Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?
The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.
What’s all this talk of falling? Falling from what? Falling how?
Before getting into this topic, it may be helpful to start with a few statements about the Bible’s understanding of mankind and what constitutes the basic human person. We could spend many sessions on this topic alone but we’ll proceed with some basic ideas for now.
Man (or woman) as we will use the generic “Man” as shorthand for humanity, is a being with a body and a soul. A material component and an immaterial component. Other terms: physical/spiritual or inner-man/outward-man, all of these terms are directing our minds to understand that there are two component parts to any given human person. We might use the word nature to describe both of these parts as a single whole human person. Mind or Spirit or soul can often be used interchangeably.
A few ideas from Calvin on this topic of person: body/soul, and nature:
“…first, it is to be observed, that when he {Adam} was formed out of the dust of the ground a curb was laid on his pride—nothing being more absurd than that those should glory in their excellence who not only dwell in tabernacles of clay, but are themselves in part dust and ashes. But God having not only deigned to animate a vessel of clay, but to make it the habitation of an immortal spirit, Adam might well glory in the great liberality of his Maker.
Moreover, there can be no question that man consists of a body and a soul; meaning by soul, an immortal though created essence, which is his nobler part. Sometimes he is called a spirit. But though the two terms, while they are used together, differ in their meaning, still, when spirit is used by itself it is equivalent to soul, as when Solomon speaking of death says, that the spirit returns to God who gave it (Eccles. 12:7).”
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, chapter 15
It is good to gather from Calvin that the soul of man is fit for the immortal spirit of man to dwell and is the nobler part of the person. The body is a vessel of clay (made from dust) to house a different essence (not dust), indeed the soul or spirit of man. Calvin makes additional qualifications based on this assessment.
“The body cannot be affected by any fear of spiritual punishment. This is competent only to the soul, which must therefore be endued with essence. Then the mere knowledge of a God sufficiently proves that souls which rise higher than the world must be immortal…”
Calvin continues “…the swiftness with which the human mind glances from heaven to earth, scans the secrets of nature, and, after it has embraced all ages, with intellect and memory digests each in its proper order, and reads the future in the past, clearly demonstrates that there lurks in man a something separated from the body. We have intellect by which we are able to conceive of the invisible God and angels—a thing of which body is altogether incapable. We have ideas of rectitude, justice, and honesty—ideas which the bodily senses cannot reach. The seat of these ideas must therefore be a spirit.”
John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, chapter 15
To pause for just a moment and let this soak in… Calvin is referring to the ability of the soul to take man into the past, into the future, into the heavens, all these the body cannot do, but God has given a mind/soul that can make connections to inaccessible realms. That is absolutely astounding when you ponder its weightiness.
This is a Soli Deo Gloria moment all by itself.
The conclusion of Calvin’s body/soul discussion is that the two are distinct but intended and designed to be together to form an individual person. When the fall occurs the effects will ripple through the entire person of Adam and all who come from Adam. This is important to have clear in our thinking. The entire, whole person is affected by the fall. There is not a sliver or small part that is left unaffected by the fall. The whole man (body/soul) is fallen, corrupted and under the curse of sin.
In Romans 5 this fall of Adam and its effects are spoken of as the entrance of sin into the world. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” (Romans 5:12) Death entered creation through Adam and Eve’s sin. Adam is referred to since it was him who was given the command to guard the garden and as the responsible person he is given this infamous distinction.
The Westminster Confession of Faith chapter 6, paragraphs 2,4 provide this summary of the fall:
By this sin {Adam’s} they {Adam/Eve} fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul and body.
From this original corruption, whereby we {humanity} are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions.
The fall is summarized in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, indicating that there is no exception to the rule. Any born of Adam inherits his cursed and fallen nature; body and soul are impacted under the curse, which was pronounced along with the command:
“The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
(Genesis 2:16–17)
We finish this topic up with the consideration of death – its effects on body and soul. When we talk about death, our minds may naturally gravitate to bodily death. While this is certainly one effect of the fall, it is not the most significant effect of the fall. Recall Jesus’ warning, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28)
Although physical death is definitely an important effect of the fall it serves to demonstrate outwardly what has already occurred inwardly and spiritually to the soul. As the body will be cut off from life so the soul has been separated and cut off from its Heavenly Creator and is dead already. Mankind’s soul died the same day they ate the forbidden fruit.
We may be tempted to think God didn’t make good on the threat of death when we read about the conversation Adam and Eve have with God after their fall but we would be missing the implications of what comes next.
And with that we will leave this as a cliffhanger.
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