Fresh Thoughts about the Fall
February 01st, 2026 by G.
- The temple teaches us that the Garden and the Fall are mythic–that is to say, they are a true story but they describe something basic about what it means to be human and the course we have to follow. We all get that the story teaches that you have grow up, you can’t stay a child forever. But few of us realize that the story also teaches that you have to start as a child. Innocence is a necessary stage of growth. Why?
- The tree of life in the garden represents infinite time. The tree of knowledge represents making choices that matter. There is a sense in which if you have literally *infinite* time, nothing you do matters.
- 2 Nephi 2 has a LOT to say about the Garden and the Fall.
- A lot of what the story has to say about the sexes is specifically about sex.
- The snake’s temptation of Eve is basically a denial a tragedy. His answer seems to be a complete non sequitur at first. She says, ‘but if I eat that fruit I will die.’ Snake says, ‘no, you won’t, because the fruit gives you knowledge.’ How is that an argument? Well, its an argument if you have the hidden premise that it would be mean or unhappy if acquiring knowledge meant you would die, so therefore obviously you aren’t going to die. In other words, the hidden premise that makes the whole argument work is a denial of tragedy. This may have been particularly appealing to Eve in that she lived in a world without tragedy. Randomly enough, some of these tendencies map in my mind to modern political persuasions. Liberalism is the denial of tragedy. Conservatism is the recognition that the tragedy is real and bitter and nasty and unavoidable. I no longer consider myself a conservative, though, because I believe that beyond the tragedy is a deeper miracle that redeems it.
- Thou Worm Jacob. (Credit to my sister in law for pointing this out).
- The snake tempts Eve and is punished with being lowly, but while still having the power to ‘bruise the heel’ at the price of having his head crushed
- Jacob bruises Esau’s heel —Genesis 25:26
- The Lord calls Jacob a worm–Isaiah 41:14–which is Israel, i.e., us
- “Worm” and “snake” are the same thing in the scriptures. See, e.g., Micah 7:17,
- “Worm” is usually a symbol of death and decay in the scriptures
- I don’t what any of this means, but given the close connection between the fall and having seed, it is interesting to think of Eve as in a way being tempted by her descendants (Israel)
Comments (6)
Filed under: We transcend your bourgeois categories | No Tag
Filed under: We transcend your bourgeois categories | No Tag
February 01st, 2026 09:51:16
WJT
February 1, 2026
Another serpentine or reptilian aspect of Jacob is that he is hairless (“my brother is a hairy man, but I am a smooth”).
The serpent deceives Adam. Jacob deceives Edom, which is a form of the same name.
G.
February 1, 2026
And of course Christ, who is the one who’s heal the serpent is traditionally thought to attempt to bruise, is the firstborn like Esau
DD
February 1, 2026
re: WJT
No, the serpent did not deceive Adam, it deceived Eve. Adam simply rebelled.
G.
February 1, 2026
They are one flesh
For the purposes of finding parallels I think this counts
But anyhow Esau was not deceived directly either
E. C.
February 1, 2026
Ah, but the serpent is also a symbol of rebirth! It sheds its skin, becoming a ‘new creature’. Therefore, Jacob’s being called a worm is also a type of Christ.
The snake, by the way, isn’t an either/or sort of symbol.
Esau’s adventures in the Apocrypha suggest that he may have stolen (back) Adam’s original garment from (I think) the Edomites, which he then gave to Jacob in return for that mess of pottage, adding a further wrinkle. Don’t quote me on that last one, it’s been a minute since I read that story.
[]
February 3, 2026
That Isaiah verse is interesting, the “tola” in it is a grub processed for scarlet dye, which seems to have been a rich image for the gross/expensive contrast in it.