Adam and Eve – Original Man
What was life like in Eden before Original Sin? Pope John Paul II calls the state of human nature before it was damaged by original sin “Original Man.” Original Man was characterized by a number of important qualities.
Adam and Eve Enjoyed Original Justice
The human personality was in harmony. There were no unfulfillable desires and human desires did not overwhelm Adam & Eve’s ability to choose. The personality was led by the truth. Choices made based on truth led Adam & Eve to the best possible good for them, which gave them true freedom. Physical pleasures were enjoyed in ways that increased freedom, appreciation, and health.
Original Innocence
Adam and Eve were not naive children without true adult freedom. However, they did possess a purity and innocence that has since been lost. Properly defined, innocence means not naive, but free of guilt and of the worry and weight that comes from sin. Within the Covenant, Adam & Eve would relate to God and each other, cultivate Creation, learn and live without toil. Original Innocence also means that they lived their lives within the context of love. They were elevated by their love of God. They gazed on each other with gazes of love, and so were naked without shame.
Original Solitude
Pope John Paul II discusses Original Solitude in Theology of the Body. Especially before the creation of Eve, Adam must have been sharply aware of his distinction from all of creation. Only he was created with the capacity to know and to love God. Only he was called to participate in God’s act of creation. Only he was made in God’s image, with an intellect and a will. Only he had the desire to love that drew him beyond reproduction into community with others. This Original Solitude is expressed in Genesis 2 when God declares, “It is not good for man to be alone.” God’s creation of each animal and Adam’s subsequent rejection of them all as insufficient “help-mates” is meant to strike the point of Adam’s uniqueness and solitude home. When God finally creates Eve, Adam declares, “This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh”!
Original Solitude should not be mistaken for simple loneliness. With an intimate relationship with God, Adam would not have been lonely. Instead, it is the recognition that, made in the image and likeness of God, Adam was called to love one of his own nature. Adam alone was an incomplete image of God. Adam and Eve, in a relationship of perfect love, oriented toward the creation of family love, is perfectly in the image of God. Adam appreciated what he was created to be in the very depths of his soul. That is Original Solitude.
Before we can discuss the tree of knowledge of good and evil we must first know exactly what this tree and its fruit were. Do a search: The First Scandal. Then click twice.
Before we can discuss the tree of knowledge of good and evil we must first know exactly what this tree and its fruit were. Do a search: The First Scandal. Then click twice.
Are you sending people to "The First Scandal Blog"? The URL is http://www.thefirstscandal.blogspot.com
This is an interesting theory about the nature of Original Sin. However, in the article and videos on Original Sin I'll cover a theory that is a bit more grounded in Catholic theological teaching (no, not St. Augustine's theory), and that covers the images in scripture a bit more completely (in my opinion, anyway).
Are you sending people to “The First Scandal Blog”? The URL is http://www.thefirstscandal.blogspot.com
This is an interesting theory about the nature of Original Sin. However, in the article and videos on Original Sin I’ll cover a theory that is a bit more grounded in Catholic theological teaching (no, not St. Augustine’s theory), and that covers the images in scripture a bit more completely (in my opinion, anyway).