origin of evil" "as merely a "developmental flaw, a psychological weakness, a mistake, or the necessary consequence of an inadequate social structure, etc."  (CCC §§ 385, 387) 

The mystery of sin is answered only by understanding "the profound relation of man to God," by turning to Revelation, and  by "fixing the eyes of our faith on him who alone is its conqueror," Jesus the Lord, and his Incarnation, his Passion and Death, and his Resurrection.  (CCC §§ 385,386)

The doctrine of original sin is an essential truth of the faith. It is revealed by God.   It begins with the truth that God created man in his image and that God "established him in his friendship."  (CCC § 396)  But, tempted by the Devil, man abused his freedom, preferred himself over God, and disobeyed God. 

"In that sin," the Catechism says, "man preferred himself to God and by that very act scorned him.  He chose himself over and against God, against the requirements of his creaturely status, and therefore against his own good.  Constituted in a state of original holiness, man was destined, by grace, to be fully 'divinized' by God in glory."

This, unfortunately, was not to be.   "Seduced by the devil, he [Adam] wanted to 'be like God,'" the Catechism says, but in a different way altogether from how God intended.  As the Catechism states it quoting the words of St. Maximus the Confessor, man wanted to be like God  "without God, before God, and not in accordance with God.'"  (CCC § 398).

The Scriptures teach that some tragic consequences came from this historical event, not only for Adam and Eve, but also for all their progeny.  They lost "original holiness" or "original justice" which was expressed in an intimate communion with God.  As a result of the Fall, every human being from the moment of conception is in a state of separation from God.

(Catholics, as well as the Orthodox and some Protestants, also believe that Mary, she who was extraordinarily "full of grace," through the anticipated merits of Christ and for the purpose of bringing us Christ, was preserved by a singular act of grace from original sin, and so, as the perfectly redeemed one, is the sole exception to the rule.

St. Augustine, who had a central role in developing the teaching of original sin, stated in his book On Nature and Grace (De natura et gratia) [36.42]: "With the exception, therefore, of the holy Virgin Mary, in whose case, out of respect for the Lord, I would have no question raised when there is talk of sin -- for how do we know what further grace was conferred on her for absolute victory over sin, she who deserved to conceive and bear Him who obviously had no sin? -- with the exception, then, of this Virgin, could we but gather together in their lifetime all those saints, men and women, and ask them whether they were free from sin, what in our opinion would have been their answer?  . . . . No matter how remarkable their holiness in this body . . . they would have cried out with one voice: 'If we should say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us' [1 John 1:8]."

As the (Protestant!) poet William Wordsworth expressed it:

Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost
With the least shade of thought to sin allied.
Woman! above all women glorified,
Our tainted nature's solitary boast . . . .)

With the Fall, mankind's relationship with God was changed from one of intimacy and friendship, to one of fear and distrust, even (from man's side) enmity.  Man's inner harmony was "shattered," along with the soul's spiritual faculties and their control over the body.  The relationship between men and women became subject to tensions, marked thereafter "by lust and domination."  (CCC § 400). 

The harmony of creation itself was broken; visible creation became "alien and hostile to man," and it was "subject 'to its bondage to decay.'"  (CCC § 400).  Moreover, death--two kinds of death--entered into the world: physical death and spiritual death, the "death of the soul," from both of which no man has the power to escape.  (CCC §§ 400, 403)  Man, moreover, was captive "under the power of him who thenceforth had the power of death, that is, the devil." (CCC § 407; cf. Heb. 2:14)

The Church's teaching, based upon Scripture, is clear that all men are "implicated in Adam's sin."  (CCC § 402).  In the Catechism, the Church quotes St. Paul: "By one man's disobedience," that is, Adam's disobedience, "many (that is, all men) were made sinners," and "sin came into the world through one man," Adam, "and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned." (Rom. 5:12, 19)  The "universality of sin and death" inherited from Adam is then contrasted "with the universality of salvation in Christ."  (CCC § 402).   "Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men."  (Rom. 5:18)

While, as a result of the Fall, "human nature has not been totally corrupted," and so is in the main good and hence worthy in God's eyes of redemption,  it is nevertheless "wounded in the natural powers proper to it."  For example, it is "subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin - an inclination to evil that is called concupiscence."  (CCC § 405)  

Something is required to repair human nature if it is to achieve its supernatural destiny, namely, "baptism" in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which imparts "the life of Christ's grace, erases original sin and turns a man back towards God."  Even so, "the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle."  (CCC § 405)

To be sure, God brings forth good out of evil (Gen. 50:20), and this principle is no less true with regard to the Fall, the primordial moral and ontological evil, than with any evil.  The Catechism invokes the words of the saints and the liturgy to remind us of this Scriptural truth, which in St. Paul's words, is that "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more."  (Rom. 5:20) 

St. Leo the Great observed: "Christ's inexpressible grace gave us blessings better than those the demon's envy had taken away." 

St. Thomas stated: "There is nothing to prevent human nature's being raised up to something greater, even after sin; God permits evil in order to draw forth some greater good." 

The Exsultet sung in Easter puts it preciously O felix culpa quae talem et tantum meruit habere redemptorem!   'O happy fault that merited such and so great a Redeemer!"

The Church warns in her teaching that  "[w]e must know Christ as the source of grace in order to know Adam as the source of sin."  (CCC § 388).

She expounds on her warning in a way that is extremely pertinent in analyzing Muhammad and his doctrines: "The doctrine of original sin is, so to speak, the 'reverse side' of the Good News that Jesus is the Savior of all men, that all need salvation and that salvation is offered to all through Christ. The Church, which has the mind of Christ, knows very well that we cannot tamper with the revelation of original sin without undermining the mystery of Christ." (CCC § 389)

In the second part of this article, we will look at Muhammad's attack on the doctrine of original sin and on the "reverse side" of that doctrine, the Gospel that Jesus is the Savior of all men, that all men need salvation, and that salvation is offered to all men and women through Christ Jesus.  Muhammad "tampered" with the revelation of original sin, and thereby "undermined" the mystery of Christ. 

We will see that Muhammad's rejection of the doctrine of original sin is another one of his antichrist teachings since it undermines the redemptive mystery of Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and leads his followers away from sanctifying grace and salvation. 

Instead of offering the Muslim the means back to a three-story mansion of a fully-healed humanity, Muhammad's teachings entrap the Muslim, through the law of the Shari'a, in the darkened basement of an unnatural humanity, what Muslims call fitra, an existence separated from communion with God which, in any real sense, comes only through sanctifying grace which comes to us in Jesus and through Jesus alone.

"No one comes to the Father, but through me," said Jesus. (John 14:6)  This is a central truth Muhammad's entire life was dedicated to destroying.

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Andrew M. Greenwell is an attorney licensed to practice law in Texas, practicing in Corpus Christi, Texas.  He is married with three children.  He maintains a blog entirely devoted to the natural law called Lex Christianorum.  You can contact Andrew at agreenwell@harris-greenwell.com.
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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Muhammad, antichrist, redemption, salvation, Jesus, original sin, original justice, sanctifying grace, Andrew M. Greenwell

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