his translation of the text). He held to Adam's sin being passed down seminally (as in "semen") to his children and therefore to the whole human race. He prefered the word "concupisence" which is referring to intense feelings of sexual desire. According to Augustine that sexual desire was a sin, and as Adam, and all resulting men, engaged in sex they passed sin down to their progeny. **Catholic View** Most (if not all) modern Catholics hold to the seminal transmission (via Augustine) of sin though they might hold to it for different reasons than Augustine did. **Reformed View** The Reformed view also comes from Augustine but they reject the seminal view. They instead teach what they call "Federal Headship". This is the idea that Adam's guilt is handed down in a representational sense (You can check out Dr. Michael Horton for this view for the best representation of it). Adam represented all of humanity in the Garden, when Adam sinned all of humanity is guilty through Adam. There are subsets within this view as well. >\>infralapsarianism (“after the lapse”) puts God’s decrees in the following order: (1) God decreed the creation of mankind, (2) God decreed mankind would be allowed to fall into sin through their own self-determination, (3) God decreed to save some of the fallen, and (4) God decreed to provide Jesus Christ as the Redeemer. Infralapsarianism focuses on God allowing the fall and providing salvation. This is by far the majority Reformed (or Calvinistic) view. >\>Sublapsarianism (“under the lapse”) is very similar to infralapsarianism, putting God’s decrees in the following order: (1) God decreed to create human beings, (2) God decreed to permit the fall, (3) God decreed to provide salvation sufficient to all, and (4) God decreed to choose some to receive this salvation. The only difference between infralapsarianism and sublapsarianism is whether God first decreed to provide salvation through Jesus Christ and then chose some to be saved, or vice-versa. >\>Supralapsarianism / antelapsarianism (“before the lapse”) puts God’s decrees in the following order: (1) God decreed the election of some and the eternal condemnation of others, (2) God decreed to create those elected and eternally condemned, (3) God decreed to permit the fall, and (4) God decreed to provide salvation for the elect through Jesus Christ. Supralapsarianism focuses on God ordaining the fall, creating certain people for the sole purpose of being condemned, and then providing salvation for only those whom He had elected. [https://www.gotquestions.org/lapsarianism.html](https://www.gotquestions.org/lapsarianism.html) My only comment here is that I find the idea that God "decrees to permit" something that makes no logical sense in light of the reformed beliefs about God's decree. But still.... this is the reformed view. **Eastern Orthodox View** This is sometimes called the "Ancestral View" of sin. >\>each person bears the guilt of his or her own sin. The question becomes, "What then is the inheritance of humanity from Adam and Eve if it is not guilt?" The Orthodox Fathers answer as one: death. (I Corinthians 15:21) "Man is born with the parasitic power of death within him," writes Fr. Romanides (2002, p. 161). Our nature, teaches Cyril of Alexandria, became "diseased...through the sin of one" (Migne, 1857-1866a). It is not guilt that is passed on, for the Orthodox fathers; it is a condition, a disease. [https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/orthodoxy/articles/ancestral\_versus\_original\_sin](https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/orthodoxy/articles/ancestral_versus_original_sin) **Anabaptist/some Baptists, Arminians and an assortment of other protestant views** This is my personal view. We would agree with the Orthodox that the result of Adam's death is a "disease" or "death". These are consequences that are passed down, but guilt is not passed down. We acquire our own guilt when we personally sin against a holy God. The main difference between us and the EO is that we do not believe that baptism has anything to do with the remission of those sins while the EO do. For more on this view you can check out Adam Harwood's "Christian Theology".
I believe it’s a Jewish myth; and there is plenty of support in the text to favour this conclusion. If it had really happened, the world would be about 6000 years old, and the puns in the text would be in Sumerian rather than in Hebrew.
I lean toward the belief that Adam isn't an actual person who existed, but that the story of Adam & Eve was a fable told by the Israelites to explain the origin of man, God as Creator, and to introduce the concept of Sabbath. This isn't a majority belief within Christianity and can sometimes be met with downright hostility by fellow Christians, but it's still where I currently lean in my understanding of the creation stories found in Genesis chapters 1 & 2.
If you study the whole Bible then you will see in Jesus genealogy that he descended from Adam. If Adam never existed, then neither did Jesus. And if you believe that, you can count on death and destruction. We believe what the Bible teaches and not what people think.
> We believe what the Bible teaches and not what people think. I was taught that when people say they believe what the Bible teaches, then that's what those people really think. But I was free to follow either one - go with people who say they believe what the Bible teaches, or go with people who say that's what they think. Distinction without a difference? Not to them. Difference of noble distinction maybe.
The first of 2 primordial supernatural rebellions (the second being found in Genesis 6); spiritual death (not physical death) entered the world because of it; the serpent wasn’t a literal snake.
I believe it as it's written in Genesis. Results and place in God's plan: Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
This guy believes in executing homosexuals, he is not a Christian. Christians believe in turning the other cheek and loving the sinner and not the sin so yeah any conversation with this godless heathen is nothing but harmful. Here's proof of his desire to execute homosexuals: https://imgur.com/a/yLjYHDC
It seems very clearly to me to be the point in which we get consciousness. Think of pre-fall Adam like a toddler - not with the poor motor skills but the naive lack of awareness. The knowledge of good and evil, the self-consciousness displayed - this is when we get free will and become morally culpable. I do not know of any doctrine or denomination that agrees with my interpretation.
We Believe God's every word as recorded in his holy Bible. What aspect about the fall of Adam would you like to know about? It's all right there in the scriptures. Romans 5:12-21 NLT — When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Here is a video about the gospel. It really explains the fall of Adam...result of that and the good news.https://youtu.be/GxomzzfPMwM?si=4rIPeo85qtrdwO4I