Saulog, Anne Margareth B.

BSTM 1
Fr. Anthony Naval

Genesis and The Reality of Sin

How the world came to be was a miracle shrouded in mystery brought about by God, our

creator. Theories are always made left and right about how the world was created, but myths and

science cannot explain the core of God’s nature and the true reason why he decided to create

something out of nothingness: intangible things such as faith, hope, and love.

People oftentimes will deny the reality of God’s work because they are fixated over figures and

facts. The modern world defined by numbers, statistics and experiments tragically lead them

towards indifference. The creation is much viewed as like a fairytale, and truly it is magical the

same way as it is real. To those who understand the true essence of life is to trust even in

mysteries and miracles. In six days, He created all that there is in the world and that is the

greatest miracle of all time.

On the seventh day, he rested. Can you believe that? Even as God, the Almighty and All-

Knowing, he reposed on the last day after creating the all the Heavens and all of Earth. It shows

us that rest is also important as humanly and spiritual beings. He created us in his likelihood, and

gave to Adam and Eve, to us, his creations to take care of and nourish it.

In the end as the story unfolds, greed takes over humanity because of temptation. There was only

a warning that none should eat the forbidden fruit – for the forbidden fruit holds the power to see

what is good and what is evil. Doing so, humanity disobeyed God. But the power of knowledge
alone is not the reason why mankind sought such power. It was the desire to become God

himself, and that led to the demise of men, mankind’s first sin.

What is the defining factor of “good” versus “evil”? A blade plunged into the heart can kill, does

that mean the blade itself is evil? It can also be wielded to carve sculptures, prepare food, and

sever bondages. Inherently, the forbidden fruit is not evil, but same way as a blade, it is defined

by the intention of those who wield it. This is the reality of sin.

We often wonder why God did not want us to possess knowledge. Some might even say that God

was selfish to keep from us the power to discern. However good knowledge can be, it is sadly the

same reason to why we commit many acts of sin. Knowing we can choose whether or not to take

advantage of each other and the world, some will opt to choose the former because of the never-

ending desire to have more. That is exactly what I think prevented God from bestowing upon us

willingly the burden of knowing.