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State of the question. We suppose that a sin is a
defection from the order to a right end, something
contrary to the rule of reason, of nature, and the
eternal law.[1518] sin, however, is not predicated
univocally of mortal and venial sin; mortal sin turns away
from the final end; venial sin maintains the order to the
final end but turns to means that are not ordered to the
end.[1519] Besides this, sin can be considered
either in act or in habit. In the latter sense it is a
disordered habit remaining in the soul until the sin is
remitted. Thus after an actual mortal sin a man remains
turned away from his final end. Hence habitual mortal sin
is a state of sin consisting in the privation of
sanctifying grace caused by a gravely culpable turning to
creatures.
Adam's sin and its consequences for the human race are
denied by the rationalists and liberal Protestants,
according to whom the biblical narrative of Adam's Fall
is merely allegorical and mythical. The rationalists
object because of the disproportion between the eating of
the forbidden fruit and the penalty inflicted, as
described in the Book of Genesis.
The Catholic doctrine was defined by the Council of
Trent: "If anyone does not confess that the first man
Adam, when he transgressed the commandment of God in
paradise, immediately lost the holiness and justice in
which he had been constituted, and by the offense of such
transgression incurred the anger and indignation of God,
and therefore death, with which God had threatened him,
and with death captivity under the power of him who from
then on held the empire of death, that is, the devil,
and that the whole Adam by the offense of this
transgression was changed for the worse in body and soul,
let him be anathema."[1520]
With regard to Adam's sin the Biblical Commission
teaches that the literal historical sense of Genesis
cannot be doubted, especially with regard to the facts
narrated in those chapters "which refer to the foundations
of the Christian religion, such as, among others, the
original happiness of our first parents in the state of
justice, integrity, and immortality, the commandment
given by God to man to test his obedience, the
transgression of that divine commandment with the
persuasion of the devil under the guise of a serpent, the
eviction of our first parents from that primeval state of
innocence, and the promise of the future
Redeemer."[1521]
Sacred Scripture affirms the existence of this grave
commandment and its violation: "And He commanded him,
saying:....but of the tree of knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou
shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death..... And
the woman....took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,
and gave to her husband who did eat."[1522]
From these words it is clear that our first parents sinned
gravely, because of the purpose of the commandment,
namely, the testing of their obedience, because of the
grave punishment, namely, the loss of grace and their
privileges, because of the consequences of the sin for the
human race, and because of the perfection of this first
state in which it was most easy to avoid sin.
The gravity of this sin is asserted in other places in
Scripture: "From the woman came the beginning of sin,
and by her we all die";[1523] "But by the envy of
the devil, death came into the world";[1524]
"For as by the disobedience of one man, many were made
sinners; so also by the obedience of one, many shall be
made just."[1525]
The Fathers, in explaining these texts, commonly assert
that when our first parents committed this grave sin they
lost their pristine justice, that death is the effect of
Adam's sin, that by his sin Adam lost the preternatural
gifts but retained free will, and that Adam's sin passed
on to all men.[1526]
Theological proof. St. Thomas proves that the sin of
our first parents was the sin of pride, because they
inordinately desired to be like God in the knowledge of
good and evil and wished to govern themselves by reason
alone instead of obeying the divine commandments received
by faith.[1527] Thus disobedience arises from
pride. And although this sin was not more grave than all
others according to species, "it took on the greatest
gravity because of the perfection of the state of the
persons who committed the sin."[1528] Thus the
Scriptures say frequently that "pride is the beginning of
all sin."[1529]
St. Thomas points out in the same place that at that
time the sensitive appetite was completely subjected to the
reason and the will. Therefore this inordination could
have its beginning only in the will, by an inordinate
desire of one's own excellence. At the same time there
was in Eve curiosity and disloyalty and in Adam an
inordinate love for his wife. Hence, as St. Thomas
says, the eating of the forbidden fruit was entirely
secondary, and therefore the objection of the rationalists
about the disproportion between the sin and the punishment
is without basis.
It is commonly admitted that our first parents obtained
salvation by penance, according to the words: "She
(wisdom) preserved him, that was first formed by God
the father of the world, when he was created alone. And
she brought him out of his sin, and gave him power to
govern all things."[1530] Indeed, the Greek
Church celebrates the feast of Adam and Eve on the
Sunday before Christmas.
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