A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture/IV. Part I: The Fall of our First Parents
Chapter IV.
PART I.
THE FALL OF OUR FIRST PARENTS.
[Gen. 3, 1— 13.]
OF all the animals that God had placed upon the earth, none was more cunning than the serpent[1]. Hence the devil, who was envious of the happiness of our first parents, made use of him in order to seduce them. Eve, prompted by curiosity, approaching the forbidden tree, saw a serpent near it. He began to speak[2], and said to her: “Why[3] has God commanded you that you should not eat of every tree[4] of paradise?” Eve answered: “Of the fruit of the trees of paradise we do eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God has commanded us that we should not eat, and that we should not touch it[5], lest, perhaps[6], we die.” The serpent said to the woman: “No, surely, you shall not die[7] if you eat of the fruit of the tree; but, rather[8], your eyes[9] shall be opened, and you shall be as gods[10], knowing good and evil.” Hearing this, Eve gave way to pride, and she saw that the fruit was good and pleasant to behold. She took and ate of the fruit, and gave to her husband, and he also ate. Thus was the first sin committed.
By this first sin they lost sanctifying grace, which was the life of their soul; they lost the immortality of their body; their eyes were opened[11], and they saw with shame that they were naked. In their shame and confusion they began to sew fig-leaves together, in order to cover their nakedness. But soon they heard the voice of God calling them, and they hid themselves[12] among the trees. And God said: “Adam, where art thou?” [13] And Adam answered: “I heard Thy voice, and I was afraid, because I was naked[14], and I hid myself.” And God said: “Who has told[15] thee that thou art naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?” Adam replied: “The woman whom Thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the fruit, and I did eat.” And the Lord said to the woman: “Why hast thou done this?” She replied: “The serpent deceived me[16], and I did eat.”
COMMENTARY.
Sin. Adam and Eve transgressed the law of God. It is true that they were persuaded to do so, but still the devil did not force Eve to eat of the forbidden tree, nor did Eve oblige Adam to do so. It was of their own free-will that they sinned.
The manifold sin of Eve, its origin and process. She first sinned by thought, in a twofold way: she doubted of God’s love, “why has He forbidden us” without any apparent reason? and next she doubted of His veracity, “lest perhaps ” we shall die. Then she sinned by desire, a desire of pride wishing to be like God, and a desire of the flesh wishing to eat of the fruit, because it looked tempting. Lastly she sinned by deed. Eating of the fruit she boldly and proudly disobeyed God’s commandment, and then inveigled Adam into the same grave sin of disobedience.
Was their sin a grievous sin? Our first parents undoubtedly transgressed the law of God in an important matter, for the prohibition to eat of the fruit was the only positive law which God had given them. Moreover, on its observance depended their own happiness and that of their descendants, for Almighty God had threatened them with death if they disobeyed Him. They also transgressed the command wilfully, as explained above. Their sin was, therefore, a mortal sin, and a very grievous one. It was not only one sin, but many. It was a sin of proud revolt, of unbelief, of lust, of disobedience, and of ingratitude. God had shown them so much love and had given them so much that they owed Him the greatest gratitude; instead of which they repaid Him with the grossest ingratitude. Moreover, the command was one which they could easily have kept; for they were possessed of greater knowledge than we are, and knew God’s infinite love, holiness, and justice much better than we do.
The consequences of their sin were very grave. Satan had pretended that by their disobedience they would be raised, and become as God; but the very opposite took place. They were now cast down from their former high position, and were less like God than they had been, because they had lost sanctifying grace and all other supernatural gifts. Having renounced God by their sin, they were no longer His children and heirs of heaven, but had become children of the devil and heirs of hell 1 They still retained the natural gifts which made them like to God, but even these gifts were marred. Their reason was obscured, so that they could no longer recognize the truth as they had done, as was proved by the foolish way in which they tried to hide themselves from God. Their hearts and wills were now infected by evil; sinful inclinations were kindled in their hearts, of which they felt ashamed, and which made them hide themselves. Their happiness was gone. They were still in paradise, and paradise was as beautiful as ever, but they felt miserable, because their consciences were guilty and their hearts were full of fear and unrest. “Tribulation and anguish is on every soul of man that worketh evil” (Rom. 2, 9). Those only are happy who have a good conscience, and the peace of God in their hearts. All the possessions in the world cannot make a man happy if he has not got inward peace. But there is no peace for the wicked.
Original sin. The sin of our first parents injured not only themselves but also all their posterity. Their supernatural gifts were given to them not for themselves alone, but for all those who were to come after them. If Adam and Eve had preserved these gifts, their children would have inherited them, and would have come into the world in a state of grace. But our first parents having sinned, and being no longer in a state of grace, their sinfulness has passed down to their children, so that men are now born into the world in a state of sin. The loss of grace with all its supernatural gifts in the children born of Adam is a matter of great displeasure and wrath to God, because contrary to His divine will and institution. Thus they are children of wrath.
Application. The devil induced Adam and Eve to sin by means of lies. Therefore our Lord says: “The devil is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8, 44). He is the father, i. e. the origin of lies. Have you never imitated him? Hate lies, for they come from the devil! Have nothing to do with them, or you will be a child of the devil. God is truth, and desires and loves only what is true. Stick to the truth if you wish to be a child of God.
Perhaps you think that, if you had been in Eve’s place, you would not have allowed yourself to be overcome by temptation. Have you never then taken anything which you have been forbidden to take, such as sugar, fruit &c.? Has not God forbidden you to pilfer or to be greedy, quite as much as He forbade Adam and Eve to eat of the tree of knowledge? Further, did not God give you sanctifying grace in holy Baptism? Has He not placed you in the paradise of His holy Church, in order that you may live a holy life, and attain to the heavenly paradise? Have you not by means of your religious instruction acquired great knowledge, so that you know perfectly well what is right and what is wrong? Therefore, when you offend against the law of God, you have quite as little excuse as Eve. Guard against sin, and firmly resolve never again to offend God wilfully.
