How did sin enter the Fathers creation?
God did not create evil. Our first parents in their origins were created in a state of knowing God. But they freely chose evil. As a result, the state of “knowing God” was lost: our nature as created by God was disturbed. This fallen nature was transmitted by way of generation to all people. The first sin, original sin, is described in a symbolic way in Genesis 3. The guilt and effects of this unique ‘original’ sin remain as the initial reason for sin in the world. In personal sin, for which each individual is actually responsible (actual sin), we freely follow our inclinations toward evil. This sin is symbolically described in the story of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11). The Scriptures and tradition tell us far more of restoration and redemption than of original integrity and original sin. “However great the number of sins committed, grace was even greater” (Romans 5:20). In the story of Noah, for example, the rainbow becomes a sign of God’s promise of restoration (Genesis 9). “Whate
