A Short Reflection on Human Nature

The Bible’s first two chapters paint a picture of God’s creation in harmony: people, living creatures and the natural world all fit perfectly together. The creation myths of the time these stories were written described a world born out of violence and hatred, battles in the heavenly realms. However, Genesis 1 says: ‘God saw all that he had made, and it was very good’.

Genesis 3 is where things start to go wrong for humanity. It shows the truths about human nature. We’re drawn to the bad stuff. There appears to be something darkly attractive about stepping over the boundaries and doing what we know we shouldn’t do. When Adam and Eve disobey God, they become ashamed of who they are. They try to avoid responsibility – Adam blames Eve, and Eve blames the snake. The harmony between them is broken, and so is the harmony of nature. As a result death enters the natural world as God makes clothing for them out of animal skins. Life becomes much harder and much more painful.

The French mystic, political activist, theologian and philosopher Simone Weil once wrote: ‘Imaginary evil is romantic and varied; real evil is gloomy, monotonous, barren, boring. Imaginary good is boring; real good is always new, marvellous, intoxicating.’

Adam and Eve weren’t abandoned, and the rich tapestry of the Bible is threaded through with grace. But Genesis 3 is a warning: sin has consequences, and when we do wrong we will regret it.