Q&A 116
Q. Original Sin?
A. Yes. The very first sin of humanity's first parents. In Genesis it is captured in figurative language. But basic reality it transmits is that Adam and Eve disobeyed God and chose what they wanted over what He wanted.
Q. Actually it's a good thing you've brought that up since I have some questions I've been meaning to ask about it...
A. Let's see if they help us answer your earlier question on why God asks us to deny ourselves.
Q. OK. First question: why did God have to mess everything up by giving Mr. Adam and Mrs. Eve a commandment? If He created everything good as He himself says in that same book of Genesis, why complicate things and trap innocent people with a commandment not to eat from one particular tree?
A. Best answer I have come across is from an American. But to appreciate his answer, we'd first need to appreciate what the preternatural gifts Adam and Eve were blessed with are.
Q. OK... First of all what does that mean: pre-whatever gifts?
A. So gift means it's something given to the recipient because of the goodness and initiative of the giver.
Q. And that the recipient deserves...
A. Ummm... I would prefer to call that a reward or prize. You can earn a reward or prize, you can't earn a gift.
Q. Interesting! Never thought of it that way. So these pre-whatever are gifts not rewards?
A. Exactly.
Q. And what does the pre-nini part mean?
A. Preternatural means they were gifts which strictly speaking no human however perfect deserved, but which nonetheless "rhymed" with being human. It's like by nature man already has the power of vision or sense of sight. If he had x-ray vision like some superheroes, that would be preternatural, that "ryhmes" with the power of vision he already has. Or if you bought some toothpaste in a shop, it usually comes in a tube with a cap and in a small packaging box. These would be "natural" to a toothpaste. If however you bought a gift hamper that had a toothbrush attached to the toothpaste packaging box, that would be more "preternatural", it "rhymes". The ready-to-sell toothpaste product doesn't naturally include within its description a toothbrush, but it does include the cap and the packaging box. I mean, no one ever buys just the paste without the tube, cap or packaging box. But you can buy it perfectly normally without a toothbrush.
So too, a "straight off the shelf" human comes with a certain "tube", "paste", "cap" and "packaging box" but without the "toothbrush" - without the preternatural gifts.
If the toothpaste gift hamper came with a saucepan, then since the pan has nothing to do with toothpaste, since they don't "rhyme" we can't say the pan is a preternatural gift, it would be a SUPERnatural gift. So too, if man was given the gift of becoming a child of God, that would be beyond a preternatural gift; that would be a supernatural gift.
To be continued...
Happy feast day of Our Lady of the Rosary! 🎉
7th October 2016