 Genesis describes how sin entered the world through Adam and Eve’s attempt to be equal to God. The stories of Cain and Abel, Noah and the Flood, and the Tower of Babel illustrate how sin continued to spread. 1. Genesis 3:1-24. fall and sin 2. Genesis 4:1-16. Cain and Abel 3. Genesis 6:9-22; 7:1-24; Noah (1) 4. 8; & 9. Noah (2) 5. Genesis 11:1-9. Babel

Fall and Sin Cain and Abel Noah Babel

Answers from the Jewish and Catholic perspectives

If we are to learn from the stories in Genesis that God made everything good, including people, then why do these people do bad things?

 Some answers based on the text/bible itself:  They were curious They wanted to know about the one thing that God told them to avoid.  They were tempted They never would have wanted to taste the fruit without the snake persuading Eve

God made humans to be good God also put into people an inclination towards wanting more than simply what they’ve been given  Without this inclination, no one would build a house or get married or have a career or make the world better  However, this inclination can also make people greedy, selfish, defiant, disobedient, untrusting, self indulgent, hateful.  People have a choice about how to use this inclination

Therefore, according to some Jewish traditions,  Adam and Eve ate the fruit because they wanted more from life than what God gave them  They did not trust that what God put before them was enough  Therefore, they lived with the consequences

 Adam and Eve were made with free will  They ate the fruit because they chose to disobey God  They chose not to completely trust God  This action of disobedience, once taken, led to disobedience by all human beings after the first people  The church calls this act and its legacy “original sin”  Sin is/means: the refusal to acknowledge God as God and ourselves as dependent on him.

 What do we learn from the story of the Fall?  Who is responsible for human suffering, God or human being?  What is sin?

 Cain an Abel  Noah and the Flood  The Tower of Babel

“Then the LORD said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’” The obvious answer is YES, but note that God does not kill Cain but curses his ability to produce crops (verse 11) while protecting him from vengeance (verse 15) “You are cursed from the ground….has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood.”

1. What is the sin that Cain commits? 2. Do you think he had to commit this particular sin? 3. What could Cain have done to avoid it?

 God destroys creation  Why?  How were humans acting?

 11: 4 “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves…”  For reflection, complete the sentence below  The citizens of Babel try to reach the heavens (be on par with God), so God scatters them because…