Catechism of the Catholic Church

410 After his fall, man was not abandoned by God. On the contrary, God calls him and in a mysterious way heralds the coming victory over evil and his restoration from his fall. ³⁰⁴ This passage in Genesis is called the Protoevangelium ("first gospel"): the first announcement of the Messiah and Redeemer, of a battle between the serpent and the Woman, and of the final victory of a descendant of hers.

411 The Christian tradition sees in this passage an announcement of the "New Adam" who, because he "became obedient unto death, even death on a cross", makes amends superabundantly for the disobedience, of Adam. ³⁰⁵ Furthermore many Fathers and Doctors of the Church have seen the woman announced in the Proto-evangelium as Mary, the mother of Christ, the "new Eve". Mary benefited first of all and uniquely from Christ's victory over sin: she was preserved from all stain of original sin and by a special grace of God committed no sin of any kind during her whole earthly life. ³⁰⁶

412 But why did God not prevent the first man from sinning? St. Leo the Great responds, "Christ's inexpressible grace gave us blessings better than those the demon's envy had taken away." ³⁰⁷ And St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, "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. Thus St. Paul says, 'Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more'; and the Exsultet sings, 'O happy fault,. . . which gained for us so great a Redeemer!'" ³⁰⁸

413 "God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. . . It was through the devil's envy that death entered the world" (Wis 1:13; 2:24).

414 Satan or the devil and the other demons are fallen angels who have freely refused to serve God and his plan. Their choice against God is definitive. They try to associate man in their revolt against God.

415 "Although set by God in a state of rectitude man, enticed by the evil one, abused his freedom at the very start of history. He lifted himself up against God, and sought to attain his goal apart from him" (GS 13 § 1).

416 By his sin Adam, as the first man, lost the original holiness and justice he had received from God, not only for himself but for all human beings.

417 Adam and Eve transmitted to their descendants human nature wounded by their own first sin and hence deprived of original holiness and justice; this deprivation is called "original sin".

418 As a result of original sin, human nature is weakened in its powers, subject to ignorance, suffering and the domination of death, and inclined to sin (this inclination is called "concupiscence").

419 "We therefore hold, with the Council of Trent, that original sin is transmitted with human nature, "by propagation, not by imitation" and that it is. . . 'proper to each'" (Paul VI, CPG § 16).

420 The victory that Christ won over sin has given us greater blessings than those which sin had taken from us: "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Rom 5:20).

421 Christians believe that "the world has been established and kept in being by the Creator's love; has fallen into slavery to sin but has been set free by Christ, crucified and risen to break the power of the evil one. . ." (GS 2 § 2).

1 Cf. Isa 44:6.

2 Roman Catechism I, 2, 2.

3 Roman Catechism I, 2, 2.

4 Deut 6:45.

5 Isa 45:22-24; cf. Phil 2:10-11.

6 Mk 12:29-30

7 Cf. Mk 12:35-37.

8 Lateran Council IV: DS 800.

9 Ex 3:6.

10 Ex 3:13-15.

11 Cf. Isa 45:15; Judg 13:18.

12 Ex 3:6, 12.

13 Cf. Ex 3:5-6.

14 Isa 6:5.

15 Lk 5:8.

16 Hos 11:9.

17 I Jn 3:19-20.

18 Cf. Ex 32; 33:12-17.

19 Ex 33:18-19.

20 Ex 34:5-6; cf. 34:9.

21 Ex 34:7.

22 Eph 2:4.

23 Jn 8:28 (Greek).

24 Cf. Isa 44:6.

25 Ps 102:26-27.

26 Jas 1:17.

27 Ex 34:6.

28 Ps 138:2; cf. Ps 85:11.

29 I Jn 1:5; 4:8.

30 Ps 119:160.

31 2 Sam 7:28.

32 Cf. Deut 7:9.

33 Cf. Wis 13:1-9.

34 Cf. Ps 115:15; Wis 7:17-21.

35 Mal 2:6.

36 Jn 18:37.

37 I Jn 5:20; cf. Jn 17:3.

38 Cf. Deut 4:37; 7:8; 10:15.

39 Cf. Isa 43:1-7; Hos 2.

40 Jn 3:16; cf. Hos 11:1; Isa 49:14-15; 62:4-5; Ezek 16; Hos 11.

41 Isa 54:8.

42 Isa 54:10; cf. 54:8.

43 Jer 31:3.

44 l Jn 4:8, 16.

45 Cf. I Cor 2:7-16; Eph 3:9-12.

46 Job 36:26.

47 St. Joan of Arc.

48 I Cor 4:7.

49 Ps 116:12.

50 Gen 1:26.

51 St. Nicholas of Flue; cf. Mt 5:29-30; 16:24-26.

52 St. Teresa of Jesus, Poesias 30 in The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, vol. III, tr. K. Kavanaugh OCD and O. Rodriguez OCD (Washington DC Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1985), 386 no. 9. tr. John Wall.

