The Mystery of Sin

By John D. Meehan
1/29/2013
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Part I - From the beginning...

Original Sin is nothing else than despising the authority of God and, consequently, all authority. Thus, males and females, each in their own way, enter fallen human existence as selfish and disobedient persons.

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HOOKSET, NH (Catholic Online) - The Catholic Church proclaims the whole of salvation history: Creation, the Fall, and Redemption: "In love you created man, in justice you condemned him, and in mercy you redeemed him, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord" (Preface, Weekdays II).

Sin entered human history by way of Adam and Eve: "In their hearts they put God to the test" (Ps 78:18). The personal sins of Adam and Eve resulted from free-willed acts, not from Creation: "According to faith, the disorder [in the human heart] we notice so painfully does not stem from the nature of man and woman, nor from the nature of their relations, but from sin" (Catechism, no. 1607). The disobedience of Adam and Eve was "an abuse of the freedom that God gives to created persons so that they are capable of loving him and of loving one another" (Catechism, no. 387).

From the very moment of his or her conception in the womb, Original Sin and its horrific effects are transmitted to a human being. This transmission is by propagation, not by imitation: "For indeed, I was born in sin; guilt was with me already when my mother conceived me" (Ps 51:6).

Except for Jesus of Nazareth and, by an extraordinary act of redemption, his Immaculate Mother Mary, every person is born into sin and death. This is so because, as mentioned, Adam and Eve propagate Original Sin and its grim consequences in and through their progeny: "All have left the right path, depraved, every one: there is not a good man left, no not even one" (Ps 14:2-3). Once again, to every single person conceived in the womb of his or her mother, the Mystery of Iniquity is transmitted: "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone" (Lk 18:19).

In 1952, Pope Pius XII declared that the sin of the modern era is the mistaken idea that there is no such thing as sin. His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, commented on this lamentable state: "It is precisely the existence of sin that modern man is unable to take seriously. Because of this rejection of sin, no one is directly touched today by the Gospel claim that the evidence of Jesus' divine nature is based on his power to forgive sins. Most people do not explicitly deny the existence of God, but they do not believe that he is of any importance in the realm of human life. Hardly anyone seriously thinks nowadays that men's wrong actions may concern God so much that he regards them as sinful and offensive to him, with the result that such sins must be forgiven by him alone."

Thus, the Catechism of the Catholic Church is quite explicit when it comes to the existence of sin: Sin is present in human history; any attempt to ignore it or to give this dark reality other names would be futile.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 CONSEQUENCE OF AN INADEQUATE SOCIAL STRUCTURE, ETC. (Catechism, no. 386)

In a radical way, Original Sin changed the love-relationship between God and his human creatures, introducing a different kind of divine-human relationship. This new relationship was based on justice alone, not free-willed love: "If you, O Lord, laid bare our guilt, who could stand it?" (Ps 129:3).

Later on in salvation history, the Mosaic Covenant restored somewhat the fallen creature's relationship with God. Still, it remained a relationship based on justice, tempered by the forgiveness of God: I made my sin known to you; I did not conceal my guilt. I said, "I shall confess my offense to the Lord." And you, for your part, took away my guilt, forgave my sin. That is why each of your faithful ones prays to you in time of distress (Ps 32:5-6).

Jesus of Nazareth pointed out the specific locale of sinful acts - the human heart: "He had knowledge of them all, and did not need assurances about any man, because he could read men's hearts" (Jn 2:25). The Lord knows only too well the hidden operations of one's inmost being: "Why do you think evil in your hearts?" (Mt 9:4).

Sacred scripture describes the hidden waywardness of the heart this way: The heart is more devious than any other thing, and is depraved; who can pierce its secrets? I, the Lord, search the heart, test the motives, and give each person what his conduct and his actions deserve (Jr 17:10).

The God-Man exposed the source of sinful activities when he said, "Can your speech be good when you are evil? For words flow out of what fills the heart" (Mt 12:34). Hence, he gave his followers this instruction: What comes from within people? From their hearts come evil thoughts, unchastity, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly (Mk 7:21-23) ...

