Theological glossary · FaithLogic

The Fall

The first human rebellion against God (Genesis 3) and its catastrophic consequences — guilt, alienation, a corrupted nature, and death — passed to the whole race.

English 'fall', long used for the descent from the original state of innocence; Latin lapsus.

Genesis 3:1–24; Romans 5:12–21; 8:19–22; 1 Corinthians 15:21–22; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14.

Read by Paul as a real, representative event: Adam's disobedience brought sin, condemnation, and death 'to all men', paralleling Christ's obedience bringing righteousness and life. Genre and historicity of Genesis 3 are debated; the theology of Romans 5 is the load-bearing text.

The fall presupposes a good creation — sin is a corruption of something God made 'very good', not an eternal principle. Genesis 3:15 pairs the fall with the first promise of a deliverer.

Whether the doctrine requires a historical Adam and a single first pair; how it relates to death in the pre-human biological world; the genre of Genesis 2–3.

Open in the glossary for related terms and the doctrines this concept appears in.