CHAPTER TWO
The Fall
Every person has on original mind, which has the nature to pursue
goodness and repel evil. But fallen people are unconsciously driven
by an evil force to commit evil acts, contrary to the desires of their
original mind. In Christianity, the one who controls this evil force
is known as Satan. This chapter, "The Fall," makes clear the identity
of Satan and the origin of evil.
I. THE ROOT OF SIN
A. The Tree of Life and the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil
Based on the Book of Genesis in the Bible, Christians have
traditionally held that somewhat vague belief that the Original Sin
and root of sin and evil was the first human ancestors' eating a piece
of fruit--the Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (for
brevity, often referred to hereafter as the fruit of good and evil).
However, is the fruit of good and evil a literal fruit, or is it a
symbol, as are many other terms in the Bible? According to The
Principle, it is a symbol.
How could a God of live, the parent of mankind, make such an
attractive fruit and leave it in a place where it could be eaten by
his children and cause them to fall (Gen 3:6)? Jesus said in Matthew
15:11, "'...not what goes into the mouth defiles a man....'" How then
could something edible cause man to fall? It is also inconceivable
that the God of love created the fruit of good and evil to test
man--so mercilessly as to ultimately cause his death--merely to see
whether or not man would obey His Word. The fact that they ate the
fruit, despite having been told that they would die, indicates that
the fruit must represent something so extremely stimulating that their
desire for it was even greater than their desire for life.
Before we can determine what the fruit of good and evil symbolizes, we
must know what the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was. Yet
the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is mentioned only a few
times in the Bible. So, in order to determine what the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolizes, we will first study the Tree of
Life, which, according to the Bible, stood with the Tree of the
Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:9, 2:17, 3:3)
and is mentioned in numerous places throughout the Bible.
1. The Tree of Life
Proverbs 13:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire
fulfilled is a tree of life." The Tree of Life is the most
fundamental hope of man. As Revelation 22:14 says, "Blessed are those
who wash their robes [of sin and evil], that they may have the right
to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates."
These passages show that attaining the Tree of Life will lead to
happiness for fallen man. Then, what is this Tree of Life, such that
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it was the hope of the Israelites of the Old Testament Age and the hop
of the Christians of the New Testament Age?
If fallen people are asked what the essence of happiness and hope is,
each person will give a different answer. One person might answer
that it is power, and another that it is wealth or knowledge. Then
what has been the common hop of people of faith throughout the history
of mankind? One thing is clear. If the innermost hope of fallen man
is the Tree of Life, then the hope of Adam before the Fall also must
have been the Tree of Life. The reason is that each person retains
his original nature deep within himself, and thus longs for that which
was originally desired before the Fall, but was lost. Genesis 3:22-24
shows that Adam desired to reach the Tree of Life, but because of his
sin was not allowed to. Thus, the Tree of Life has remained an only a
hope of fallen man.
Then what was this Tree of Life, that hope of the growing, not-yet-
perfected Adam? Could material possessions have been the basic hope
of Adam in the Garden of Eden, or power, or any external concerns?
Since he was to be lord of the cosmos and to rule all things, there
was no reason for Adam to hope for more material possessions or power.
If Adam had any deep wish while he was still unperfected, it would
only have been to achieve his own perfection. In other words, his
desire would have been to become a man of perfect character--one who
has fulfilled the Ideal for the Creation.
Therefore, the Tree of Life symbolizes the man who has fulfilled the
Purpose of the Creation. If Adam has not fallen and had attained the
Ideal for the Creation, then he would have become the Tree of Life and
he would have established the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, which is the
garden of the Tree of Life. However, Adam fell, and God blocked his
way to the Tree of Life with a flaming sword (Gen 3:24).
