Eden and the Mimetic Crisis (Part III)

Send us Fan MailParts I and II covered the role of imitation in philosophy: essential, but incomplete. In this Part III we compare the account of imitation in René Girard's mimetic theory to the scriptural narrative of the Fall.We are made to imitate: Scripture says man is created in the image and likeness of God. The trouble in Eden starts not because Adam and Eve decided to imitate God. It's the mode of their imitation. In turning to perceive God as their rival, they take the Serpent as their model. From the simple story of the Fall, we can derive the whole mimetic anthropology of rivalry, scapegoating, and sacred violence found in Girard's writings millennia later.