Comments on: Did the Fall Really Matter? Reflections on Genesis 3 https://brianharrisauthor.com/did-the-fall-really-matter-reflections-on-genesis-3/ Tue, 05 Aug 2025 02:17:29 +0000 hourly 1 By: Brian Harris https://brianharrisauthor.com/did-the-fall-really-matter-reflections-on-genesis-3/#comment-4646 Tue, 26 Apr 2016 09:28:46 +0000 http://brianharrisauthor.com/?p=1750#comment-4646 In reply to Allen Browne.

A very good point. While I think we tend to default to reading biblical texts as though they apply to individuals (and secondarily, communally) I think it actually works the other way round (so we should think communally first, individually secondarily). In the first instance, this is a communal verdict for humanity – which explains why we don’t all struggle with everything on the list. But taken as a whole, it applies to humanity and is generally true. I do think we should view Gen 3 and 4 as closely related – a single pericope if you like. I think we should sense the continuity of flow between expulsion and the events which take place afterwards.

]]> By: Allen Browne https://brianharrisauthor.com/did-the-fall-really-matter-reflections-on-genesis-3/#comment-4645 Tue, 26 Apr 2016 09:13:54 +0000 http://brianharrisauthor.com/?p=1750#comment-4645 Brian, I wonder if the consequences of the fall are primarily communal rather than individual?
As the wise sovereign investigates their crime, he explains that it results in struggle with the animals, struggle against each other, and struggle with creation. It is a struggle they ultimately lose. Sure enough, this struggle plays out with Cain and Abel (and within the community that Cain founds).
Do you think we should read Gen 3-4 as a single pericope like that?

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