Since Adam abandoned the Purpose of the Creation, he became a false
tree of life and bore descendants who were false trees of life, thus
establishing a garden of false trees of life, rather than the garden
of the trees of life. Therefore, in order to establish the Kingdom of
Heaven on earth, which is the garden of the trees of life, a true Tree
of Life must appear in the fallen world and engraft all mankind to
himself. Knowing that the Tree of Life represents Adam, we can then
understand that the Tree of Life in the Old Testament (Prov 13:12)
represents Jesus (1 Cor 15:45), and the Tree of Life in the New
Testament Book of Revelation (Rev 22:14) represents the returning
Messiah. Furthermore, we can understand why the purpose of the
dispensation for salvation is to restore the Tree of Life that was
lost in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:9) in the Tree of Life that is
mentioned in the Book of Revelation (Rev 22:14).
2. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
In the Garden of Eden, God created Adam, and Eve to be his spouse. If
in the midst of the garden there was a tree to symbolize the man,
isn't it likely that there would also be a tree symbolizing the woman?
Yes, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which stood with
the Tree of Life (Gen 2:9, 2:17, 3:3), is this tree.
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In the Bible, Jesus is at times symbolically represented as a vine
(Jn 15:5) or an olive tree (Rom 11:17). In a similar fashion, Adam
and Eve are represented by two trees, and through this a clue has been
provided concerning the secret of man's Fall. To assert that there
was a Tree of Life and a Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the
midst of the Garden of Eden does not mean that there were two literal
trees in the geographical center of a literal garden, but rather means
that the two people, Adam and Eve, re the center and nucleus of God's
Ideal for the Creation. God's entire Ideal for the Creation is to be
fulfilled through man. When we see things in these terms, we can see
that the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represented the woman,
Eve. We must then conclude that the fruit of this tree is somehow
related to Eve. However, in order to understand clearly what the
fruit represents, we must first determine the identity of the serpent.
B. The Identity of the Serpent
In Genesis 3 the Bible shows that it was a serpent that tempted Eve to
sin. However, the serpent referred to there cannot be a serpent in
the literal sense--it must be a symbol.
In Genesis 3 we also see that the "serpent" talked with the woman and
that he understood that God had told Adam and Eve not to eat the Fruit
of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In order for the
"serpent" to be able to speak to man and know what God had instructed,
the "serpent" must have been a spirit being. Revelation 12:9 says,
"And that great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is
called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was
thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him,"
indicating that the "ancient serpent" is the Devil. This "ancient
serpent" is the very "serpent" which tempted Eve. Since Revelation
12:9 says that the "serpent" was thrown down from heaven, we know that
the "serpent" was in heaven prior to being thrown down, and therefore
that he must have been a spiritual being.
Since we know that the "serpent" is Satan (Rev 12:9), we can learn who
the "serpent" was by discovering who Satan is. In order to know who
Satan is, we must discover the identity of the spirit being which was
in heaven before it sinned. It can be argued that since the "serpent"
was originally in Eden before being thrown down from heaven, the
"serpent" must originally have been a being that God created with the
nature of goodness and a being that was not yet perfect, because (1)
there was no being in Eden which was not created by God; (2) God
creates only good; and (3) no good being could commit a sin after
becoming perfect.
Some imagine that this spirit being which is symbolized ass a serpent
was a being which existed even before the Creation existed and was a
being whose intent was evil, contrary to that of God. However, with
the exception of fallen man, everything in the cosmos exists according
to one perfect order; so it is not possible that there could have been
from the beginning a source of evil which was contrary to God. If
there had originally been two opposing forces in the universe, their
contradictory purposes would have caused the universe to be destroyed.
It can only be concluded that this spirit being was originally created
for the purpose of goodness, but later, while in the process of
growing, fell and became Satan. This being was able to converse with
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man; it knew God's Will; it originally lived in heaven; it had the
ability to tempt man; and this being, after falling and becoming
Satan, was still able, transcendent of time and space, to influence
man's mind and spirit, causing man to lead a life of evil. What being
is endowed with such abilities? No being other than the angel is
endowed with such abilities. One might ask whether angels can commit
sins, but biblical evidence for this is clear. In fact, when we read
2 Peter 2:4, which says "...God did not spare the angels when they
sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether
gloom...," we can clearly see that angels can and do sin. Taking due
note that Revelation 12:7-9, in saying "his angels," indicates that
the "serpent" was in fact a leader of angels, we can understand that
the "serpent" was an angel.
