ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the creation/fall narrative is explicated as a series of logical moments pertaining to human experience in relation to God rather than as a chronological, historical, or developmental series of events. Unique Eastern Orthodox theological perspectives are highlighted for what they reveal about the nature of both God and human beings. Interpretations that include sin as necessary to the creation narrative are at odds with Eastern Orthodoxy, which does not view God as a source of temptation. Understanding the Oedipus complex in the Garden of Eden narrative the three types of lack of object Lacan described across the three registers: real, symbolic, and imaginary. As no other authors have taken this fuller consideration of the Oedipus complex into account, the authors consider this in detail. Finally, the consequences that follow the fall are explored through a psychoanalytic lens, namely sexuation, God as lamella (pure life instinct that is immortal, irrepressible, and indestructible), and God’s pronouncements to Adam and Eve in the context of subjective structure. These consequences are examined for their analytic significance.
