THE FALL of MAN Where does evil come from? I sought whence evil comes and there was no solution. St. Augustine Profound relationship of man to God –humanitys rejection of God –opposition to God –continuance despite the cost

THE FALL of MAN An Abuse of Free Will Sin is not a developmental flaw psychological weakness mistake necessary consequence Sin is an abuse of the Freedom God gives to created persons so that they are capable of loving Him and one another

THE FALL of MAN Adore Only God Adoration is the first act of the virtue of religion. To adore God is to acknowledge him as God, as Creator and Savior, the Lord and Master of everything that exists, as infinite and merciful Love. You shall worship the Lord your god, and him only shall you serve, says Jesus, citing Deuteronomy. Catechism 2096

THE FALL of MAN Adore Only God Gods attributes are countless. He is: Holy (1 Pt. 1:15-16) Faithful (Ps 145:18) Immutable (Heb 1:10-12,13:8) Omniscient (all knowing) (1 Jn 3:20) Omnipresent (everywhere) (Ps 129:7-12) Omnipotent (all powerful) (Jer 32:17, 27) Gods essence, his nature, is: Spirit (Jn 4:24) One (Dt 6:4) Triune (Trinitarian) (2 Cor 13:13)

THE FALL of MAN First Understand Revelation By love, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. He has thus provided the definitive answer to the questions man asks himself about the meaning and purpose of life. God has revealed himself to man by gradually communicating his own mystery in deeds and words.

THE FALL of MAN First Understand Revelation Beyond the witness to himself that God gives in created things, he manifested himself to our first parents, spoke to them and, after the fall, promised them salvation (Gen 3:15) and offered them his covenant.

God made an everlasting covenant with Noah and with all living beings (Gen. 9:16). It will remain in force as long as the world lasts.

God chose Abraham and made a covenant with him and his descendants.

By the covenant God formed his people and revealed his law to them through Moses.

Through the prophets, he prepared them to accept the salvation destined for all humanity.

THE FALL of MAN First Understand Revelation God has revealed himself fully by sending his own Son, in whom he established his covenant for ever. The Son is his Fathers definitive Word; so there will be no further Revelation after him.

THE FALL of MAN Understand Gods Plan for Man You formed man in your own likeness set him over the whole world to serve you, his creator, and to rule over all creatures Man is predestined to reproduce the image of Gods Son. Man though made of body and soul is a unity. God did not create man a solitary being. From the beginning male and female he created them. Revelation makes known to us our relationship with God before there was sin.

THE FALL of MAN The Fall of Angels Origin of the Seductive Voice Free choice of some created spirits to radically and irrevocably reject God and his reign. It is by choice that the angels sin is unforgivable not because of a defect in infinite divine mercy. There is no desire to repent. Satans power is not infinite. He to is a creature of God.

THE FALL of MAN Original Sin Freedom put to the test Tempted, trust in God died in Mans heart, Abusing his freedom he disobeyed Gods command. All sin revolves around disobedience toward God and lack of trust. Man preferred himself to God and by that act scorned Him. He wanted to be like God, but without God, before God, and not in accordance with God.

THE FALL of MAN Original Sin Results Lose the grace of original holiness Become afraid of God The soul loses spiritual control over the body The union of man and woman become subject to tension Relations are marked by lust and domination Harmony with creation is broken Death makes its entrance into human history Sin and corruption spread –Even after Christs atonement, sin raises its head in countless ways among Christians.

THE FALL of MAN Original Sin Consequences for Humanity All men are implicated in Adams sin For when man looks into his own heart he finds that he is drawn toward what is wrong and sunk in many evils which cannot come from his good creator.

THE FALL of MAN Original Sin Consequences for Humanity The Church teaches that the overwhelming misery which oppresses men and their inclination toward evil and death cannot be understood apart from their connection to Adams 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.

THE FALL of MAN Original Sin Transmission of original sin is a mystery we can not fully understand. 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. It is a sin which will be transmitted by propagation to all mankind, that is, by transmission of a human nature deprived of original holiness and justice. That is why original sin is called sin only in a analogical sense: it is a sin contracted and not committed - a state and not an act.

THE FALL of MAN Original Sin A Flaw in Nature (essence) –Nature - that which makes something to be the sort of thing it is, to operate the way it does and to seek the good that is its own. –Mans nature is wounded in the natural powers proper to it. –It is subject to ignorance, suffering, and the dominion of death; and inclined to sin (concupiscence)

THE FALL of MAN Baptism and Grace Baptism, by imparting the life of Christs grace, erases original sin and turns a man back toward God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, still persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.

You Did Not Abandon Him to the Power of Death The announcement of the Messiah and Mary. (Gen 3:15)