C. The Sin of the Angel and the Sin
of the First Man and Woman
Then what was the sin of this angel? Jude 6-7 says, "And the angels
that did not keep their own position but left their proper dwelling
have been kept by him in eternal chains in the nether gloom until the
judgment of the great day; just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the
surrounding cities, which likewise [like the angels] acted immorally
and indulged in unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a
punishment of eternal fire." The sin of the angel (in the Garden) was
the sin of fornication. Since fornication cannot be committed alone,
there must have been a partner. But who could it have been? The
Bible tells us of only three beings that sinned in the Garden of Eden;
the serpent and Adam and Eve. Let us consider what the sin of the
first man and woman could have been.
In Genesis 3:7 we read that after being tempted by the serpent and
committing sin, the first ancestors became ashamed of their nakedness
and covered the lower parts of their bodies. However, before their
fall Adam and Eve were naked but unashamed (Gen 2:25). Then when we
read that they covered the lower, or sexual, parts of their bodies
with fig leaves after they sinned, we must ask ourselves whether man
also committed the sin of fornication.
It is in fallen man's nature to try to conceal his faults and wrongs;
so if the fruit of good and evil were a fruit in the literal sense,
Adam and Eve should have covered their hands or mouths if they had
taken the fruit with their hands or had eaten it with their mouths.
Yet we find that they covered their sexual parts, not their hands and
mouths. This is an indication that Adam and Eve's transgression
involved their sexual parts. Job 31:33 says, "...I have concealed my
transgression...like Adam by hiding my iniquity in my bosom" (emphasis
added). Job's words indicate that Adam concealed his transgression,
and since we know that Adam and Eve concealed their sexual parts, we
can conclude that their sin involved their sexual parts.
In the Garden of Eden, the only sin that man would possible commit at
the risk of his life was a sin involving love. Adam and Eve were to
grow as brother and sister, and, after perfecting themselves, were to
establish the Kingdom of Heaven by becoming the first husband and wife
and creating God's family, fulfilling the Purpose of the Creation.
However, when Jesus says in John 8:44, "'You are of your father the
devil...,'" he clearly shows that fallen people are descendants of the
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Devil. Adam and Eve forsook God, their true father, and became one
with a false father, Satan, which is the reason that Romans 8:23 says,
"...we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our
bodies" (emphasis added). The fact that we are waiting for adoption
into God's lineage tells us that we are not of God's lineage. In
Matthew 3:7 and Matthew 23:33, respectively, John the Baptist and
Jesus called the people a "brood of vipers"--in other words, the
offspring of serpents-clearly indicating that fallen man is the
offspring of Satan. Thus we can clearly understand that fallen man
belongs to Satan's lineage, not God's. This is the result of Eve's
committing the sin of fornication with the angel. As a result of this
crime, all human beings have been born as the "children" of Satan.[*]
D. The Fruit of Good and Evil and the Root of Sin
Since a tree reproduces itself by its fruit (which bears the seeds)
and man reproduces by a sexual relationship, then the Fruit of the
Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolizes the sexual love of
Eve. The fact that Eve ate the fruit which Satan persuaded her to eat
means that she committed fornication with Satan. Since eating
something means to make it a part of our flesh and blood, Eve's giving
Adam the fruit of good and evil and his eating it means that Eve
caused Adam to fall through this same act of illicit love.
Therefore, the root of sin is not the first human ancestors' eating a
literal fruit, but their establishing a blood relationship through
fornication with the archangel, who was symbolized by the serpent,
This blood relationship is the cause for the Original Sin's being
passed on from generation to generation. All religions which try to
remove sin have branded and treated adultery as one of the greatest
sins. Based on this view of Original Sin, we can understand why the
Israelites had to be circumcised to be considered God's chosen people.
It was required in order to make restitution for the misuse of the
sexual parts, by which man had become Satan's descendants. We may be
able to put a stop to all other sins through social, educational, or
economic improvements, but even though civilization develops and
social and economic conditions improve to the point where we can enjoy
a more stable life, the increase of sexual promiscuity and of man;s
inclination toward moral degradation cannot be stopped by anyone.
