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Paragraph 5. HEAVEN AND EARTH
§325
The Apostles' Creed professes that God is «creator of heaven and
earth» . the Nicene Creed makes it explicit that this profession includes
«all that is, seen and unseen» .
§326
The Scriptural expression «heaven and earth» means all that exists,
creation in its entirety. It also indicates the bond, deep within creation,
that both unites heaven and earth and distinguishes the one from the other:
«the earth» is the world of men, while «heaven» or
«the heavens» can designate both the firmament and God's own «place"
- «our Father in heaven» and consequently the «heaven» too
which is eschatological glory. Finally, «heaven» refers to the saints
and the «place» of the spiritual creatures, the angels, who surround
God.186
§327
The profession of faith of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) affirms that God
«from the beginning of time made at once (simul) out of nothing both
orders of creatures, the spiritual and the corporeal, that is, the angelic and
the earthly, and then (deinde) the human creature, who as it were shares in
both orders, being composed of spirit and body.» 187
I. THE ANGELS
The existence of angels - a truth of faith
§328
The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture
usually calls «angels» is a truth of faith. the witness of Scripture
is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition.
Who are they?
§329
St. Augustine says: «'Angel' is the name of their office, not of their
nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is 'spirit'; if you seek the
name of their office, it is 'angel': from what they are, 'spirit', from what
they do, 'angel.'» 188 With their whole beings the angels are
servants and messengers of God. Because they «always behold the face of my
Father who is in heaven» they are the «mighty ones who do his word,
hearkening to the voice of his word» .189
§330
As purely spiritual creatures angels have intelligence and will: they are
personal and immortal creatures, surpassing in perfection all visible creatures,
as the splendour of their glory bears witness.190
Christ «with all his angels»
§331
Christ is the centre of the angelic world. They are his angels: «When the
Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him. . « 191
They belong to him because they were created through and for him: «for in
him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities - all things were
created through him and for him.» 192 They belong to him still more
because he has made them messengers of his saving plan: «Are they not all
ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to
obtain salvation?» 193
§332
Angels have been present since creation and throughout the history of
salvation, announcing this salvation from afar or near and serving the
accomplishment of the divine plan: they closed the earthly paradise; protected
Lot; saved Hagar and her child; stayed Abraham's hand; communicated the law by
their ministry; led the People of God; announced births and callings; and
assisted the prophets, just to cite a few examples.194 Finally, the
angel Gabriel announced the birth of the Precursor and that of Jesus
himself.195
§333
From the Incarnation to the Ascension, the life of the Word incarnate is
surrounded by the adoration and service of angels. When God «brings the
firstborn into the world, he says: 'Let all God's angels worship him.'» 196
Their song of praise at the birth of Christ has not ceased resounding in the
Church's praise: «Glory to God in the highest!» 197 They
protect Jesus in his infancy, serve him in the desert, strengthen him in his
agony in the garden, when he could have been saved by them from the hands of
his enemies as Israel had been.198 Again, it is the angels who
«evangelize» by proclaiming the Good News of Christ's Incarnation and
Resurrection.199 They will be present at Christ's return, which they
will announce, to serve at his judgement.200
The angels in the life of the Church
§334
In the meantime, the whole life of the Church benefits from the mysterious and
powerful help of angels.201
§335
In her liturgy, the Church joins with the angels to adore the thrice-holy God.
She invokes their assistance (in the Roman Canon's Supplices te rogamus. .
.["Almighty God, we pray that your angel..."]; in the funeral
liturgy's In Paradisum deducant te angeli. . .["May the angels lead you
into Paradise. . ."]). Moreover, in the «Cherubic Hymn» of the
Byzantine Liturgy, she celebrates the memory of certain angels more
particularly (St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, and the guardian angels).
§336
From infancy to death human life is surrounded by their watchful care and
intercession.202 «Beside each believer stands an angel as
protector and shepherd leading him to life.» 203 Already here on
earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and
men united in God.
II. THE VISIBLE WORLD
§337
God himself created the visible world in all its richness, diversity and order.
