Original Sin

From Jewish Roots of Mary

1. 1.
   What the Gospel is — undoing the first sin; Jesus the Last Adam

   The chapter opens by widening the Gospel. Forgiveness of sins is essential (Matthew 26:28), but the good news is about the forgiveness of 'the very first sin — the sin of Adam and Eve — through which suffering and death came into the world.' Paul's two texts make Jesus the 'last Adam' whose obedience restores the righteousness Adam lost, and grace has 'the power to actually make human beings righteous' — Christ did not die so that God could pretend we are righteous. Then the pivot on which the chapter turns: 'If Jesus is the new Adam, then who is the new Eve?'

2. 2.
   Created immortal as well as sinless — the tree of life

   Pitre treats immortality as a second gift alongside moral goodness. God tells the couple they may 'freely eat' of every tree, which includes the tree of life whose fruit lets them 'live for ever.' Only after the fall are they barred from it. So Adam and Eve before the fall were fully human, sinless, and offered unending life; death is a loss, not the design. The point returns twice: a sinless Mary is no less human than unfallen Eve (p 39), and the incorruptible Ark points to a body kept from the grave (pp 46, 63).

3. 3.
   Adam and Eve fall together — 'immah, 'who was with her,' and the four losses of the Fall

   'Contrary to what some artistic depictions suggest, Eve is not alone when she commits the first sin.' Genesis says she gave the fruit 'to her husband, who was with her' (Hebrew 'immah). Adam and Eve fall together: 'Eve cooperates with Adam, and Adam cooperates with Eve. Neither acts in isolation.' Both suffer the consequences — pain in childbearing, fruitless toil, 'to dust you shall return,' and exile from the tree of life so that they can no longer 'live for ever.' They lose 'the gift of the original goodness and immortality in which they were created.'

4. 4.
   Ancient Jews said the serpent was Satan — and that Eve's sin was inherited

   Genesis names only 'the serpent,' but Jewish writings of the first century identify him. The Book of Wisdom: it was 'through the devil's envy that death entered the world.' The Life of Adam and Eve: the devil spoke to Eve 'through the mouth of the serpent.' The same writings hold that the first sin is passed to all descendants who were not personally guilty — Sirach ('from a woman sin had its beginning, and because of her we all die'), Pseudo-Philo, and 4 Ezra ('O Adam, what have you done?'). These texts 'lay the foundations for what would later come to be known as the doctrine of original sin.'

5. 5.
   Romans 3:23, Psalm 51:5, Hebrews 4:15 — 'less than fully human?', what the doctrine is not, and 'God my Saviour'

   Pitre lets the objection stand at full strength: Scripture teaches that all born after the fall are under sin, and it says Jesus alone was without sin — 'But how can we add Mary to the list?' His reply is a question: 'Wouldn't Mary's being created without sin mean that she was somehow less than fully human? Not unless Adam and Eve before the Fall are also less than fully human.' He then clears away misconceptions: the doctrine has nothing to do with her parents' sinlessness, nor with cleansing her so as not to pass a sinful nature to Jesus; it is 'a special grace that flows directly from Jesus' victory over sin.' Pius IX defined it as preservation 'in view of the merits of Jesus Christ' — which is why Mary can say 'God my Saviour.' She is the beginning of the new creation, a 'living sign' of the sinless life the redeemed will share.