The Fall

Definition and Meaning

The Fall refers to two related realities. The first is the event in which the first humans, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God's command and ate the fruit of "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." The second is the resulting condition in which humanity lost its right relationship with God and came under sin and death. The Korean term is tarak (墮落). The concept is closely paired with "original sin," the state of sin passed on to all humanity through the first transgression. Theologians commonly describe the Fall as the second movement in the biblical narrative of creation, Fall, and redemption (being bought back at a price).

Biblical and Historical Background

The foundational text on the Fall is Genesis 3. The chapter recounts, in sequence, the serpent's temptation, the act of disobedience, shame and hiding, the curse, and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. In the New Testament, Romans 5:12 and 1 Corinthians 15:22 contrast Adam's disobedience with Christ's obedience.

In the fifth century, Augustine formulated the doctrine of original sin, according to which Adam's sin is passed on to all his descendants. He contended against Pelagianism, which held that human beings are able to choose the good by their own power. The Eastern Orthodox Church tends to emphasize the transmission of death and corruption rather than of Adam's guilt (responsibility for sin). The Reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin taught that the Fall corrupted the whole of human nature. This teaching is commonly called "total depravity," meaning that every part of the human person is affected by sin, so that people cannot return to God by their own power.

In Korean Churches

• Presbyterians hold as their standard Chapter 6 of the Westminster Confession of Faith ("Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof"). Accordingly, they affirm total depravity and the teaching that Adam's guilt is imputed (transferred and reckoned) to his descendants.
• Methodist, Holiness, and other Wesleyan churches follow John Wesley in affirming original sin and total depravity. They hold, however, that through prevenient grace, which God extends beforehand to all people, the ability to respond to the gospel is restored.
• Baptists emphasize personal conversion. On the question of whether infants bear the guilt of original sin, explanations vary among churches and theologians.
• Full Gospel (Pentecostal) churches sometimes teach that the Fall brought not only spiritual death but also sickness and poverty, and that restoration from all of these comes through the cross. This teaching is widely associated with the "threefold blessing" preaching of David Yonggi Cho.

In congregational life, the Fall is a basic topic in new member classes and evangelism materials. For example, the evangelistic booklet The Four Spiritual Laws, used by Korea Campus Crusade for Christ, presents the Fall through the principle that people are separated from God by sin. In recent years, debate has also continued over whether Adam should be regarded as a historical figure, a discussion intertwined with the creation and evolution controversy.