33. The Supernatural Elevation of Man
24. The State of Original Justice
The Church—authentically interpreting symbolic biblical language in light of the New Testament and Tradition—teaches that our first parents, Adam and Eve, were created in the “state of holiness and justice.”1
24a) Sanctifying Grace
God endowed our first parents with sanctifying grace before the fall (de fide).
The elevation of man to a supernatural end—similar to the elevation of the angels—is a central truth of our faith.
The declaration of the Magisterium of the Church against the Pelagians2 and semi-Pelagians,3 which clarified the doctrine on the state of fallen nature, freedom, and the necessity of grace, implicitly states that Adam was elevated to the supernatural order. The Council of Trent presupposed this elevation when it affirmed that original sin brought about an immediate loss of the sanctity and justice in which Adam was constituted: “If anyone does not profess that the first man Adam immediately lost the justice and holiness in which he was constituted when he disobeyed the command of God in the Garden of Paradise … let him be anathema.”4
In the New Testament, the condition of Adam before original sin is explained using the doctrine of Redemption. St. Paul referred to the work of Christ as a reconciliation (cf. Rom 5:11), a restoration (cf. Eph 1:10), and a renewal of man according to the image of God, in which he was created in the beginning (cf. Eph 4:23–24ff; Col 3:9–10ff). If Christ recovered supernatural sanctity and justice for us, it follows that Adam possessed these gifts before the fall.
The Fathers of the Church underscored the state of internal and external freedom in which our first parents lived. St. John Damascene asserted, “Adam lived in a very holy and very beautiful place. But in his soul, he lived in an even more holy and beautiful place. God, who lived in him, was his temple. God was his glorious clothing. Man was clothed with divine grace.”5
24b) Integrity of Nature and Preternatural Gifts
Aside from supernatural grace, the first man’s nature was in a state of integrity, that is, he was endowed with the preternatural gifts: integrity (sent. fidei proxima), immortality (de fide), impassibility (sent. comm.), and infused science (sent. comm.).
The preternatural gifts were benefits with which God endowed human nature through Adam and Eve.6 These gifts were adequate to the human condition but exceeded its proper end. Therefore, humans were not due them. The preternatural gifts are the following:
(1) Integrity
The gift of integrity is the perfect subjection of sensuality to reason, the body to the soul, and the human will to the Creator. The Book of Genesis states that our first parents were “both naked, and were not ashamed” (Gn 2:25). In contrast, a feeling of shame appears after the fall. The nakedness of our first parents is traditionally understood as a sign of the radical rectitude of their passions.
(2) Immortality
By the gift of immortality, people were not subject to the inexorability of death. One possessing this gift would pass from this life to the happiness of heaven without going through the tough passage of death, that is, without experiencing the separation of body and soul.
The Second Synod of Milevi (a.d. 416) and the Sixteenth Synod of Carthage (a.d. 418), in the face of the Pelagian heresy, condemned “whoever said that Adam, the first man, was created mortal so that, whether he sinned or not, he would have died a bodily death.”7 The Council of Trent repeated this doctrine.8
Sacred Scripture presents death as God’s punishment for not fulfilling his commandment: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gn 2:17).
God promised immortality to Adam if he fulfilled his commandment, and he threatened him with death if he violated it. This possible, promised immortality was not due to the material incorruptibility of man but to the preternatural intervention of God. Therefore, it was not that Adam could not possibly die, but that Adam had the possibility of not dying.
(3) Impassibility
The gift of impassibility implied immunity from all suffering and misery. No material being would cause a person possessing impassability any suffering. With this gift, people could work without effort and without fatigue and would not find any cause of physical or moral sufferings.
In the Book of Genesis, it is clear that our first parents had mastery over the whole of creation. They had to work in paradise and watch over it (cf. Gn 2:15), but this work was not accompanied by tiredness (cf. Gn 3:17ff). Animals would not bother or attack them (cf. Gn 3:15).
(4) Infused Science
Adam and Eve possessed knowledge suitable to their state without having to strain themselves in order to acquire it. In Genesis, God directly instructs Adam. After having created all the animals and birds, God “brought them to the man to see what he would call them” (Gn 2:19). Adam immediately knew the mission of the woman with certainty and depth (cf. Gn 2:23ff). In the Book of Sirach, the condition of our first parents is thus summarized: “He made for them tongue and eyes; he gave them ears and a mind for thinking. He filled them with knowledge and understanding” (Sir 17:6–7).
