καιρός remembered

Fall of man

Adam and Eve, driven out of paradise by an angry god. What had they done wrong? They had committed the first, original sin. They had eaten the fruit of ‘the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’, which God had expressly forbidden. As a result, the first man and woman lost their innocence and became mortal. They now knew what was good and what was evil. According to Christian belief, this event – the Fall – marked the beginning of all humanity’s suffering.

I was brought up in the Catholic tradition of Christianity. The story of the Fall, with the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and the resulting consequences of this original sin for the whole of humanity, has never convinced me. For me, the pursuit of knowledge – including knowledge of good and evil – is a good thing. Eating the fruit of that tree should never have been forbidden in the first place.

I must confess that I have never really believed in the Christian God, nor in any other god for that matter. When I was old enough to think for myself, I turned my back on the Catholic faith, and I have never regretted it. Religions were devised and have evolved as explanatory models for the world, nature, humankind and human life. And in many respects, they have lost their relevance or usefulness. In my view, this is an inevitable development.

Every religion may contain certain elements (myths, ideas, symbols, values) that can still resonate with modern, non-religious people. For example, I still find the story of the man Jesus impressive and valuable. His life story recounts a profoundly human experience that still moves us, especially when we allow it to resonate within our own experience through the great works of art that have been inspired by this story over the centuries.

The triptych on this page consists of three photographs of sculptures I took in a church in Croatia. I have assigned the bearded man in the centre the role of the angry god. The three figures look somewhat primitive and clumsy. I find the remorseful faces of Adam and Eve, the way they cover their private parts with a large fig leaf, and the wrathful face of God very amusing. They fit perfectly with the story I want to convey through them.

Photo of the week: Sibenik, Croatia, 2002