Story for Every Fall: Adam and Eve as a Narrative of Healing and Return

This article examines the narrative of Adam and Eve from the perspectives of psychology of religion and spiritual counseling and care, drawing on the therapeutic functions of sacred texts. Grounded in the long-standing healing power of narratives, bibliotherapy is discussed within the context of sacred texts, with particular attention to spiritual bibliotherapy’s capacity to access individuals’ moral, emotional, and existential processes. Within this framework, the study relates the Adam and Eve narrative to the concept of moral injury, which has gained increasing prominence in contemporary psychological literature, and explores the potential of sacred narratives in processes of spiritual repair. The research adopts a qualitative approach, employing purposive literature review and conceptual analysis. Classical and modern interpretations of the Adam and Eve narrative in the Torah and the Qur’an, together with literature on psychology of religion and moral injury, were analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis framework. Four core themes were identified: will and responsibility; transgression and rebellion; shame and alienation; and hope and redemption. The findings demonstrate that the narrative makes visible the moral and spiritual ruptures following value violations and offers a meaningful foundation of hope for spiritual healing through confrontation and repentance. The study concludes that the Adam and Eve narrative can serve as a bibliotherapeutic resource in spiritual care.