24c) Supernatural Elevation: A Gift of Love
God’s love moved him to grant the supernatural gifts to our first parents.
It was an extraordinary gift on the part of God. Our first parents would participate in the intimate divine life and would be heirs of heaven. The supernatural elevation entails the elevation of the human realities: the creature, as regards his personal relationship with God, is elevated to the divine filiation (cf. 2 Pt 1:4); nature is elevated by sanctifying grace, which is a supernatural habit; the potencies of the soul are elevated by the supernatural virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit; the human acts of the intellect are elevated by the light of actual grace; and the acts of the free will are elevated by the motion of other actual graces.
Divine filiation is the great news, the great message of divine Revelation: “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 Jn 3:1). Man has been elevated, acquiring the fundamental condition of a new creature (cf. Gal 6:15; 2 Cor 5:17). Because of that, we are no longer strangers: we are members of the family of God (cf. Eph 2:19).
Through grace, our first parents had become elevated creatures. This implies a new mode of presence for God in the soul: the indwelling of the Most Blessed Trinity. In the beatific vision—which is the supernatural end—they would contemplate the One and Triune God face to face (cf. 1 Cor 13:12). Meanwhile, Adam and Eve—and, later on, any human being in the state of grace—enjoyed a foretaste of it through the presence of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the soul in grace, because Jesus Christ had said, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (Jn 14:23).”9
25. Original Sin
God is infinitely good, and all his works are good. Yet, we notice the existence of suffering and of evil in this world, especially of moral evil (sin). Why is this so? Where does moral evil come from? This “mystery of lawlessness” (2 Thes 2:7) can be understood only in the light of the “mystery of our religion” (1 Tm 3:16). Christ’s revelation of God’s love has shown both the extension of evil and the extraordinary abundance of grace (cf. Rom 5:20). We should, therefore, look at the question of evil in the world by directing our eyes of faith toward the Conqueror of evil (cf. Lk 11:21–22; Jn 16:11; 1 Jn 3:8). It is necessary to know Christ as the source of grace in order to understand Adam as the source of sin. The doctrine of original sin is, in a manner of speaking, the “reverse” of the Good News that Jesus is the Savior.10
Our first parents were created by God and placed in paradise in order to work and watch over it (cf. Gn 2:15). The Creator endowed them with the preternatural and supernatural gifts. They lived happily, dealing intimately with God and having mastery over the whole of creation: the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the animals that moved over the earth (cf. Gn 1:28).
But they were seduced by the devil, and they offended God. Together with its head, Adam, the whole of humanity “preferred to be under the tyranny of the power of corruption than to be with God, exchanging his freedom, power and will for the grave and harmful servitude to sin.”11 As a consequence of this transgression, “sin came into the world through one man and death through sin” (Rom 5:12). By his offense, Adam not only harmed himself, but also harmed all his descendants. He lost the sanctity and justice received from God for himself and for us, and he transmitted the death and sufferings of the body—as well as the death of the soul (sin)—to the whole human race.12
25a) The Sin of Adam and Eve
God gave Adam a special precept in order to test him. Later, Adam and Eve disobeyed the divine precept, committing a grievous sin of pride and disobedience (de fide).
Sacred Scripture explicitly narrates the test to which God submitted our first parents: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall die’” (Gn 2:16–17).
The same biblical narrative shows the severe punishment given not only to Adam and Eve, but also to their descendants: “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gn 3:19).
The sin of Adam and Eve necessarily had to be serious, since, in the state of innocence, the lower powers of human nature were perfectly subjected to the mind, which, in turn, was perfectly subordinated to God. It was, therefore, impossible for man to suffer from any disorder that would give rise to an imperfect consent to sin.
