No earthly judge who punished a son for his father’s crime would be called just, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá observes, so how could Justice itself condemn the whole human race for the act of a distant ancestor? His answer refuses inherited guilt while taking the story of Adam with great seriousness. What passes from generation to generation is attachment: the spirit bound to the material world, moving from freedom into bondage, forgetting its own essential nobility. That attachment is the serpent, ever at enmity with the soul. The Catholic Catechism, for its part, speaks of a wounded condition received from Adam without personal fault in his descendants [1], a distinction worth weighing alongside real differences about the Fall and redemption. The question then turns from the past to the present, from what was done to what can be undone. It leads toward the soul as soil awaiting cultivation, and toward the struggle between the higher and lower natures in every human being.
Could we conceive of the Divinity, Who is Justice itself, inflicting punishment upon the posterity of Adam for Adam's own sin and disobedience? Even if we should see a governor, an earthly ruler punishing a son for the wrongdoing of his father, we would look upon that ruler as an unjust man. Granted the father committed a wrong, what was the wrong committed by the son? There is no connection between the two. Adam's sin was not the sin of His posterity, especially as Adam is a thousand generations back of the man today.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Public address given at Kinney home on 1912-Nov-29 -- ABU0139)
02
But the majority of the Christians believe that Adam sinned and transgressed by eating from the forbidden tree, that the dire and disastrous consequences of this transgression were inherited for all time by His descendants, and that Adam has thus become the cause of the death of man. This explanation is irrational and clearly mistaken, for it implies that all men, even the Prophets and Messengers of God, through no fault or sin of their own, and for no other reason than their descent from Adam, became guilty sinners and suffered the torments of hell until the day of Christ's sacrifice. This would be far from the justice of God.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 29, Sin and Atonement, 1904 ca. -- AB00096)
03
As to the matter of Adam and the tree, it is not as the common people understand. The purpose of the tree is the station of the manifestation of maturity of the divine command in its highest station, and this is conditional upon the Promised Day. Before the Promised Day, the manifestation of maturity and growth is not possible. Adam desired that the Law of God reach its ultimate degree of maturity, but this was not possible, for the maturity and growth of God's Cause was dependent and conditional upon the Blessed Promised Day. For example, an infant at nursing cannot possibly manifest all human perfections nor partake of delicious foods, but must be content with milk until reaching maturity when human perfections become manifest and evident in him. Thus it is not that Adam disobeyed and erred. This disobedience is of the kind where "the good deeds of the righteous are the sins of those drawn nigh" - not the error and disobedience that common people understand. The Bab has also given an interpretation close to this meaning. And Eve represents the reality of Adam's soul. This is a brief explanation as I have absolutely no time for details....
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1901-May-07, to Hasan Khurasani -- AB00038)
04
Now consider how closely this interpretation conforms to reality: For when the spirit and the self of Adam became attached to the material world, they passed from the realm of freedom into the realm of bondage, this condition was perpetuated with each succeeding generation, and this attachment of spirit and self to the material world, which is sin, was inherited by His descendants. This attachment is the serpent which will forever be in the midst of, and at enmity with, the spirits of the descendants of Adam, for attachment to the world has become the cause of the bondage of the spirits. This bondage is that sin which has been transmitted from Adam to His descendants, for it has deprived men of recognizing their essential spirituality and attaining to exalted stations.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 30, Adam and Eve, 1904 ca. -- AB00100)
05
His Holiness St. Paul says, "You have died in Adam, you have become alive in the Christ. This statement is most significant. The purpose is this that in man there are two natures. One is material or physical. That is the heritage of Adam to man, for it is elemental; it is material; it belongs to earth. He is possessed of another nature, which is spiritual. That is Christ-like. That is born of the Word of God. That is from the Breaths of the Holy Spirit. That nature is radiant. That nature is heavenly, and that nature is divine.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to the friends, spoken at Plaza Hotel on 1912-May-01 -- ABU0757)
06
The serpent spoken of is the Tempter or Satan, whose outward appearance is attractive and beautiful but inwardly is a poison to the mind. The fruit of Satan attracted Eve (soul) and she in turn deceived Adam (mind), which caused their downfall. At this time Adam realizes his condition, his station lost by reason of his having yielded to temptation and begins to make excuses, which are referred to as the leaves of the tree with which he attempts to cover his body and seeks forgiveness. Then the light shines forth, he hears the voice of God: "Adam, where art thou?" and makes confession: "She (Eve) gave me to eat." Again he hears: "For this thou art cursed, and enmity shall exist between thee and the soul, etc."
In other words, this struggle between the good and bad, spiritual and material, is ever taking place and it behoves us to be on guard constantly. Some people will say: "Why cut yourself from the world when God created it? What is the world for if not for our benefit and pleasure? Why should we not get all we can out of it? If what the Prophets say is right, why stay here?" By cutting ourselves from the world is intended avoiding things that hinder our advance toward God; this world is but a stepping stone for the world of spirit; besides, if all were to withdraw, this world would be destroyed.
Abdu'l-Baha. -- 'Evil is imperfection. Sin is the state of man in the world of the baser nature, for in nature exist defects such as injustice, tyranny, hatred, hostility, strife: these are characteristics of the lower plane of nature. These are the sins of the world, the fruits of the tree from which Adam did eat. Through education we must free ourselves from these imperfections. The Prophets of God have been sent, the Holy Books have been written, so that man may be made free. Just as he is born into this world of imperfection from the womb of his earthly mother, so is he born into the world of spirit through divine education. When a man is born into the world of phenomena he finds the universe; when he is born from this world to the world of the spirit, he finds the Kingdom.'
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Evil: Words spoken ca. 1912-Dec-26 in London -- ABU2403)
How does distinguishing personal guilt from an inherited condition change the questions we ask about justice, responsibility, and the need for redemption?
What forms of attachment might Adam’s story help a reader recognize, and how could liberation from them affect relationships as well as inward life?
How do the readings of Adam’s disobedience, the serpent, and spiritual education relate to one another without collapsing their different emphases?