The reason that Satan is able to break down the proper order of man;s
love as the Last Days approach is because the first ancestors became
husband and wife without the permission or blessing of God and united
with Satan an their false father. Their children where thus born as
children of sin, and not of God, and they established a world of
____________________
*Although Eve and the archangel united in actual fornication by means
of Eve's spirit body and the archangel's body (a spirit body), no
children can actually be born of a relationship between a human being
and an angel. Nonetheless, Eve inherited satanic "love," so when Eve
and Adam had their relationships, which could, of course, produce
children, their relationships were motivated by satanic "love," and
their children were bon of that "love." Thus all people are the
"children" of Satan.
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faithlessness, evil, and war. Consequently, Satan has dominated man
as he has seen fit (Jn 8:44).
Despite the fact that God created man and the cosmos, He has never
been able to have the central role in any of the world's affairs--to
rule according to his Will alone. Man cast Satan in the starring
role, and Satan has been falsely playing the part of the lord. It is
for this reason that Satan is referred to as "the ruler of this world"
(Jn 12:31) and "the god of this world" (2 Cor 4:4).
II. THE MOTIVES AND PROCESS OF THE FALL
A. The Creation of the Angels
Then with what motive and by what process did Adam and eve and the
angel fall in the Garden of Eden?
God first created the angels as servants to help with his creation and
administration of the world (Heb 1:14). However, since man was
created as the child of God and was to have dominion over the
Creation, man was also to have dominion over the angles. The reason
that today angels are usually considered higher than man is that
because of the Fall, man became so corrupt (Jer 17:9) that he stood in
a position lower than the things of the Creation, including the
angels.
1 Corinthians 6:3 clearly tells us that man will have the authority to
judge the angels, and many spiritualists see that there are angels
surrounding and protecting the faithful in Paradise. Man is to judge
angels and the angels protect man because man originally has greater
value than the angels.
B. The Spiritual Fall and the Physical Fall
1. The Spiritual Fall
Lucifer (Is 14:12) was in the position of archangel and was thus the
channel for God's love to the angelic world. It seemed as if only he
were in a position to receive God's love. However, since Adam and Eve
were created as God's children, God loved them much more than he did
Lucifer, who was created as a servant. Yet, in no way did Lucifer
actually receive any less love from God after Adam and Eve's creation
than he did before their creation. However, by God's giving so much
more love to Adam and Eve, Lucifer felt as though there had been a
reduction in the amount of love he was receiving. Because of this
feeling, Lucifer then tried to supplement the love he received by
coming closer to Adam and Eve.
Because God's love is the source of life and beauty, Eve, who received
much love from God, was very beautiful in Lucifer's eyes. Lucifer was
often very close to Eve and was strongly stimulated by an impulse of
love toward her. Eve, still being in a state of imperfection, was
susceptible to Lucifer's temptation, and they committed the sin of
fornication. This was the spiritual fall.
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One might ask how it is possible for a sexual relationship to take
place between an angel and a human being. This question arises only
because man's spiritual perception fell to such a low state due to the
Fall. However, in Genesis 32:25, the Bible shows that direct contact
between man and angel is possible when it records that an angel
wrestled with Jacob and dislocated his hip.
2. The Physical Fall
When Eve united with the archangel (through their spirit selves), she
felt a sense of fear, which came from a guilty conscience, and she
gained the knowledge that her intended spouse was Adam, not the angel.
Eve wanted to restore her relationship with God and she also wanted to
rid herself of the fear derived from the Fall. Adam was her only hope
for returning to God, and Eve though she could accomplish this by even
then becoming one with Adam, who was meant to be her spouse, and so
she seduced Adam. This was the motive of the physical fall.
As explained in "The Principles of the Creation," Adam and Eve were to
realize the Three Blessings. In order to do this they ultimately had
to become husband and wife. In other words, the Ideal for the
Creation was for Adam and Eve to perfect themselves individually and
then become husband and wife of eternal love, centered on God. But
because they acted as husband and wife prematurely and centered on
Satan, their relationship resulted in the Fall and not in the
realization of God's ideal. By uniting with Eve, Adam inherited the
evil elements which Eve had received from Lucifer. These evil
elements were then transmitted to their descendants from generation to
generation.