As regards its moral species, the sin of our first parents was one of disobedience; the precept of God was meant to test their obedience. Thus, St. Paul declared, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners” (Rom 5:19). The root of disobedience was pride: “For in pride there is ruin and great confusion” (Tb 4:13). Henceforth, every sin is a disobedience to God and demonstrates a lack of confidence in his goodness. With sin, man preferred himself to God; he despised God. He tried to place himself above God, thus going against his state as creature and doing damage to himself. Man was destined to be “divinized” by God in heaven. However, he wanted to “be like God” but “without God, ahead of God, and not according to God.”13
25b) The Punishment of Original Sin
Because of original sin, our first parents incurred a number of penalties (de fide).
All human beings are implicated in Adam’s sin in the same manner that all are implicated in Christ’s salvation.
In its Decree on Original Sin, the Council of Trent defined, “If anyone does not profess that the first man Adam immediately lost the justice and holiness in which he was constituted when he disobeyed the command of God in the Garden of Paradise; and that, through the offense of this sin, he incurred the wrath and indignation of God, and consequently incurred the death with which God had previously threatened him and, together with death, bondage in the power of him who from that time had the empire of death (cf. Heb 2:14), that is, of the devil; and that it was the whole Adam, both body and soul, who was changed for the worse through the offense of sin: let him be anathema.”14
The consequences of original sin for our first parents were:
· the loss of sanctifying grace and the other supernatural gifts,
· enmity with God,
· the loss of the preternatural gifts, including immortality (thus death entered the world as a punishment), and
· subjection to the devil.
25c) Transmission of Original Sin
The sin of Adam is transmitted by generation to all his descendants, unless they are miraculously preserved by God, as in the case of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary (de fide).
The Magisterium of the Church has always taught this truth. As the Council of Trent’s Decree on Original Sin affirmed, “If anyone asserts that Adam’s sin was injurious only to Adam and not his descendants, and that it was for himself alone that he lost the holiness and justice that he had received from God, and not for us also; or that after his defilement by the sin of disobedience, he transmitted to the whole human race only death and punishment of the body but not sin itself, which is the death of the soul; let him be anathema.”15
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Adam received sanctity and original justice not only for himself, but for all mankind.16 Yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, but this sin affects the entire human nature, which is transmitted as it is, in a fallen state.
Sacred Scripture attests to this revealed truth. In the New Testament, there are key texts that have been authentically interpreted by the Magisterium of the Church, such as: “Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned” (Rom 5:12).17 The dogma of original sin is implicitly affirmed in the sacred books whenever Christ is said to have redeemed everyone, thereby including infants who could not possibly commit any personal sin. If these infants also have a sin that excludes them from salvation, it must be inherited. In this line, St. Paul affirmed that “he died for all” (2 Cor 5:15). Jesus Christ himself told Nicodemus that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:5).
The Fathers of the Church clearly delineated what the Catholic faith holds on this matter. St. Irenaeus remarked, “We offended God in the first Adam by not fulfilling the commandment,”18 while Origen attested, “Each one of the souls born of the flesh is stained by the dirt of sin and of evil.” In his work Contra Julianum, St. Augustine appealed to the authority of Sacred Tradition, saying, “Irenaeus, Cyprian, Hilary, Ambrose, Gregory, Innocent, John [Chrysostom], Basil, the holy presbyters and eminent commentators of the Holy Books, to which I add the name of the priest Jerome—not to mention those who are still alive—have all affirmed that all men inherit sin.”19
25d) The Nature of Original Sin
The essence of original sin formally consists in the privation of sanctifying grace, caused by the sin of Adam (sent. comm.).
This statement is in agreement with all the principles established by the Decree on Original Sin of the Council of Trent:
i) Original sin is the “death of the soul.”20 The soul—deprived of sanctifying grace, which God willed it to have—is dead with regard to the supernatural order.
ii) Canon 3 asserted that this sin is “communicated to all men by propagation, not by imitation.”21 Thus, since sin consists in nature’s being deprived of grace, original sin is transmitted when the nature deprived of grace is inherited.
iii) Canon 3 also stated that the inherited original sin “is in each one [of the descendants of Adam] as his own.”22 If it formally consists in the deprivation of grace, it is in every descendant of Adam, since the nature deprived of grace is in everyone.
iv) Through the Sacrament of Baptism, everything that is truly and properly sinful is destroyed.23 Though original sin formally consists in the deprivation of grace, it is destroyed by the infusion of grace that Baptism brings about. The habitual disorder of concupiscence is the material element of original sin.