Eve’s first temptation came from without. We too, as long as we live, shall have to encounter various temptations. They come partly from without, such as those arising from bad companions or other external occasions of sin, and partly from within, from our own bad inclinations, such as anger, sloth, self-will &c. They can also come from the direct suggestions of the evil one. Eve’s fall should be a warning to us not to allow ourselves to be seduced by temptations to sin. Had Eve kept away from the forbidden tree, she would not have fallen. Keep away, therefore, from all occasions of sin, or else you are meeting sin half-way. If a bad thought occurs to you, do not dwell on it, but drive it from you, or bad desires will follow bad thoughts. If the Tempter or your own passions whisper to you; “Such and such a thing would not be a great sin! God would not treat it severely!” turn your thoughts at once to the just and holy God who would be outraged by that sin, and remind yourself that sin is the greatest of all evils! Above all things, beware of sinful curiosity. He who wishes to see and hear everything, and who does not shut his eyes and ears when he sees or hears anything evil, will soon have his heart corrupted, and will lose his innocence. Say often and devoutly: “Lead us not into temptation. Defend me, my God, against temptations to evil. Give me the grace to resist them steadfastly!”
- ↑ Serpent. The devil, full of envy at the happiness possessed by Adam and Eve, and made more envious still by the thought that they were intended to attain to the everlasting happiness which he himself had forfeited, made use of the serpent by entering into it and speaking by its mouth. God allowed him no other tool, and, indeed, the cunning serpent was admirably suited for his spiteful and evil purpose.
- ↑ To speak. The serpent into which the devil had entered spoke.
- ↑ Why. Satan did not betray his intention by saying at once: “Eat of the fruit”, but he began by cunningly asking: “Why &c. ?” in order that Eve might be induced to hesitate and question whether the prohibition to eat of the tree of knowledge were a legitimate one, and whether God had really meant it. Eve knew that an ordinary snake can neither reason nor speak; so she must have known that it was some spirit who spoke through the serpent. She ought to have at once perceived that it was no good spirit who thus spoke, for an angel would not have questioned God’s will, being quite certain that whatever He had commanded was for the best. Now, what ought Eve to have done ? She ought either to have made no answer and fled, or she ought to have said: “God has willed it so. I do not ask why, because God knows best what is good for us.” Instead of this, Eve let herself be drawn into conversation with the devil, and thereby he had already gained half his object.
- ↑ Of every tree. By these words the devil sought to make the woman feel the burden of the restriction and its arbitrariness on the part of God.
- ↑ Not touch it. Why this command? So that they might keep away from even the occasion of sin.
- ↑ Lest, perhaps. In this sentence there occur two remarkable words: “lest, perhaps”: for God had not said: “ Perhaps you may die”, and we can see by this answer of Eve that she already half doubted whether God’s threat had been meant seriously.
- ↑ Shall not die. Now the devil becomes more bold, and directly contradicts what God had said, making the Lord God to be a liar.
- ↑ Rather, i. e. on the contrary.
- ↑ Your eyes. The eyes of their spirit. How had their eyes been closed hitherto? They possessed great knowledge, but all the same they knew nothing about sin; and therein lay their happiness. By holding out to Eve the prospect of attaining to a further knowledge , Satan wished to excite in her a sinful curiosity.
- ↑ As gods. Not only like to God, but as God. By this lie the devil wished to make Adam and Eve proud. He represented Almighty God as a deceiver, who withheld this knowledge from them, not out of love, but out of a jealous fear lest they should become like to Him. He wished to destroy Eve’s faith in the love and truth of God, and arouse in her instead a mistrust of Him, pride, and sinful curiosity. Alas, he succeeded in his purpose. Instead of being indignant at Satan’s blasphemous speech, Eve took pleasure in the prospect held out to her. She allowed a presumptuous desire and sinful curiosity to take possession of her heart; and because it promised so much to her, she now saw that the fruit of the tree was good and pleasant to behold. She longed for it now, and taking some, she ate, and then she persuaded Adam to eat of it also. Revelation has given us no explanation of how Adam was induced to eat of the forbidden fruit. It is left to our conjecture.
- ↑ Opened. But not in the way they had intended. They knew evil, but this knowledge brought them no happiness, only restlessness, fear and misery. They now knew that they had been deceived, that they had sinned grievously, and had deserved punishment. Having lost their innocence, they were ashamed of being naked, and covered their bodies with fig-leaves.
- ↑ They hid themselves. It was formerly their greatest happiness when God condescended to speak with them. Now they trembled when they heard His voice and tried to hide themselves. We cannot hide ourselves from God; therefore, it was folly on their part to try to do so. From whence did this folly come? From sin. Sin blinds man and makes his understanding dull, so that he can no longer rightly understand the most elementary religious truths.
- ↑ Where art thou? This meant not only: In what place art thou? but also: In what condition art thou? What has happened to thee? Where is thine innocence? Where is thy good conscience?
- ↑ Naked. It was not only their bodies which were naked, but also their souls, which had lost their robe of innocence and sanctifying grace.
- ↑ Who has told? Why did God ask this? Did He not already know what had taken place? Yes, but He wished Adam to confess his guilt. Adam did so; he acknowledged and did not deny his sin, but at the same time he excused himself and tried to lay the blame on Eve. She , in turn , laid the blame on the serpent.
- ↑ Deceived me. Eve knew now that she had been deceived. The serpent had pretended that they would be much greater and happier through their disobedience, instead of which they already felt abased and miserable!