If the first ancestors had not "eaten of the fruit of good and evil,"
they would have perfected themselves as the son and the daughter of
God, and then, blessed by God, they would have become husband and wife
centered on God's love and produced children with natures of goodness,
fulfilling the Ideal for the Creation. Then, after Eve fulfilled the
Ideal for the Creation, her love would have been a fruit of goodness,
and she would have been likened to a tree of goodness.
However, before she could become perfect, Eve committed the sin of
fornication with the archangel and became a fallen person. She
furthermore caused Adam to fall, thus creating the first of the fallen
families, none of which God can work through. Therefore, fallen Eve
was likened to a tree of the knowledge of evil and her love to a fruit
of that tree.
In retrospect, we can see that since just prior to the Fall, Eve was
in a position to become either a tree of goodness, by accomplishing
the Purpose of the Creation, or a tree of evil, by falling, she was
symbolized by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Since prior
to the Fall, Eve's love was capable of bearing either a fruit of
goodness, fulfilling the Purpose of the Creation, or a fruit of evil
causing the Fall, her love was symbolized by a fruit of good and evil.
According to "The Principles of the Creation," God was to accomplish
the purpose of man's creation through love. Thus love is the source
of man's joy, life, and happiness. However, because the first
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ancestors disobeyed the rules of heaven, and fell, love itself was
corrupted, and Satan has dominated man and has made him suffer. Thus
Satan, who corrupted man's love, is the ringleader behind the
destruction of the ideal family.
III. HOW IT WAS POSSIBLE FOR MAN TO FALL
A. The Force of Love and the Force of The Principle
Man was created to grow to perfection, moved from within during the
growth period, or period of indirect dominion, by the force of The
Principle to live in accordance with The Principle. Therefore, the
force of The Principle cannot itself derail man from the track of The
Principle and make him fall. But prior to perfection man is liable to
be derailed from the track if hit by a force stronger than that of The
Principle, which directs man's growth. The only force stronger than
that of The Principle is the force of love, Then while man is still
imperfect, prior to experiencing the perfect love of God's direct
dominion, it is possible for him to fall because of non-Principle
"love," love directed toward a purpose different from God's.
Then why did God make the force of love stronger than the force of The
Principle? Love is the motive and purpose for God's creating the
Creation, and therefore, love is the most precious aspect of all
things, To the Creation it is the source of life, happiness, and joy.
Although God created all things in accordance with The Principle, or
laws, since he ultimately desired a dominion of love, he made love the
strongest force.
B. The Purpose of the Commandment and the Period Necessary for It
Because the force of love is stronger than the force of The Principle,
there is always the possibility that during his growth period a person
may fall due to non-Principle "love." What can prevent this? Once
the force of non-Principle "love" comes into play during their period
when a person is still imperfect and not directly in the dominion of
God's love, he may fall. In order to prevent this, God game man the
commandment 'not to eat of the fruit of good and evil'. As long as
the human ancestors had faithfully kept the commandment, they would
not have established a reciprocal base with the archangel.
Accordingly, the force of non-Principle "love" would not have come
into existence. However, since they did not maintain their faith and
observe the commandment, but instead established a reciprocal base and
a give and take relationship with the archangel, the force of immoral
"love" caused them to deviate from the track of The Principle.
Then how long would God have required the first ancestors to keep the
commandment "not to eat," which is the condition of faith that God
gave them? Once Adam and Eve had perfected themselves and established
horizontal love as husband and wife centered on God, there would have
been no force that could break that love, because the love created
between them would have been absolute love. Then, after having
perfected themselves, they could never have fallen. The force of the
lower-level love of the archangel cannot violate the love between a
perfected husband and a perfected wife. Accordingly, God's
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commandment 'not to eat' was required only as long as Adam and Eve
were still in the period prior to their perfection.