26. The Consequences of Original Sin
Through sin, the devil acquired a certain dominion over human beings even though they remain free. We cannot ignore that human nature is wounded (not thoroughly corrupted).24
26a) Loss of the Supernatural Gifts
Because of the inherited original sin, man is completely deprived of the supernatural and preternatural gifts, as well as of the happiness of heaven (de fide).
The descendants of Adam are deprived of sanctifying grace. Actually, the culpable privation of this grace constitutes the essence of the inherited original sin. Together with grace, we also lose charity, the infused virtues, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and any right to the supernatural graces needed to achieve our supernatural last end. People could not even initiate any act directed to the supernatural end if our Lord Jesus Christ had not merited grace for them, and applied it to them.
The Magisterium of the Church teaches that Adam lost justice and sanctity for himself and for us.25 “The human soul, infected by original sin, is dead and cannot be freed of sin without the grace of the Redeemer.”26 Humanity was excluded from the beatific vision.27
Besides sanctifying grace, man has lost the preternatural gifts he received in the state of innocence, which proceed from original grace and were united to it.28
26b) Wounded Human Nature
The nature of man, infected by original sin, deteriorated (de fide).
This change for the worse does not completely destroy free will or the ability to know the truths of natural religion. Against Lutheran pessimism, the Council of Trent declared, “If anyone says that after Adam’s sin man’s free will was destroyed and lost, or that there is question about a term only; indeed, that the term has no real foundation; and that the fictitious notion was even introduced into the Church by Satan; let him be anathema.”29 The deterioration caused by sin consists only in the weakening of the natural powers of the body and the soul.
As a consequence of original sin, there are four wounds in fallen human nature, which correspond to the four potentialities that are the subject of the four cardinal virtues:
i) The wound of malice affects the will, which is inclined to sin and weakened in the face of temptation. This wound is opposed to the virtue of justice.
ii) The wound of ignorance affects the intellect, which is darkened, making the search for truth difficult. This wound is opposed to the virtue of prudence.
iii) The wound of weakness affects the irascible appetite, which, as a result, avoids exerting effort and shuns difficulties. This wound is opposed to the virtue of fortitude.
iv) The wound of concupiscence affects the concupiscible appetite. The object of this appetite is the sensible good but, weakened by concupiscence, it escapes from the dominion of reason. This wound is opposed to the virtue of temperance.
Baptism gives the life of Christ’s grace, erases original sin, and reunites man with God. However, the consequences of original sin remain, forcing man to maintain a spiritual combat every day of his life.30
Footnotes:
1. CCC, 375; cf. Council of Trent: DS 1511.
2. Cf. Fifteenth Council of Carthage: DS 222.
3. Cf. Second Council of Orange: DS 370ff.
4. DS 1511; cf. CCC, 375–376.
5. St. John Damascene, De Fide Orth. 2.11.
6. Cf. CCC, 376–377.
7. DS 222.
8. Cf. DS 1511.
9. J. Ortiz López, Palabras de Vida Eterna: Charlas Sobre el Credo (Madrid: Magisterio Español), p. 105.
10. Cf. CCC, 385, 389.
11. St. Gregory of Nyssa, De Oratione Dominica, 5.
12. Cf. Council of Trent, Sess. 5, can. 2: DS 1512.
13. St. Maximus, Conf.; cf. CCC, 398.
14. DS 1511; cf. CCC, 402–406.
15. DS 1512.
16. Cf. CCC, 404.
17. Cf. DS 1514.
18. St. Irenaeus, Adv. Haer., 5.16.3.
19. St. Augustine, Contra Jul. 2.10.
20. DS 1512.
21. DS 1513.
22. DS 1513.
23. Cf. DS 1515.
24. Cf. CCC, 407–412.
25. Cf. Council of Trent, Decree on Original Sin: DS 1512; CCC, 405.
26. Council of Trent, Decree on Original Sin: DS 1512–13.
27. Cf. DS 780, 858.
28. Cf. CCC, 399–400.
29. Council of Trent, Decree on Justification, can. 5: DS 1555.
30. Cf. CCC, 405.
The Church—authentically interpreting symbolic biblical language in light of the New Testament and Tradition—teaches that our first parents, Adam and Eve, were created in the “state of holiness and justice.”1
24a) Sanctifying Grace
God endowed our first parents with sanctifying grace before the fall (de fide).
