The Fall is found in Jewish and Christian theology and refers to when humankind fell from a state of primordial innocence in the sight of its Creator into a state of sin. 

As described in the Old Testament book of Genesis, the Fall was the consequence of the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Eve was tempted by a serpent to taste fruit, forbidden by God for them to consume, of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” subsequently inducing Adam to do likewise.

This disobedience led to their expulsion from the Garden of Eden and the receiving of further punishments, such as the toilsome work for Adam and the pains of childbirth for Eve, as well as enmity between the serpent and humanity.

In Christian theology, the serpent is often identified with Satan, a spiritual being who was first created good and then fell from that state. Since all human beings are descendants of Adam and Eve, the consequences of the Fall are inherited by all.

The great church theologian Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE) emphasized the enormity of Adam’s transgression and its consequences for humanity and developed the doctrine of Original Sin.

This doctrine refers to the state of sin in which humanity has been captive since the Fall. Its scriptural foundation is the Pauline teaching that “just as sin entered the world through one man [Adam], and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned (Romans 5:12).

Fundamentally, the doctrine of the Fall holds that all human life has been drastically altered for the worse as a result of sin, which emerged through free will on the part of Adam and Eve, and that this has caused life to deviate from the state that the Creator intended for it to be in.

References

Livingstone, E. A. 2013. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press.