IV. THE RESULTS OF THE FALL
A. Satan and Fallen Man
What were the results brought about in the Creation by the spiritual
and physical falls of Adam and Eve and the archangel? Let us consider
this by comparing the results of the Fall with what would have
happened if Adam and Eve had not fallen, but had realized the Three
Blessings.
If Adam and Eve had not fallen, but instead had achieved the
perfection of their individual characters by becoming the incarnations
of God's vertical love, they would have become husband and wife,
establishing God's horizontal love, and they would have borne children
with natures of goodness. Then, the Four Position Foundation through
which they could experience the direct dominion of God's love would
have been realized, But because Adam and Eve fell and became the
embodiment of sin as a result of the non-Principle love initiated by
the archangel, God, who is the lord of The Principle, was excluded,
and a pseudo Four Position Foundation was established centered on
Satan's false 'love' and on Satan, who has falsely played the role of
the lord. This is the reason that the Bible says fallen people are
the children of Satan (Jn 8:44) and that he is "the god of this world"
(2 Cor 4:4) and "the ruler of this world" (Jn 12:31).
Originally man was to have dominion over the angels, as well as over
the rest of the Creation. However, Satan reversed this and came to
dominate man and the cosmos. Therefore, as Romans 8:19 says, "...the
creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of
God...." Because of man's fall, all things are crying out to be freed
from the dominion of Satan and to experience the dominion of true
persons.
B. Satan's Actions in the Fallen World
How does Satan control the fallen world? Even Satan, who is "ruler of
this world," can perform satanic actions only when he has an object
with whom he has a reciprocal base. Satan's objects are evil spirit
persons (those who dwell in the spirit world); their objects are the
spirits selves of persons on earth; and, of course, the objects
responding to people's spirit selves are their own physical selves.
Accordingly, Satan's power is manifested in persons on earth through
the influence of evil spirits in the spirit world. Furthermore, since
Satan is a spirit being, he can manifest himself transcendent of time
and space, as long as he has a reciprocal base. When Luke 22:3 says
that Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, it means that by establishing
a reciprocal base and having a give and take relationship with Satan,
Judas became the instrument of Satan. To restore the Kingdom of
Heaven on earth means to realize the world in which Satan cannot act
at all. To do this, every person must completely dissolve his
relationship with Satan and restore a relationship with heaven, having
a give and take relationship with God alone.
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C. Good and Evil Seen from the Viewpoint of Purpose
If Adam and Eve had become the incarnations of goodness and
established the Four Position Foundation with love centered on God,
they would have realized the world of Goodness. Yet, because they
related through love that was directed toward a purpose other than
God's, they became incarnations of evil, established a pseudo Four
Position Foundation (centered on Satan), and established a world of
evil.
Although in their initial stages of development good and evil actions
appear to be similar to one another, as they move to accomplish their
opposing goals they become separate and distinct. Good and evil are
not innately decided by the particular action or type of action and
result themselves, but are decided by whether the motive, direction,
and purpose are toward the Will of God or toward the will of Satan.
D. Sin
Sin is an act or thought which violates heavenly law[*], creating the
condition through which one forms a reciprocal base with Satan and
enters into a give and take relationship with him, directly or
indirectly. In the ideal world which God originally conceived of, sin
could not exist--there could not be a sinful act in the realm of God's
love, for Satan could not exist there. As the result of Adam's and
Eve's forming a reciprocal base with Satan and sinning, man lives in
the non-Principle world and commits sin by becoming Satan's partner,
directly or indirectly.
Sin can be classified as Original Sin, Hereditary Sin, Collective Sin,
and Personal Sin. Original Sin is the sin derived from the spiritual
and physical fall of the first man and woman. It is the root of all
sin. Hereditary Sin is the sin which is inherited from one's
ancestors through the blood lineage (as mentioned in the Ten
Commandments (Ex 20:5) ). This sin is analogous to the trunk of a
tree. Collective Sin in neither one's own sin nor hereditary sin, but
is the sin for which everyone is partially responsible as a member of
mankind. The faithlessness of John the Baptist, the chief priests,
and the scribes toward Jesus was responsible for his crucifixion.
