A Different View

The first two chapters of the book of Genesis give us a view of humanity different from the rest of the pages of the Sacred Word.  In those first words, human nature is unsullied with sin and while evil may be lurking, or creeping in the distant future, it has not yet infected the soul. There is something wonderfully idyllic and mysterious about this picture of humankind living in the Garden inside a warm, intimate, and comfortable relationship with the Creator.    

When we think of human nature we speak of the reason why our souls are soiled with the stain of sin.  Human nature is flawed, and frail, and susceptible to succumbing to the influence and power of evil.  It is the means through which sin is experienced, not the means through which the glory of God is made manifest in the human experience.  We are most likely to say that we sin because we are human.  It is our human nature that makes sin possible and a reality in our lives.   

These first two chapters, particularly the first one, offer a different perspective. As the Creation is completed there comes that Word of divine reflection in verse 21 which reads, "God saw everything that He had made, and indeed, it was very good."  This covers the light of the heavens, the rocks on the earth, the birds of the air, and men and women like you and me.  It is not a Word which declares that part of the created humankind is flawed, but that all of it is good.  It all bears the image of the Creator.  It all is created with the essence of the Creator.  The story told in the third chapter about evil and sin has not yet come to pass and what we see in the beginning is the goodness of God within the soul and spirit of the created humanity.