Image Details

Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY

ADAM LIES TO GOD and says, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” This 17th-century painting by Domenichino depicts exactly what is wrong with that statement: Adam and Eve are no longer naked, but have partially clothed themselves to differentiate themselves from the animals and to be more like gods. God asks, “Who told you that you were naked?” Adam blames the woman; she blames the serpent (Genesis 3:11–13).

According to the accompanying article, God is not angry because Adam and Eve have eaten of the tree, but because they have taken the serpent’s counsel over his own. But God has worse things to worry about. Because God could not allow Adam and Eve to live eternally and knowingly (like the divine), he punishes them and banishes them from Eden (Genesis 3:19).