Mankind, then represented by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden,
presented Satan with the best opportunity for revenge. According
to one account, Satan disguised himself as a cherub and tricked the
Archangel Uriel into telling him the way to Eden. In the form of
a snake he slipped past the angels guarding the gates and found Eve on
her own. He persuaded her to eat the fruit of the tree of
knowledge
of good and evil, which had been forbidden them by God. Thus
deceived, Eve did eat, and gave Adam the fruit and he ate it,
too. Their "eyes.... were opened, and they knew that they
were naked." For the first time they knew shame and guilt
and were fearful of God. This was the original sin, whence all
man's trouble began. Expelled from the Garden of Eden, we have
been trying to work our way back to Paradise ever since.
Thus we can see that the fall of mankind mirrors the fall of Satan and
the rebel angels. Satan's sin is pride, whereas mankind's is
shame. It was the shame - the sense of guilt and fear - that
separated us from God. Adam knew he had done wrong because he
felt embarrassed. He had developed a conscience and it is
through conscience that we define our personal morality, our own knowledge
of good and evil.
