Interpreting Original Sin as the invention of languages

[jredden92]

I had this idea of the original sin as being the invention of languages. I think of God as a peaceful silent presence beyond words. Our thoughts cut us off from God. I’m just wondering if this is a far out there idea.

 

[Fauken]

How do you explain then the Tower of Babel? And how could words cut us off from God when the Word became flesh and redeemed us by His sacrifice? Sinning isn’t solely done by words, it’s also through thoughts and deeds.

 

[StudentMI]

While certainly interesting, we must remember that God spoke before the fall. Adam named all the animals (whether this is allegorical or not is not my point) so language itself doesn’t seem what original sin is.

Your idea reminds me of something William S Burroughs wrote, that “language is a virus from outer space.”

 

[jredden92]

I was thinking of the garden of eden as the world before the endless negative thoughts we have that ruin our lives through mental illness. I imagine peace being the ability to calm our mind and stop those thoughts even if for a moment. Meditating in nature imagining you’re back in the garden of eden.

 

[jredden92]

That is a great point about Jesus being the Word so how can language be a sin. That kind of detroys the whole hypothesis I guess I hadn’t thought about that yet.

 

[silentwitness]

It is interesting to think about whether language existed before the creation of God’s creatures and the influence and need for language in relation to thought and morality.

 

[po18guy]

The consequences of original sin (pride, mainly) lead to the creation of languages.

 

[Gorgias]

How do you explain then the Tower of Babel?

I don’t think that the OP means “multiple languages”, but rather, “the genesis of spoken language.”

I had this idea of the original sin as being the invention of languages.

That’s intriguing, but I don’t think it stands up to scrutiny. Let’s look at a few Scripture passages that suggest that language existed prior to the fall of Man:

• The entire creation narrative of Genesis 1 is based on a (figurative) notion of God’s performative speech acts:
  • Gen 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, and 26 all begin with “Then God said”, as the ‘act’ which caused creation to occur.
  • Gen 1:28-29 depict God as verbally blessing all of creation
• Genesis 2 also shows God’s speech:
  • In Gen 2:16-17, God gives Adam orders about what he can eat.
  • In Gen 2:20, we (indirectly) see Adam talking: “The man gave names to all the tame animals, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals”
  • In Gen 2:23, when God creates Eve, Adam is portrayed as speaking (“This one, at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh…”)

The “Fall of Man” – that is, the first sin of Adam and Eve – doesn’t occur until after these events. So, I don’t think that we can call “language” the “first sin”. (And, if thought precedes speech, then likewise, “thought” cannot be the first sin.)

 

[Mary888]

Then Christ would then be a sinner because He spoke using language and that is impossible since He was/is without sin.