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1 - 5 of 5 Comments

DLL
3 months ago
Sin is the choice! Sin is the freedom to choose! Sin is the freedom to abort a fetus! Sin is protected sin by law,the laws of men! Choose to sin is in truth immature and poor choice. The laws of men are not the laws of God. To obey the laws of God is to be free from sin and that is the right choice. Men and women love to sin that is why they choose it. In so choosing to sin as a freedom is never giving the alternative,redemption,a chance to redeem. Redemption is freedom from sin as one chooses to accept that sin is a false freedom. The wage for sin is death. No one sees that death is a secure choice. Only because of Christ can death be a worthy sacrifice. A sinner cannot understand this point. Only in Christ and in Christ only,can one be free from sin. Christ was/is the worthy and acceptable sacrifice to God in the power of the Holy Spirit. The price for sin has been paid by an innocent that upon the Holy Cross paid the price for all so all could be redeemed. Without Christ sin is the condition of humankind because they have chosen sin over the redeeming power of the Holy Cross. All faith in God is eventually focused in Christ because only in Christ can sinners find a new freedom from sin because of the Holy Cross. Deny Christ and one denies oneself as sin remains the unalterable human condition. Abortion is no ones right it is death and the wage for all sin is death,abortion is only an example of one of many bad choices where one deliberately chooses sin over obedience to God. In all His ways Christ was pleasing to God and free from sin. To be free from sin is human freedom. Christ through His resurrection has brought all to the ultimate choice to be free from sin and that is eternal life. Eternal life free from all sin is perfect freedom. Redemption is the choice to try to be converted so that sin no longer makes any sense at all.
abey
3 months ago
The picture above suggests a sexual temptation being offered, which in fact has become the general belief over their disobedience, for if it was so then how come the words of God "Be Fruitful & Multiply" was given before they sinned ? to this, sin can be defined as disobeying God whatsoever. For sin cannot & did not enter in by itself but through a channel by the Dis obedience, to the Original Sin come into all walks of life even sexual, especially so.. To also know that what happened in the Garden was a direct disobedience to the Word of God which is to sinning in the Spirit into its ramifications come down in the physical unto the generations., to also note that Jesus went through a Spiritual temptation as the Bible states of the manner "He was led by the Spirit to be tempted of the devil" & to know that the three temptations that he went through had no sexual overtunes, Similar was the temptation in the garden into which they fell.
Robert Burford
3 months ago
I know that I am a sinful person and do not deceive myself that sin is relative(ie relativism) but this is my nature. That is the point I did not have a choice. I was born with the sinful nature of original sin. Since I did not have a choice I do not feel guilt for original sin. Now do not confuse my point by thinking that if I sin it is not my fault. It is but I do not see why I should feel guilty for original sin. The sin I commit yes. The shame of Adam I must bare and I do claim responsibility for human race but not guilt for original sin.
Mathew Thankachen O.Praem
3 months ago
Twin Brothers
Satan, the father of death
My dearest friend
And thou no more foe
The one stronger and deeper
Than the other, excelling
To overtake with your
Trick overwhelming life
So fascinating, enchanting
Justifying every thought
Selflessly for me and me alone
So cozy you make me overnight
To follow your way
In a lighter vein, you reign
In the realm of mind and body
Leading to death, lethargy
Oozing away the Life within
The presence of God
The life force, love, energy
Here and now
And I don’t need another proof
Of the roof you promised
In your Father’s house
You, twin brothers
Ever together
Only but to depart
Either way to hell or heaven

Mathew Thankachen O.Praem.
.
Jim
3 months ago
"Since Adam and Eve, respectively, sinned as male and as female, the penalties for their personal sins have been passed on to every particular male and every particular female. Adam desired Eve instead of God and, thereby, lost control over his sexual nature. That loss subjects males to lust after the organs of generation. Eve desired herself instead of God and, thereby, lost control over herself. That loss subjects all females to lust after themselves: vanity.

Furthermore, rather than accuse themselves before God, Adam and Eve made excuses to God. Adam said, "The woman whom you put here with me - she gave me fruit from the tree so I ate" (Gn 3:12). Thus, males are prone to caving into females which is the origin of "wimpiness." Eve, on the other hand, said, "The serpent trucked me into it, so I ate it" (Gn 3:13) Hence, females are prone to mis-speak the truth."

I think these paragraphs are somewhat clumsy. Both Adam and Eve were full of pride and rejected God with their egos. It had nothing to do with Adam lusting after Eve and Eve after herself. So often sexual sin is implicated in the original sin but that makes no theological sense. There was nothing keeping Eve from Adam in their state of grace. Consequently, creation was not a complete loss UNTIL Adam (its protector) ate the fruit. The only force strong enough to knock man from grace was his own pride, not the desire of man for woman.

Also, technically what the woman said is true. The snake did trick her into eating. The sin is that woman did not believe God her creator that eating the apple would kill her. Her act said "God is a liar." Adam's sin was no different so both are prone to same thing, pride. Nearly every sin can be traced back to pride and human's over estimating their ability to understand life.

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