January 16, 2010

  • Question 214 - Sin and the Immaculate Conception

    Robert, 

     

    The devil wants humans to join him in his rebellion and thus go to hell, whereas, God wants humans to be obedient and go to heaven. Adam and Eve sinned so now all people are born with original sin—the tendency to join the devil in rebellion against God. My question is, why would God give the devil a “head start” in the competition, as it were, in allowing the human race to be born with a tendency to sin? What was it about Adam and Eve’s sin that necessitated (morally speaking) the degeneration of successive generations till the end of time? I told my class about the immaculate conception and Jesus’ divine (impeccable) nature, and my students, really wanting to understand, ask how it could be "fair" for God to almost change the rules mid-game, as it were and allow for sin-free persons to enter the game. So, if you could address this, I would be most grateful. It's a question I've always struggled with.

     

    Damien

     

    R. Sungenis: Regarding the first question, the inclination to sin, or concupiscence, is a simple product of the loss of sanctifying grace in Adam. The loss of grace affects both his soul and his body. Both of them die (the body receiving the seeds of death and beginning its downward decline to actual death). The problem is death. It is like a curse. As long as we have bodies that are under the sentence of death and the effects of that sentence, it will drag us away from God and toward sin. As Paul puts it in 1Cor 15:56: “the sting of death is sin,” that is, as long as there is death there will be sin and the tendency to sin. But, considering the nature of Adam’s sin, this is actually a blessing compared to what God could have done to him and his progeny. He could have shown them no mercy, which was what God did to the wicked angels. At least Adam and his progeny have a chance for redemption, but in having that chance, they will also suffer with the consequences of their rebellion. And through this consequence (concupiscence) God will test man. After Adam’s sin, no longer will God allow a free ride, so to speak. Now it will be much harder. As such, only those who truly want to love God and follow him will resist the urge to sin, as even God told Cain “sin lies at the door and its desire is for you, but you must master it” (Gen 4:7). But this does not mean, however, that the devil has a head start, as it were. For every power of concupiscence we must face, God also gives us the power to resist it (1 Cor 10:13). If not, then there would truly be an imbalance.

     

    As to the second question, God had already made the “rules” long before, so there is no change in the rules when God sends the sinless Jesus and his mother to redeem mankind. Besides, if Jesus wasn’t sinless, we would have no savior, for only a sinless person could offer the perfect sacrifice to God, and a perfect sacrifice was needed in order to atone for Adam’s sin. Yet in being sinless, Jesus also suffered with the same temptations that every man suffers. It was even harder for him because, as God, he could not succumb to the temptations, yet the temptations remained.