Hence the Bible combines the myth of the golden age in the past and the messianic hope of a millennial age in the future. Following the path of tragedy and heroism, man travels from the original Eden, in which freedom is unknown, to a paradise in which there is a knowledge of freedom. Paradise will be reached through human creativeness. Thus, the Christian revelation is first and foremost a message of the kingdom of God, the end of time, a new heaven and a new earth. Tillich understands the Fall story as a mythical description of the transition from essential to existential being.
All men are aware of estrangement from their true nature.
Yet, the Fall does not refer to an event that happened once upon a time. What the Fall symbolizes is the universal human situation. All men are fallen because all are estranged from themselves, from others and from God. Because of these we feel burdened with personal guilt and 8 experience the tragic consequences of existence.