Christian Worldview Concepts

Essentials of the Christian Worldview

Fall

Genesis 3 records the disastrous event known as the Fall — the initial entrance of sin into human experience and the condition that plagues humankind today. Humans were intended to live forever in the good world God had created; a place where doors would never need to be locked, where no one ever fell ill with sickness or was injured. However, the world's first parents, Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God, bringing upon themselves and their offspring disharmony, disease, fear, rivalry and death. From Adam, all human beings enter the world afflicted with a fundamental flaw — a disposition to commit acts that violate God's holy standards. The Fall of humanity is so complete that it affects the physical world as well. The biblical stories of Adam and Eve's alienation from one another immediately following their sin (Genesis 3), the murder of Abel by Cain (Genesis 4) and the Great Flood (Genesis 6-9) illustrate how sin affects everything. The following is true in this world because of the Fall:

• The entire creation is in a state of decay and disruption, yet it retains some of its inherent goodness.
• Natural systems throughout the universe do not function as they were originally created.
• The corruption of God's good creation resulted in scarcity, which produces the conditions for competition, greed, covetousness, etc. to flourish. These conditions require delineations of rights and obligations, ethics and moral principles.
• Although fallen, human beings as divine imagebearers are capable of performing good acts.
• Human beings experience physical sickness, illness and death.
• Human beings experience alienation in their relationships with God and human beings.
• Humans are incapable of restoring themselves to their original created state.