Scripture presents the work of the Creator symbolically as a succession of six
days of divine «work» , concluded by the «rest» of the
seventh day.204 On the subject of creation, the sacred text teaches the
truths revealed by God for our salvation,205 permitting us to
«recognize the inner nature, the value and the ordering of the whole of
creation to the praise of God.» 206
§338
Nothing exists that does not owe its existence to God the Creator. the world
began when God's word drew it out of nothingness; all existent beings, all of
nature, and all human history are rooted in this primordial event, the very
genesis by which the world was constituted and time begun.207
§339
Each creature possesses its own particular goodness and perfection. For each
one of the works of the «six days» it is said: «and God saw that
it was good.» «By the very nature of creation, material being is
endowed with its own stability, truth and excellence, its own order and laws.» 208
Each of the various creatures, willed in its own being, reflects in its own way
a ray of God's infinite wisdom and goodness. Man must therefore respect the
particular goodness of every creature, to avoid any disordered use of things which
would be in contempt of the Creator and would bring disastrous consequences for
human beings and their environment.
§340
God wills the interdependence of creatures. the sun and the moon, the cedar and
the little flower, the eagle and the sparrow: the spectacle of their countless
diversities and inequalities tells us that no creature is self-sufficient.
Creatures exist only in dependence on each other, to complete each other, in
the service of each other.
§341
The beauty of the universe: the order and harmony of the created world results
from the diversity of beings and from the relationships which exist among them.
Man discovers them progressively as the laws of nature. They call forth the
admiration of scholars. the beauty of creation reflects the infinite beauty of
the Creator and ought to inspire the respect and submission of man's intellect
and will.
§342
The hierarchy of creatures is expressed by the order of the «six
days» , from the less perfect to the more perfect. God loves all his
creatures209 and takes care of each one, even the sparrow.
Nevertheless, Jesus said: «You are of more value than many sparrows» ,
or again: «of how much more value is a man than a sheep!» 210
§343
Man is the summit of the Creator's work, as the inspired account expresses by
clearly distinguishing the creation of man from that of the other
creatures.211
§344
There is a solidarity among all creatures arising from the fact that all have
the same Creator and are all ordered to his glory: May you be praised, O Lord,
in all your creatures, especially brother sun, by whom you give us light for
the day; he is beautiful, radiating great splendour, and offering us a symbol
of you, the Most High. . .
May you be praised, my Lord,
for sister water, who is very useful and humble, precious and chaste.
May you be praised, my Lord, for sister earth, our mother, who bears and feeds
us, and produces the variety of fruits and dappled flowers and grasses. . .
Praise and bless my Lord, give thanks and serve him in all humility.212
§345
The sabbath - the end of the work of the six days. the sacred text says that
«on the seventh day God finished his work which he had done» , that
the «heavens and the earth were finished» , and that God
«rested» on this day and sanctified and blessed it.213 These
inspired words are rich in profitable instruction:
§346
In
creation God laid a foundation and established laws that remain firm, on which
the believer can rely with confidence, for they are the sign and pledge of the
unshakeable faithfulness of God's covenant.214 For his part man must
remain faithful to this foundation, and respect the laws which the Creator has
written into it.
§347
Creation
was fashioned with a view to the sabbath and therefore for the worship and
adoration of God. Worship is inscribed in the order of creation.215 As
the rule of St. Benedict says, nothing should take precedence over «the
work of God» , that is, solemn worship.216 This indicates the right
order of human concerns.
§348
The
sabbath is at the heart of Israel's law. To keep the commandments is to
correspond to the wisdom and the will of God as expressed in his work of
creation.
§349
The eighth day. But for us a new day has dawned: the day of Christ's
Resurrection. the seventh day completes the first creation. the eighth day
begins the new creation. Thus, the work of creation culminates in the greater
work of redemption. the first creation finds its meaning and its summit in the
new creation in Christ, the splendour of which surpasses that of the first
creation.217
IN BRIEF
§350
Angels are spiritual
creatures who glorify God without ceasing and who serve his saving plans for
other creatures: «The angels work together for the benefit of us all"
(St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I, 114, 3, ad 3).
§351
The angels surround
Christ their Lord. They serve him especially in the accomplishment of his
saving mission to men.
§352
The Church venerates the
angels who help her on her earthly pilgrimage and protect every human being.
§353
God willed the diversity of
his creatures and their own particular goodness, their interdependence and
their order. He destined all material creatures for the good of the human race.
Man, and through him all creation, is destined for the glory of God.
