What Happened to Us in Eden? - Psychology of the FallNäide

PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVENESS AND POOR EXCUSES

If all it took for Adam to eat the fruit was the extended arm of his wife, we can safely conclude—in psychological terms—that he acted passively in that scene. By not resisting when she offered it, he was passive. By finally eating the fruit, he confirmed it, though with an added twist: his failure to act rightly harmed himself, others, and his relationship with God. That’s what psychology would call “passive-aggressive”.

Most often, passivity means failing to do what is needed to bring order to a situation and to do what is right. Many times it’s an attempt to avoid conflict, but almost always it leads to a worse conflict instead.

Adam’s passivity, however, takes a “turn of the screw” when God asks him the famous question, “Where are you?” He does not respond passively, as one might expect, but more aggressively—driven by selfishness, which is always the raw material of aggression:

• He evades responsibility (this is the more passive and childish part),
• and he shifts blame to others (the woman, and indirectly even God for giving her to him—this being the more aggressive part).

The heart of his response is clear: in his view, he is not responsible at all, but rather a victim of others, whom he doesn’t hesitate to accuse.

He thought his excuse was well-prepared—and excuses, of course, are one of the classic strategies of the passive-aggressive. But God did not accept Adam’s version of events, just as the master in the parable of the talents did not accept the third servant’s story.

The narratives both of them hid behind were rejected, and consequences followed swiftly for each. Eve’s response also dodged responsibility—though without accusing God. How similar, then, are man and woman in the essentials of their behavior in situations like this!

This should neither shock nor scandalize us. Only those who assume man was made of a “different stuff” than woman would think otherwise.

This scene remains a reminder for us all, because Paul’s words in Romans prove true without exception: “You who pass judgment do the same things.”