The Fall

Pascal argues that the doctrine of the Fall explains the contradictions he has studied. Human nature has been transformed by original sin. Our ‘greatness’ is the residue of our former nature, the vestigial memory of which takes the form of our frustration at the ‘wretchedness’ into which we have fallen. Pascal’s particular conception of the Fall is essentially inspired by St Augustine, from whom he derives the key notion of concupiscence (earthly desire), and certain problems in the Augustinian theory are discussed. The chapter concludes by mentioning more recent presentations of the doctrine in the work of Kierkegaard and Rahner, and of contemporary theologians discussing the relationship between the doctrine and findings in biology.