§354
Respect for laws
inscribed in creation and the relations which derive from the nature of things
is a principle of wisdom and a foundation for morality.
Paragraph 6. MAN
§355
«God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him,
male and female he created them.» 218 Man occupies a unique place
in creation: (I) he is «in the image of God»; (II) in his own nature
he unites the spiritual and material worlds; (III) he is created «male and
female»; (IV) God established him in his friendship.
I. «IN THE IMAGE OF GOD»
§356
of all visible creatures only man is «able to know and love his
creator» .219 He is «the only creature on earth that God has
willed for its own sake» ,220 and he alone is called to share, by
knowledge and love, in God's own life. It was for this end that he was created,
and this is the fundamental reason for his dignity:
What
made you establish man in so great a dignity? Certainly the incalculable love
by which you have looked on your creature in yourself! You are taken with love
for her; for by love indeed you created her, by love you have given her a being
capable of tasting your eternal Good.221
§357
Being in the image of God the human individual possesses the dignity of a
person, who is not just something, but someone. He is capable of
self-knowledge, of self-possession and of freely giving himself and entering
into communion with other persons. and he is called by grace to a covenant with
his Creator, to offer him a response of faith and love that no other creature
can give in his stead.
§358
God created everything for man,222 but man in turn was created to serve
and love God and to offer all creation back to him:
What is it that is about to be created, that enjoys such honour? It is man that
great and wonderful living creature, more precious in the eyes of God than all
other creatures! For him the heavens and the earth, the sea and all the rest of
creation exist. God attached so much importance to his salvation that he did
not spare his own Son for the sake of man. Nor does he ever cease to work,
trying every possible means, until he has raised man up to himself and made him
sit at his right hand.223
§359
«In reality it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the
mystery of man truly becomes clear.» 224
St. Paul tells us that the human race takes its origin from two men: Adam and Christ. . . the first man, Adam, he says, became a living soul, the last Adam a life-giving spirit. the first Adam was made by the last Adam, from whom he also received his soul, to give him life... the second Adam stamped his image on the first Adam when he created him. That is why he took on himself the role and the name of the first Adam, in order that he might not lose what he had made in his own image. the first Adam, the last Adam: the first had a beginning, the last knows no end. the last Adam is indeed the first; as he himself says: «I am the first and the last.» 225
§360
Because of its common origin the human race forms a unity, for «from one
ancestor (God) made all nations to inhabit the whole earth":226
O wondrous vision, which makes us contemplate the human race in the unity of its origin in God. . . in the unity of its nature, composed equally in all men of a material body and a spiritual soul; in the unity of its immediate end and its mission in the world; in the unity of its dwelling, the earth, whose benefits all men, by right of nature, may use to sustain and develop life; in the unity of its supernatural end: God himself, to whom all ought to tend; in the unity of the means for attaining this end;. . . in the unity of the redemption wrought by Christ for all.227
§361
«This law of human solidarity and charity» ,228 without
excluding the rich variety of persons, cultures and peoples, assures us that
all men are truly brethren.
II. «BODY AND SOUL BUT TRULY ONE»
§362
The human person, created in the image of God, is a being at once corporeal and
spiritual. the biblical account expresses this reality in symbolic language
when it affirms that «then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground,
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living
being.» 229 Man, whole and entire, is therefore willed by God.
§363
In Sacred Scripture the term «soul» often refers to human life or the
entire human person.230 But «soul» also refers to the
innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him,231
that by which he is most especially in God's image: «soul» signifies
the spiritual principle in man.
§364
The human body shares in the dignity of «the image of God": it is a
human body precisely because it is animated by a spiritual soul, and it is the
whole human person that is intended to become, in the body of Christ, a temple
of the Spirit:232
Man, though made of body and soul, is a unity. Through his very bodily condition he sums up in himself the elements of the material world. Through him they are thus brought to their highest perfection and can raise their voice in praise freely given to the Creator. For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honour since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day 233
§365
The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to
be the «form» of the body:234 i.e., it is because of its
spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body;
spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union
forms a single nature.