The elevation of man to a supernatural end—similar to the elevation of the angels—is a central truth of our faith.
The declaration of the Magisterium of the Church against the Pelagians2 and semi-Pelagians,3 which clarified the doctrine on the state of fallen nature, freedom, and the necessity of grace, implicitly states that Adam was elevated to the supernatural order. The Council of Trent presupposed this elevation when it affirmed that original sin brought about an immediate loss of the sanctity and justice in which Adam was constituted: “If anyone does not profess that the first man Adam immediately lost the justice and holiness in which he was constituted when he disobeyed the command of God in the Garden of Paradise … let him be anathema.”4
In the New Testament, the condition of Adam before original sin is explained using the doctrine of Redemption. St. Paul referred to the work of Christ as a reconciliation (cf. Rom 5:11), a restoration (cf. Eph 1:10), and a renewal of man according to the image of God, in which he was created in the beginning (cf. Eph 4:23–24ff; Col 3:9–10ff). If Christ recovered supernatural sanctity and justice for us, it follows that Adam possessed these gifts before the fall.
The Fathers of the Church underscored the state of internal and external freedom in which our first parents lived. St. John Damascene asserted, “Adam lived in a very holy and very beautiful place. But in his soul, he lived in an even more holy and beautiful place. God, who lived in him, was his temple. God was his glorious clothing. Man was clothed with divine grace.”5
24b) Integrity of Nature and Preternatural Gifts
Aside from supernatural grace, the first man’s nature was in a state of integrity, that is, he was endowed with the preternatural gifts: integrity (sent. fidei proxima), immortality (de fide), impassibility (sent. comm.), and infused science (sent. comm.).
The preternatural gifts were benefits with which God endowed human nature through Adam and Eve.6 These gifts were adequate to the human condition but exceeded its proper end. Therefore, humans were not due them. The preternatural gifts are the following:
(1) Integrity
The gift of integrity is the perfect subjection of sensuality to reason, the body to the soul, and the human will to the Creator. The Book of Genesis states that our first parents were “both naked, and were not ashamed” (Gn 2:25). In contrast, a feeling of shame appears after the fall. The nakedness of our first parents is traditionally understood as a sign of the radical rectitude of their passions.
(2) Immortality
By the gift of immortality, people were not subject to the inexorability of death. One possessing this gift would pass from this life to the happiness of heaven without going through the tough passage of death, that is, without experiencing the separation of body and soul.
The Second Synod of Milevi (a.d. 416) and the Sixteenth Synod of Carthage (a.d. 418), in the face of the Pelagian heresy, condemned “whoever said that Adam, the first man, was created mortal so that, whether he sinned or not, he would have died a bodily death.”7 The Council of Trent repeated this doctrine.8
Sacred Scripture presents death as God’s punishment for not fulfilling his commandment: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gn 2:17).
God promised immortality to Adam if he fulfilled his commandment, and he threatened him with death if he violated it. This possible, promised immortality was not due to the material incorruptibility of man but to the preternatural intervention of God. Therefore, it was not that Adam could not possibly die, but that Adam had the possibility of not dying.
(3) Impassibility
The gift of impassibility implied immunity from all suffering and misery. No material being would cause a person possessing impassability any suffering. With this gift, people could work without effort and without fatigue and would not find any cause of physical or moral sufferings.
In the Book of Genesis, it is clear that our first parents had mastery over the whole of creation. They had to work in paradise and watch over it (cf. Gn 2:15), but this work was not accompanied by tiredness (cf. Gn 3:17ff). Animals would not bother or attack them (cf. Gn 3:15).
(4) Infused Science
Adam and Eve possessed knowledge suitable to their state without having to strain themselves in order to acquire it. In Genesis, God directly instructs Adam. After having created all the animals and birds, God “brought them to the man to see what he would call them” (Gn 2:19). Adam immediately knew the mission of the woman with certainty and depth (cf. Gn 2:23ff). In the Book of Sirach, the condition of our first parents is thus summarized: “He made for them tongue and eyes; he gave them ears and a mind for thinking. He filled them with knowledge and understanding” (Sir 17:6–7).
