Genesis 3: Sin, Shame and Self-Esteem

Abstract

In a study based on his recent book Missing the Mark: Sin and Its Consequences in Biblical Theology, Mark Biddle explores the story of Genesis 3 and concludes that the church must reaffirm the Good News that God created a good world and that God values authentic humanity enough to create it and affirms it in the incarnation. The phenomenon of shame, as old as Adam and Eve, and the cult of self-esteem, founded by the serpent, both now rampant in our culture, indicate that members of our society acutely feel the effects of their sin.