§366
The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God - it
is not «produced» by the parents - and also that it is immortal: it
does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be
reunited with the body at the final Resurrection.235
§367
Sometimes the soul is distinguished from the spirit: St. Paul for instance
prays that God may sanctify his people «wholly» , with «spirit
and soul and body» kept sound and blameless at the Lord's
coming.236 The Church teaches that this distinction does not introduce
a duality into the soul.237 «Spirit» signifies that from
creation man is ordered to a supernatural end and that his soul can gratuitously
be raised beyond all it deserves to communion with God.238
§368
The spiritual tradition of the Church also emphasizes the heart, in the
biblical sense of the depths of one's being, where the person decides for or
against God.239
III. «MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM»
Equality and difference willed by God
§369
Man
and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand,
in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings
as man and woman. «Being man» or «being woman» is a reality
which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity
which comes to them immediately from God their Creator.240 Man and
woman are both with one and the same dignity «in the image of God» .
In their «being-man» and «being-woman» , they reflect the
Creator's wisdom and goodness.
§370
In no way is God in man's image. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure
spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes. But the
respective «perfections» of man and woman reflect something of the
infinite perfection of God: those of a mother and those of a father and
husband.241
«Each for the other» - «A unity in two»
§371
God created man and woman together and willed each for the other. the Word of
God gives us to understand this through various features of the sacred text.
«It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit
for him.» 242 None of the animals can be man's partner.243
The woman God «fashions» from the man's rib and brings to him elicits
on the man's part a cry of wonder, an exclamation of love and communion:
«This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.» 244
Man discovers woman as another «I» , sharing the same humanity.
§372
Man and woman were made «for each other» - not that God left them
half-made and incomplete: he created them to be a communion of persons, in
which each can be «helpmate» to the other, for they are equal as
persons ("bone of my bones. . .») and complementary as masculine and
feminine. In marriage God unites them in such a way that, by forming «one
flesh» ,245 they can transmit human life: «Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the earth.» 246 By transmitting human life to their
descendants, man and woman as spouses and parents co-operate in a unique way in
the Creator's work.247
§373
In God's plan man and woman have the vocation of «subduing» the
earth248 as stewards of God. This sovereignty is not to be an arbitrary
and destructive domination. God calls man and woman, made in the image of the
Creator «who loves everything that exists» ,249 to share in
his providence toward other creatures; hence their responsibility for the world
God has entrusted to them.
IV. MAN IN PARADISE
§374
The first man was not only created good, but was also established in friendship
with his Creator and in harmony with himself and with the creation around him,
in a state that would be surpassed only by the glory of the new creation in
Christ.
§375
The Church, interpreting the symbolism of biblical language in an authentic
way, in the light of the New Testament and Tradition, teaches that our first
parents, Adam and Eve, were constituted in an original «state of holiness
and justice» .250 This grace of original holiness was «to
share in. . .divine life» .251
§376
By the radiance of this grace all dimensions of man's life were confirmed. As
long as he remained in the divine intimacy, man would not have to suffer or
die.252 The inner harmony of the human person, the harmony between man
and woman,253 and finally the harmony between the first couple and all
creation, comprised the state called «original justice» .
§377
The «mastery» over the world that God offered man from the beginning
was realized above all within man himself: mastery of self. the first man was
unimpaired and ordered in his whole being because he was free from the triple
concupiscence254 that subjugates him to the pleasures of the senses,
covetousness for earthly goods, and self-assertion, contrary to the dictates of
reason.
§378
The sign of man's familiarity with God is that God places him in the
garden.255 There he lives «to till it and keep it» . Work is
not yet a burden,256 but rather the collaboration of man and woman with
God in perfecting the visible creation.
§379
This entire harmony of original justice, foreseen for man in God's plan, will
be lost by the sin of our first parents.
IN BRIEF
§380
«Father,. . . you formed
man in your own likeness and set him over the whole world to serve you, his
creator, and to rule over all creatures» (Roman Missal, EP IV, 118).
§381
Man is predestined to
reproduce the image of God's Son made man, the «image of the invisible
God» (⇒ Col 1:15), so that Christ shall be the
first-born of a multitude of brothers and sisters (cf
⇒ Eph 1:3-6; ⇒ Rom
8:29).
§382
«Man, though made of
body and soul, is a unity» (GS 14 # 1). the doctrine of the faith affirms
that the spiritual and immortal soul is created immediately by God.
§383
«God did not create
man a solitary being. From the beginning, «male and female he created
them» (⇒ Gen 1:27). This partnership of man and
woman constitutes the first form of communion between persons» (GS 12 #
4).