Though a relatively small group of was directly responsible for the
Crucifixion, Christianity, in particular, and mankind as a whole, have
had to bear the responsibility for that sin and as a result have
suffered greatly. Collective Sin is like the branches of a tree.
Personal Sin is the sin committed by each individual. Such sins may
be compared to the leaves of a tree. All sins originate with Original
Sin, which is the root of all sin. Thus, man cannot be finally
cleansed of any sin without first being cleansed of Original Sin.
E. The Fallen Nature
The angels and the first man and woman were created with the purpose
of goodness and were to have only the original nature that they were
____________________
*Heavenly law is The Principle as it applies to proper human conduct.
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endowed with when they were created. Prior to the Fall, the relative
position of the archangel within the entire order of the Creation was
not yet completely clear. The first man and woman were still in their
growth period, in other words, they had not yet fully perfected
themselves in accordance with their original nature. The archangel
and Eve, and then fallen Eve and Adam, had illicit love relationship
while they were still not perfected. At the moment of the Fall, the
original nature was suddenly turned in the wrong direction, and this
wrongly-directed "original nature" became man's Fallen Nature. This
Fallen Nature was passed from the archangel to Eve, from fallen Eve to
Adam, and from Adam and Eve to all their descendants. The origin of
the Fallen Nature was this wrongly-directed "original nature" in the
fundamental nature which gives rise to all of the fallen natures of
fallen man. In The Principle it is called the original (in the sense
of fundamental) Fallen Nature.
The basic motive that caused the original Fallen Nature grew out of
the archangel's sensing a lessening of God's love for him after God's
creation of man. This feeling of being loved less was an inevitable
by-product for the archangel because he was endowed with desire and
wisdom in his original nature. However, it was not also inevitable
that the archangel fall because of the desire that he had been endowed
with. When man perfected himself and loved the archangel as the
(archangel's) lord, the feeling of being loved less would have
disappeared. Even in man's immature period, when a lessening of God's
love was felt by the archangel, if the archangel had maintained his
original direction, longing for God's love and centering on Him alone,
the archangel could not have fallen. However, when the archangel;s
feeling of rejection caused him to alter his direction and center on
himself, he developed a strong feeling of jealousy toward Adam. When
Eve sympathized with the archangel's feelings and viewpoint, she then
formed a reciprocal base with the archangel that led to their illicit
relationship and fall.
We can separate the original Fallen Nature into four major aspects.
First, the motivation of the archangel's fall lay in his failure to
see Adam from God's viewpoint, his failure to love Adam as God loved
him; instead he took his own direction and became jealous of Adam. We
see something of this when students feel jealousy toward a teacher's
favorite instead of loving him as the teacher does. This reaction has
its origin in the original Fallen Nature.
The second major aspect of the Fallen Nature is the nature to leave
one's own given position. The archangel's excessive desire to receive
more love from God and to enjoy the same position of love in human
society as he did in the angelic realm led to his leaving his position
and falling. The actions that fallen people perform beyond the limits
of their position and authority in order to fill an unrighteous desire
are manifestations of this original Fallen Nature.
The third major aspect of the Fallen Nature is the nature to reverse
the order of dominion. The angel was ultimately supposed to be under
man's dominion, yet he dominated Eve, reversing the proper order. Eve
was supposed to be under Adam's dominion, yet she dominated him.
These reversals of dominion resulted in the Fall. All of the various
disorders in the fallen world have their origin in this aspect of the
original Fallen Nature.
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The fourth major aspect is the nature to multiply (or pass on) unrigh-
teous desires and sinful actions. If Eve had not multiplied her crime
by seducing Adam after her fall, Adam would have not fallen. To
restore Eve alone would have been relatively simple. Eve took the
archangel's unrighteous desire 'to eat the fruit of good and evil' and
his sinful act of disobeying God and made them her own will and
direction, thus multiplying the archangel's will and actions. That
unrighteous will and disobedience were then multiplied in Adam, and
thus, the Fall was brought about. The fact that in the fallen world
evil is more rapidly transferred and multiplied than goodness is a
manifestation of this original Fallen Nature.