24c) Supernatural Elevation: A Gift of Love
God’s love moved him to grant the supernatural gifts to our first parents.
It was an extraordinary gift on the part of God. Our first parents would participate in the intimate divine life and would be heirs of heaven. The supernatural elevation entails the elevation of the human realities: the creature, as regards his personal relationship with God, is elevated to the divine filiation (cf. 2 Pt 1:4); nature is elevated by sanctifying grace, which is a supernatural habit; the potencies of the soul are elevated by the supernatural virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit; the human acts of the intellect are elevated by the light of actual grace; and the acts of the free will are elevated by the motion of other actual graces.
Divine filiation is the great news, the great message of divine Revelation: “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 Jn 3:1). Man has been elevated, acquiring the fundamental condition of a new creature (cf. Gal 6:15; 2 Cor 5:17). Because of that, we are no longer strangers: we are members of the family of God (cf. Eph 2:19).
Through grace, our first parents had become elevated creatures. This implies a new mode of presence for God in the soul: the indwelling of the Most Blessed Trinity. In the beatific vision—which is the supernatural end—they would contemplate the One and Triune God face to face (cf. 1 Cor 13:12). Meanwhile, Adam and Eve—and, later on, any human being in the state of grace—enjoyed a foretaste of it through the presence of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the soul in grace, because Jesus Christ had said, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (Jn 14:23).”9
25. Original Sin
God is infinitely good, and all his works are good. Yet, we notice the existence of suffering and of evil in this world, especially of moral evil (sin). Why is this so? Where does moral evil come from? This “mystery of lawlessness” (2 Thes 2:7) can be understood only in the light of the “mystery of our religion” (1 Tm 3:16). Christ’s revelation of God’s love has shown both the extension of evil and the extraordinary abundance of grace (cf. Rom 5:20). We should, therefore, look at the question of evil in the world by directing our eyes of faith toward the Conqueror of evil (cf. Lk 11:21–22; Jn 16:11; 1 Jn 3:8). It is necessary to know Christ as the source of grace in order to understand Adam as the source of sin. The doctrine of original sin is, in a manner of speaking, the “reverse” of the Good News that Jesus is the Savior.10
Our first parents were created by God and placed in paradise in order to work and watch over it (cf. Gn 2:15). The Creator endowed them with the preternatural and supernatural gifts. They lived happily, dealing intimately with God and having mastery over the whole of creation: the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the animals that moved over the earth (cf. Gn 1:28).
But they were seduced by the devil, and they offended God. Together with its head, Adam, the whole of humanity “preferred to be under the tyranny of the power of corruption than to be with God, exchanging his freedom, power and will for the grave and harmful servitude to sin.”11 As a consequence of this transgression, “sin came into the world through one man and death through sin” (Rom 5:12). By his offense, Adam not only harmed himself, but also harmed all his descendants. He lost the sanctity and justice received from God for himself and for us, and he transmitted the death and sufferings of the body—as well as the death of the soul (sin)—to the whole human race.12
25a) The Sin of Adam and Eve
God gave Adam a special precept in order to test him. Later, Adam and Eve disobeyed the divine precept, committing a grievous sin of pride and disobedience (de fide).
Sacred Scripture explicitly narrates the test to which God submitted our first parents: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day you eat of it you shall die’” (Gn 2:16–17).
The same biblical narrative shows the severe punishment given not only to Adam and Eve, but also to their descendants: “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gn 3:19).
The sin of Adam and Eve necessarily had to be serious, since, in the state of innocence, the lower powers of human nature were perfectly subjected to the mind, which, in turn, was perfectly subordinated to God. It was, therefore, impossible for man to suffer from any disorder that would give rise to an imperfect consent to sin.