§384
Revelation makes known to
us the state of original holiness and justice of man and woman before sin: from
their friendship with God flowed the happiness of their existence in paradise.
Paragraph 7. THE FALL
§385
God is infinitely good and all his works are good. Yet no one can escape the
experience of suffering or the evils in nature which seem to be linked to the
limitations proper to creatures: and above all to the question of moral evil.
Where does evil come from? «I sought whence evil comes and there was no
solution» , said St. Augustine,257 and his own painful quest would
only be resolved by his conversion to the living God. For «the mystery of
lawlessness» is clarified only in the light of the «mystery of our
religion» .258 The revelation of divine love in Christ manifested
at the same time the extent of evil and the superabundance of grace.259
We must therefore approach the question of the origin of evil by fixing the
eyes of our faith on him who alone is its conqueror.260
I. WHERE SIN ABOUNDED, GRACE ABOUNDED ALL THE MORE
The reality of sin
§386
Sin is present in human history; any attempt to ignore it or to give this dark
reality other names would be futile. To try to understand what sin is, one must
first recognize the profound relation of man to God, for only in this
relationship is the evil of sin unmasked in its true identity as humanity's
rejection of God and opposition to him, even as it continues to weigh heavy on
human life and history.
§387
Only the light of divine Revelation clarifies the reality of sin and
particularly of the sin committed at mankind's origins. Without the knowledge
Revelation gives of God we cannot recognize sin clearly and are tempted to
explain it as merely a developmental flaw, a psychological weakness, a mistake,
or the necessary consequence of an inadequate social structure, etc. Only in
the knowledge of God's plan for man can we grasp that sin is an abuse of the
freedom that God gives to created persons so that they are capable of loving
him and loving one another.
Original sin - an essential truth of the faith
§388
With the progress of Revelation, the reality of sin is also illuminated.
Although to some extent the People of God in the Old Testament had tried to
understand the pathos of the human condition in the light of the history of the
fall narrated in Genesis, they could not grasp this story's ultimate meaning,
which is revealed only in the light of the death and Resurrection of Jesus
Christ.261 We must know Christ as the source of grace in order to know
Adam as the source of sin. the Spirit-Paraclete, sent by the risen Christ, came
to «convict the world concerning sin» ,262 by revealing him
who is its Redeemer.
§389
The doctrine of original sin is, so to speak, the «reverse side» of
the Good News that Jesus is the Saviour of all men, that all need salvation and
that salvation is offered to all through Christ. the Church, which has the mind
of Christ,263 knows very well that we cannot tamper with the revelation
of original sin without undermining the mystery of Christ.
How to read the account of the fall
§390
The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a
primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of
man.264 Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of
human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first
parents.265
II. THE FALL OF THE ANGELS
§391
Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice,
opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy.266
Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called
«Satan» or the «devil» .267 The Church teaches that
Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: «The devil and the other
demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their
own doing.» 268
§392
Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels.269 This «fall"
consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and
irrevocably rejected God and his reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion
in the tempter's words to our first parents: «You will be like God.» 270
The devil «has sinned from the beginning»; he is «a liar and the
father of lies» .271
§393
It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the
infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels' sin unforgivable. «There is
no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance
for men after death.» 272
§394
Scripture witnesses to the disastrous influence of the one Jesus calls «a
murderer from the beginning» , who would even try to divert Jesus from the
mission received from his Father.273 «The reason the Son of God
appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.» 274 In its
consequences the gravest of these works was the mendacious seduction that led
man to disobey God.
§395
The power of Satan is, nonetheless, not infinite. He is only a creature,
powerful from the fact that he is pure spirit, but still a creature. He cannot
prevent the building up of God's reign. Although Satan may act in the world out
of hatred for God and his kingdom in Christ Jesus, and although his action may
cause grave injuries - of a spiritual nature and, indirectly, even of a
physical nature - to each man and to society, the action is permitted by divine
providence which with strength and gentleness guides human and cosmic history.
