Man has ascended to the moon using machines. The goal of the Christian is to rise to God without machines - Elder Paisios the Athonite
There has been so much attention on the first chapters of Genesis and reading and interpreting the book through Augustine. This has placed an huge emphasis on the fall of Adam. What one does not see is very little referenced to the first human couple and fall until Paul's letters in the Newer Testament. When we read the Genesis "fall" account, maybe its wiser to read it not so much as the fall of humanity (although that does happen) but a failure to ascend? One especially sees the focus on the second Adam Christ in the earliest Christian writings in how he does ascend by his sinless sacrifice and his ascension to his loving Father in the book of Acts. Maybe what is woefully lacking today is a greater emphasis on ascension theology.
In today's world, everyone recognizes the evidence of fallen-ness everywhere but few seem to recognize the spiritual evolution of rising after dying, of maturing and evolving towards becoming Christ-like is the telos or goal of the Christian life. Early Jewish writers more spoke of the immaturity and imperfection of Adam and Eve rather than a fall from pure innocence. Just like we learn and grow and learn to rise above and overcome our difficulties through Christ and "failing forward." Whether we learn from our own mistakes or learning from the mistakes of others, there is this upward progression and growing in deification or like Athanasius is famous for saying, "Christ became as man so that we could become as God."
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