The Divine Principle is God’s message of the Completed Testament age (Second Coming and new millennium) revealed through Rev. Sun Myung Moon (Jn. 16:13,25; Rev.10:10,11). Excerpts are cited from the Exposition of Divine Principle, HSA-UWC, 1996—English translation of the Korean text.

The Fall of Man: The Origin of Evil
Throughout human history and in all civilizations, evil has been a constant within man. In the Judeo-Christian heritage, the Bible conveys the story of the fall of the first human ancestors, Adam and Eve. Their fall caused the separation between God and man, and became the basis for evil to exist within man himself.

The biblical story of the fall tells of a "serpent deceiving Eve into eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and in turn , she convinced Adam to do likewise." (Gen.3:6). As a result, God cursed both of them and drove them from the Garden of Eden. To date, man continues to suffer tragic loss, misery and endless conflicts.

Important questions relating to the fall are: Is the story a literal or symbolic one? Is there really a talking snake? Did man fall by eating a literal fruit? Is there such a thing as a Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Tree of K/G&E), and/or, a Tree of Life? Why did God not intervene in the fall of Adam and Eve? What is the meaning, "to eat of the Tree?" (2:17). How did the fall affect man, and how will it be resolved?

The questions on the fall of man have not been satisfactorily answered throughout history, as a result, traditional Christianity does not have a clear understanding of the true reality of the fall. However, a general inference is reached, in that, Adam and Eve disobeyed God's will: "not to eat of the Tree of K/G&E." The Divine Principle however, offers deep insights into the reality of the fall and provides clear answers to the above questions.

The Tree of Life and Tree of K/G&E
The Tree of Life is not a literal tree but a symbolic one. It is mentioned many places in the Bible, e.g., Proverbs 3:18 (wisdom and understanding); 11:30 (fruit of the righteous); 13:12 (desire fulfilled); Rev.22:2 (for restoration of the nations); 22:14 (qualification to enter holy city). Christ is called the true olive tree (Rom.11:24), Jesus said he is "the vine" (Jn.15:5), and he came to give us life...." Conclusion: The Tree of Life means "Adam in perfection or perfected man," one who has attained oneness with God. In the Garden of Eden it symbolized perfected Adam.

In the context of the two trees "standing in the midst of the Garden," the Tree of Life symbolized Adam and the Tree of K/G&E symbolized Eve (as the woman, "her love" is meant to be a strong attraction to Adam). The fruit of the Tree of K/G&E is therefore the love of Eve.

The Serpent
The serpent, in the Garden of Eden, was also not a literal snake. It is clearly identified in the Bible as the fallen archangel, Lucifer. (Rev.12:9; Is.14:12; Exk.28).

The symbol of a serpent is used because of its ability to camouflage itself, to strike with poison in its fangs, and has a split tongue, symbolizing deceitfulness, etc. The fallen archangel, Lucifer became Satan.

The Meaning of the Commandment given by God
To understand the commandment given by God, we must first understand that God created Adam and Eve to grow both spiritually and physically through the three stages of growth, previously mentioned: formation, growth and completion (perfection). God's greatest concern for Adam and Eve would therefore be their potential immature sexual interaction. This would devastate God's plan to create the ideal world (kingdom of Heaven) of true love and happiness for humanity and all things of creation. God's commandment to Adam was therefore to warn him of partaking of Eve's love prematurely before they attained oneness with Him (i.e.. perfection).

How does the evidence of the Bible show this to be true? There are several clear points: 1), the Bible draws special attention to their sexual purity and innocence (2:25). 2), They violated their sexual purity and tried to conceal it (3:7). 3),They felt much fear after their act when they realized that they were actually naked (exposure of their sexual organs). 4),"Their eyes were opened..." (3:7a); their literal eyes were already opened. This quote is actually referring to their sexual awareness. 5),"To eat of the tree" is a metaphor used in the wisdom literature of the Bible to mean; "having sexual relationship with one's beloved." (see Song Sol.4:16; 5:1; 7:7; 8:4). 6), The Genesis narrative also uses the word "to know," rooted in the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, example, "Adam knew his wife..." (4:1) to mean: "Adam had sexual intercourse with his wife, Eve."

The above biblical verses are but a few of the many clear points that informs us that the fall of Adam and Eve was "premature and illicit sexual relationship." They acted contrary to God's direction and commandment for them to maintain sexual purity until maturity when He would bless them to consummate their relationship.

The Spiritual Fall and Physical Fall
The first stage of the fall took place between Eve and Lucifer, the archangel. The Principle calls this the spiritual fall, because it involved the spiritual union of the angel and Eve (who also has a spirit)(Gen.3:1,13). Eve's union with Lucifer caused her to receive much fear and other fallen elements from the angel. She in fact became stained with Satan's blood lineage. All these elements which constituted the "fallen nature" were conveyed to Adam in her sexual intercourse with him. This is called the physical fall.

*Next Issue: The Results of the Fall

Family's Forever Corner

“Since the relationship of parents and children is said to be one of unity, they are said to be one body. The relation between husband and wife is also said to be one body. Also, that between brothers and sisters. In the family, all are one body.. Centered on what are these relations called one body? They are one body centered on God’s true love, which is the center of all love. Through the process of true love the value of each element becomes equal. Then, what did God want for His children, God wanted His children to become children of filial piety, loyal citizens, saints, and holy sons and daughters.

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