It is a great mystery that providence should permit diabolical activity, but
«we know that in everything God works for good with those who love
him.» 275
III. ORIGINAL SIN
Freedom put to the test
§396
God created man in his image and established him in his friendship. A spiritual
creature, man can live this friendship only in free submission to God. the
prohibition against eating «of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil» spells this out: «for in the day that you eat of it, you shall
die.» 276 The «tree of the knowledge of good and
evil» 277 symbolically evokes the insurmountable limits that man,
being a creature, must freely recognize and respect with trust. Man is
dependent on his Creator, and subject to the laws of creation and to the moral
norms that govern the use of freedom.
Man's first sin
§397
Man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and,
abusing his freedom, disobeyed God's command. This is what man's first sin
consisted of.278 All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God
and lack of trust in his goodness.
§398
In that sin man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned him. He
chose himself over and against God, against the requirements of his creaturely
status and therefore against his own good. Created in a state of holiness, man
was destined to be fully «divinized» by God in glory. Seduced by the
devil, he wanted to «be like God» , but «without God, before God,
and not in accordance with God» .279
§399
Scripture portrays the tragic consequences of this first disobedience. Adam and
Eve immediately lose the grace of original holiness.280 They become
afraid of the God of whom they have conceived a distorted image - that of a God
jealous of his prerogatives.281
§400
The harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is
now destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties over the body is
shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their
relations henceforth marked by lust and domination.282 Harmony with
creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to
man.283 Because of man, creation is now subject «to its bondage to
decay» .284 Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this
disobedience will come true: man will «return to the
ground» ,285 for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance
into human history.286
§401
After that first sin, the world is virtually inundated by sin There is Cain's
murder of his brother Abel and the universal corruption which follows in the
wake of sin. Likewise, sin frequently manifests itself in the history of
Israel, especially as infidelity to the God of the Covenant and as
transgression of the Law of Moses. and even after Christ's atonement, sin
raises its head in countless ways among Christians.287 Scripture and
the Church's Tradition continually recall the presence and universality of sin
in man's history:
What Revelation makes known to us is confirmed by our own experience. For when man looks into his own heart he finds that he is drawn towards what is wrong and sunk in many evils which cannot come from his good creator. Often refusing to acknowledge God as his source, man has also upset the relationship which should link him to his last end, and at the same time he has broken the right order that should reign within himself as well as between himself and other men and all creatures.288
The consequences of Adam's sin for humanity
§402
All men are implicated in Adam's sin, as St. Paul affirms: «By one man's
disobedience many (that is, all men) were made sinners": «sin came
into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to
all men because all men sinned.» 289 The Apostle contrasts the
universality of sin and death with the universality of salvation in Christ.
«Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's
act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men.» 290
§403
Following St. Paul, the Church has always taught that the overwhelming misery
which oppresses men and their inclination towards evil and death cannot be
understood apart from their connection with Adam's sin and the fact that he has
transmitted to us a sin with which we are all born afflicted, a sin which is
the «death of the soul» .291 Because of this certainty of
faith, the Church baptizes for the remission of sins even tiny infants who have
not committed personal sin.292
§404
How did the sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants? the whole human
race is in Adam «as one body of one man» .293 By this
«unity of the human race» all men are implicated in Adam's sin, as
all are implicated in Christ's justice. Still, the transmission of original sin
is a mystery that we cannot fully understand. But we do know by Revelation that
Adam had received original holiness and justice not for himself alone, but for
all human nature. By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a personal
sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a
fallen state.294 It is a sin which will be transmitted by propagation
to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of a human nature deprived of
original holiness and justice. and that is why original sin is called
«sin» only in an analogical sense: it is a sin «contracted"
and not «committed» - a state and not an act.
§405
Although it is proper to each individual,295 original sin does not have
the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's descendants. It is a
deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been
totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to
ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin - an
inclination to evil that is called concupiscence» . Baptism, by imparting
the life of Christ's grace, erases original sin and turns a man back towards God,
but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man
and summon him to spiritual battle.
§406
The
Church's teaching on the transmission of original sin was articulated more
precisely in the fifth century, especially under the impulse of St. Augustine's
reflections against Pelagianism, and in the sixteenth century, in opposition to
the Protestant Reformation. Pelagius held that man could, by the natural power
of free will and without the necessary help of God's grace, lead a morally good
life; he thus reduced the influence of Adam's fault to bad example. the first
Protestant reformers, on the contrary, taught that original sin has radically
perverted man and destroyed his freedom; they identified the sin inherited by each
man with the tendency to evil (concupiscentia), which would be insurmountable.
the Church pronounced on the meaning of the data of Revelation on original sin
especially at the second Council of Orange (529)296 and at the Council
of Trent (1546).297
A hard battle. . .