As regards its moral species, the sin of our first parents was one of disobedience; the precept of God was meant to test their obedience. Thus, St. Paul declared, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners” (Rom 5:19). The root of disobedience was pride: “For in pride there is ruin and great confusion” (Tb 4:13). Henceforth, every sin is a disobedience to God and demonstrates a lack of confidence in his goodness. With sin, man preferred himself to God; he despised God. He tried to place himself above God, thus going against his state as creature and doing damage to himself. Man was destined to be “divinized” by God in heaven. However, he wanted to “be like God” but “without God, ahead of God, and not according to God.”13
25b) The Punishment of Original Sin
Because of original sin, our first parents incurred a number of penalties (de fide).
All human beings are implicated in Adam’s sin in the same manner that all are implicated in Christ’s salvation.
In its Decree on Original Sin, the Council of Trent defined, “If anyone does not profess that the first man Adam immediately lost the justice and holiness in which he was constituted when he disobeyed the command of God in the Garden of Paradise; and that, through the offense of this sin, he incurred the wrath and indignation of God, and consequently incurred the death with which God had previously threatened him and, together with death, bondage in the power of him who from that time had the empire of death (cf. Heb 2:14), that is, of the devil; and that it was the whole Adam, both body and soul, who was changed for the worse through the offense of sin: let him be anathema.”14
The consequences of original sin for our first parents were:
· the loss of sanctifying grace and the other supernatural gifts,
· enmity with God,
· the loss of the preternatural gifts, including immortality (thus death entered the world as a punishment), and
· subjection to the devil.
25c) Transmission of Original Sin
The sin of Adam is transmitted by generation to all his descendants, unless they are miraculously preserved by God, as in the case of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary (de fide).
The Magisterium of the Church has always taught this truth. As the Council of Trent’s Decree on Original Sin affirmed, “If anyone asserts that Adam’s sin was injurious only to Adam and not his descendants, and that it was for himself alone that he lost the holiness and justice that he had received from God, and not for us also; or that after his defilement by the sin of disobedience, he transmitted to the whole human race only death and punishment of the body but not sin itself, which is the death of the soul; let him be anathema.”15
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that Adam received sanctity and original justice not only for himself, but for all mankind.16 Yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, but this sin affects the entire human nature, which is transmitted as it is, in a fallen state.
Sacred Scripture attests to this revealed truth. In the New Testament, there are key texts that have been authentically interpreted by the Magisterium of the Church, such as: “Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned” (Rom 5:12).17 The dogma of original sin is implicitly affirmed in the sacred books whenever Christ is said to have redeemed everyone, thereby including infants who could not possibly commit any personal sin. If these infants also have a sin that excludes them from salvation, it must be inherited. In this line, St. Paul affirmed that “he died for all” (2 Cor 5:15). Jesus Christ himself told Nicodemus that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Jn 3:5).
The Fathers of the Church clearly delineated what the Catholic faith holds on this matter. St. Irenaeus remarked, “We offended God in the first Adam by not fulfilling the commandment,”18 while Origen attested, “Each one of the souls born of the flesh is stained by the dirt of sin and of evil.” In his work Contra Julianum, St. Augustine appealed to the authority of Sacred Tradition, saying, “Irenaeus, Cyprian, Hilary, Ambrose, Gregory, Innocent, John [Chrysostom], Basil, the holy presbyters and eminent commentators of the Holy Books, to which I add the name of the priest Jerome—not to mention those who are still alive—have all affirmed that all men inherit sin.”19
25d) The Nature of Original Sin
The essence of original sin formally consists in the privation of sanctifying grace, caused by the sin of Adam (sent. comm.).
This statement is in agreement with all the principles established by the Decree on Original Sin of the Council of Trent:
i) Original sin is the “death of the soul.”20 The soul—deprived of sanctifying grace, which God willed it to have—is dead with regard to the supernatural order.
ii) Canon 3 asserted that this sin is “communicated to all men by propagation, not by imitation.”21 Thus, since sin consists in nature’s being deprived of grace, original sin is transmitted when the nature deprived of grace is inherited.
iii) Canon 3 also stated that the inherited original sin “is in each one [of the descendants of Adam] as his own.”22 If it formally consists in the deprivation of grace, it is in every descendant of Adam, since the nature deprived of grace is in everyone.
iv) Through the Sacrament of Baptism, everything that is truly and properly sinful is destroyed.23 Though original sin formally consists in the deprivation of grace, it is destroyed by the infusion of grace that Baptism brings about. The habitual disorder of concupiscence is the material element of original sin.
