can be traced back to Original Sin, the sin of our first parents Adam and Eve, and how that sin has left a permanent wound in our human nature. Original Sin To understand Original Sin, we must go back to the beginning. When Adam and Eve were created, they were in the state of grace. They had intimate friendship with God. God loved them and delighted to spend time with them. They were His masterpiece, and all of creation was there to serve them. They had perfect bodies free of disease or decay, crystal clear intellects, and passions that were completely subordinate to reason. They had no need of clothing, for the climate in the garden of Paradise included the perfect temperature, nothing to fear from sun, wind or rain, and no objectifying gazing from others. In addition to all these natural gifts, Adam and Eve also had what are called preternatural gifts. These are gifts that were not due to our nature as such, but were added to it by God who is so generous. These preternatural gifts, which were destined to be passed on to all future generations of the human race if our first parents had not sinned, were the following: immortality (they were not to die), infused knowledge (knowledge of all natural sciences to a degree that would make the geniuses of history look like little schoolboys); and immunity from concupiscence. This immunity means that their reason had such a command over the natural inclinations of the flesh that their appetites were completely ordered and they would always act according to reason. This immunity from concupiscence is almost impossible for us to imagine now, as we are all wounded by Original Sin. Many people cannot imagine eating food solely to be nourished (as opposed to eating because we are craving a favourite particular food). However, for Adam and Eve, before Original Sin, this was a reality. Instead of appetite leading reason, it was reason that would lead the appetite in order to achieve the desired end of nutrition (food) or procreation (intercourse). You know the story of the Fall, how Satan, under the guise the serpent, tempted Eve, who then tempted Adam. They both disobeyed God’s clear command. That is the first, or Original Sin of humanity. Because of this sin, this turning away from God and towards the creature, Adam and Eve not only lost the initial state of innocence, holiness and bliss in which they were created, but nature, which was meant to serve them, turned against them, because they had first turned against God and distorted creation. Since then, the human intellect 28
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