§407
The doctrine of original sin, closely connected with that of redemption by
Christ, provides lucid discernment of man's situation and activity in the
world. By our first parents' sin, the devil has acquired a certain domination
over man, even though man remains free. Original sin entails «captivity
under the power of him who thenceforth had the power of death, that is, the
devil» .298 Ignorance of the fact that man has a wounded nature inclined
to evil gives rise to serious errors in the areas of education, politics,
social action299 and morals.
§408
The consequences of original sin and of all men's personal sins put the world
as a whole in the sinful condition aptly described in St. John's expression,
«the sin of the world» .300 This expression can also refer to
the negative influence exerted on people by communal situations and social
structures that are the fruit of men's sins.301
§409
This dramatic situation of «the whole world [which] is in the power of the
evil one» 302 makes man's life a battle:
The whole of man's history has been the story of dour combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so our Lord tells us, from the very dawn of history until the last day. Finding himself in the midst of the battlefield man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God's grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity.303
IV. «YOU DID NOT ABANDON HIM TO THE POWER OF DEATH»
§410
After his fall, man was not abandoned by God. On the contrary, God calls him
and in a mysterious way heralds the coming victory over evil and his
restoration from his fall.304 This passage in Genesis is called the
Protoevangelium ("first gospel»): the first announcement of the
Messiah and Redeemer, of a battle between the serpent and the Woman, and of the
final victory of a descendant of hers.
§411
The Christian tradition sees in this passage an announcement of the «New
Adam» who, because he «became obedient unto death, even death on a
cross» , makes amends superabundantly for the disobedience, of
Adam.305 Furthermore many Fathers and Doctors of the Church have seen
the woman announced in the «Proto-evangelium» as Mary, the mother of
Christ, the «new Eve» . Mary benefited first of all and uniquely from
Christ's victory over sin: she was preserved from all stain of original sin and
by a special grace of God committed no sin of any kind during her whole earthly
life.306
§412
But why did God not prevent the first man from sinning? St. Leo the Great
responds, «Christ's inexpressible grace gave us blessings better than
those the demon's envy had taken away.» 307 and St. Thomas Aquinas
wrote, «There is nothing to prevent human nature's being raised up to
something greater, even after sin; God permits evil in order to draw forth some
greater good. Thus St. Paul says, 'Where sin increased, grace abounded all the
more'; and the Exsultet sings, 'O happy fault,. . . which gained for us so
great a Redeemer!'» 308
IN BRIEF
§413
«God did not make
death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. . . It was through
the devil's envy that death entered the world"
(⇒ Wis 1:13;
⇒ 2:24).
§414
Satan or the devil and
the other demons are fallen angels who have freely refused to serve God and his
plan. Their choice against God is definitive. They try to associate man in
their revolt against God.
§415
«Although set by God
in a state of rectitude man, enticed by the evil one, abused his freedom at the
very start of history. He lifted himself up against God, and sought to attain
his goal apart from him» (GS 13 # 1).
§416
By his sin Adam, as the
first man, lost the original holiness and justice he had received from God, not
only for himself but for all human beings.
§417
Adam and Eve transmitted
to their descendants human nature wounded by their own first sin and hence
deprived of original holiness and justice; this deprivation is called
«original sin» .
§418
As a result of original
sin, human nature is weakened in its powers, subject to ignorance, suffering
and the domination of death, and inclined to sin (this inclination is called
«concupiscence»).
§419
«We therefore hold, with
the Council of Trent, that original sin is transmitted with human nature,
«by propagation, not by imitation» and that it is. . . 'proper to
each'» (Paul VI, CPG # 16).
§420
The victory that Christ
won over sin has given us greater blessings than those which sin had taken from
us: «where sin increased, grace abounded all the more"
(⇒ Rom 5:20).
§421
Christians believe that
«the world has been established and kept in being by the Creator's love; has
fallen into slavery to sin but has been set free by Christ, crucified and risen
to break the power of the evil one. . .» (GS 2 # 2).
Catéchisme de l'Église catholique © Libreria Editrice Vaticana 1992.
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