26. The Consequences of Original Sin
Through sin, the devil acquired a certain dominion over human beings even though they remain free. We cannot ignore that human nature is wounded (not thoroughly corrupted).24
26a) Loss of the Supernatural Gifts
Because of the inherited original sin, man is completely deprived of the supernatural and preternatural gifts, as well as of the happiness of heaven (de fide).
The descendants of Adam are deprived of sanctifying grace. Actually, the culpable privation of this grace constitutes the essence of the inherited original sin. Together with grace, we also lose charity, the infused virtues, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and any right to the supernatural graces needed to achieve our supernatural last end. People could not even initiate any act directed to the supernatural end if our Lord Jesus Christ had not merited grace for them, and applied it to them.
The Magisterium of the Church teaches that Adam lost justice and sanctity for himself and for us.25 “The human soul, infected by original sin, is dead and cannot be freed of sin without the grace of the Redeemer.”26 Humanity was excluded from the beatific vision.27
Besides sanctifying grace, man has lost the preternatural gifts he received in the state of innocence, which proceed from original grace and were united to it.28
26b) Wounded Human Nature
The nature of man, infected by original sin, deteriorated (de fide).
This change for the worse does not completely destroy free will or the ability to know the truths of natural religion. Against Lutheran pessimism, the Council of Trent declared, “If anyone says that after Adam’s sin man’s free will was destroyed and lost, or that there is question about a term only; indeed, that the term has no real foundation; and that the fictitious notion was even introduced into the Church by Satan; let him be anathema.”29 The deterioration caused by sin consists only in the weakening of the natural powers of the body and the soul.
As a consequence of original sin, there are four wounds in fallen human nature, which correspond to the four potentialities that are the subject of the four cardinal virtues:
i) The wound of malice affects the will, which is inclined to sin and weakened in the face of temptation. This wound is opposed to the virtue of justice.
ii) The wound of ignorance affects the intellect, which is darkened, making the search for truth difficult. This wound is opposed to the virtue of prudence.
iii) The wound of weakness affects the irascible appetite, which, as a result, avoids exerting effort and shuns difficulties. This wound is opposed to the virtue of fortitude.
iv) The wound of concupiscence affects the concupiscible appetite. The object of this appetite is the sensible good but, weakened by concupiscence, it escapes from the dominion of reason. This wound is opposed to the virtue of temperance.
Baptism gives the life of Christ’s grace, erases original sin, and reunites man with God. However, the consequences of original sin remain, forcing man to maintain a spiritual combat every day of his life.30
Footnotes:
1. CCC, 375; cf. Council of Trent: DS 1511.
2. Cf. Fifteenth Council of Carthage: DS 222.
3. Cf. Second Council of Orange: DS 370ff.
4. DS 1511; cf. CCC, 375–376.
5. St. John Damascene, De Fide Orth. 2.11.
6. Cf. CCC, 376–377.
7. DS 222.
8. Cf. DS 1511.
9. J. Ortiz López, Palabras de Vida Eterna: Charlas Sobre el Credo (Madrid: Magisterio Español), p. 105.
10. Cf. CCC, 385, 389.
11. St. Gregory of Nyssa, De Oratione Dominica, 5.
12. Cf. Council of Trent, Sess. 5, can. 2: DS 1512.
13. St. Maximus, Conf.; cf. CCC, 398.
14. DS 1511; cf. CCC, 402–406.
15. DS 1512.
16. Cf. CCC, 404.
17. Cf. DS 1514.
18. St. Irenaeus, Adv. Haer., 5.16.3.
19. St. Augustine, Contra Jul. 2.10.
20. DS 1512.
21. DS 1513.
22. DS 1513.
23. Cf. DS 1515.
24. Cf. CCC, 407–412.
25. Cf. Council of Trent, Decree on Original Sin: DS 1512; CCC, 405.
26. Council of Trent, Decree on Original Sin: DS 1512–13.
27. Cf. DS 780, 858.
28. Cf. CCC, 399–400.
29. Council of Trent, Decree on Justification, can. 5: DS 1555.
30. Cf. CCC, 405.