53 Mt 28:19.

54 St. Caesarius of Arles, Sermo 9, Exp. symb.: CCL 103, 47.

55 Cf. Profession of faith of Pope Vigilius I (552): DS 415.

56 GCD 43.

57 GCD 47.

58 Dei Filius 4: DS 3015.

59 Cf. Deut 32:6; Mal 2:10.

60 Ex 4:22.

61 Cf. 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 68:6.

62 Cf. Isa 66:13; Ps 131:2.

63 Cf. Ps 27:10; Eph 3:14; Isa 49:15.

64 Mt 11:27.

65 Jn 1:1; Col 1:15; Heb 1:3.

66 The English phrases "of one being" and "one in being" translate the Greek word homoousios, which was rendered in Latin by consubstantialis.

67 Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed; cf. DS 150.

68 Cf. Gen 1:2; Nicene Creed (DS 150); Jn 14:17, 26; 16:13.

69 Cf. Jn 14:26; 15:26; 16:14.

70 Cf. Jn 7:39.

71 Nicene Creed; cf. DS 150.

72 Council of Toledo VI (638): DS 490.

73 Council of Toledo XI (675): DS 527.

74 Nicene Creed; cf. DS 150.

75 Council of Florence (1439): DS 1300-1301.

76 Cf. Leo I, Quam laudabiliter (447): DS 284.

77 Jn 15:26; cf. AG 2.

78 Council of Florence (1439): DS 1302.

79 Council of Florence (1442): DS 1331.

80 Cf. Council of Lyons II (1274): DS 850.

81 2 Cor 13:14; cf. I Cor 12:4 - 6; Eph 4:4-6.

82 Paul VI, CPG § 2.

83 Council of Constantinople II (553): DS 421.

84 Council of Toledo XI (675): DS 530:26.

85 Lateran Council IV (1215): DS 804.

86 Fides Damasi: DS 71.

87 Council of Toledo XI (675): DS 530:25.

88 Lateran Council IV (1215): DS 804.

89 Council of Toledo XI (675): DS 528.

90 Council of Florence (1442): DS 1330.

91 Council of Florence (1442): DS 1331.

92 St. Gregory of Nazianzus, Oratio 40, 41: PG 36,417.

93 LH, Hymn for Evening Prayer.

94 Eph 1:4-5, 9; Rom 8:15, 29.

95 2 Tim 1:9-10.

96 Cf. AG 2-9.

97 Council of Florence (1442): DS 1331; cf. Council of Constantinople II (553): DS 421.

98 Council of Constantinople II: DS 421.

99 Cf. Jn 6:44; Rom 8:14.

100 Cf. Jn 17:21-23.

101 Jn 14:23.

102 Prayer of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity.

103 Cf. Gen 1:1; Jn 1:3; Mt 6:9; 2 Cor 12:9; cf. I Cor 1:18.

104 Ps 115:3.

105 Gen 49:24; Isa 1:24 etc.; Ps 24:8-10; 135 6.

106 Cf. Jer 27:5; 32:17; Lk 1:37.

107 Wis 11:21; cf. Esth 4:17b; Prov 21:1; Tob 13:2.

108 Wis 11:23.

109 2 Cor 6:18; cf. Mt 6:32.

110 St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I, 25, 5, ad I.

111 I Cor 1:24-25.

112 Eph 1:19-22.

113 Cf. 2 Cor 12:9; Phil 4:13.

114 Lk 1:37, 49.

115 Roman Catechism I, 2, 13

116 Gen 1:1.

117 GCD 51.

118 Gen 1:1; cf. Rom 8:18-23.

119 Cf. Egeria, Peregrinatio at loca sancta 46: PLS 1, 1047; St. Augustine, De catechizantis rudibus 3, 5: PL 40, 256.

120 Cf. NA 2.

121 Wis 7:17-22.

122 Cf. Vatican Council I, can. 2 § 1: DS 3026.

123 Heb 11:3.

124 Cf. Acts 17:24-29; Rom 1:19-20.

125 Cf. Isa 43:1; Ps 115:15; 124:8; 134:3.

126 Cf. Gen 15:5; Jer 33:19-26.

127 Cf. Isa 44:24; Ps 104; Prov 8:22-31.

128 Gen 1:1.

129 Jn 1:1-3.

130 Col 1:16-17.

131 Cf. Nicene Creed: DS 150; Hymn Veni, Creator Spiritus; Byzantine Troparion of Pentecost Vespers, "O heavenly King, Consoler".

132 Cf. Ps 33 6; 104:30; Gen 1:2-3.

133 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 2, 30, 9; 4, 20, I: PG 7/1, 822, 1032.

134 Dei Filius, can. § 5: DS 3025.

135 St. Bonaventure, In II Sent. I, 2, 2, 1.

136 St. Thomas Aquinas, Sent. II, prol.

137 Dei Filius I: DS 3002; cf Lateran Council IV (1215): DS 800.

138 Eph 1:5-6.

139 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 4, 20, 7: PG 7/1, 1037.

140 AG 2; cf. I Cor 15:28.

141 Cf. Wis 9:9.

142 Rev 4:11.

143 Ps 104:24; 145:9.

144 Cf. Dei Filius, cann. 2-4: DS 3022-3024.

145 Lateran Council IV (1215): DS 800; cf. DS 3025.

146 St. Theophilus of Antioch, Ad Autolycum II, 4: PG 6, 1052.

147 2 Macc 7:22-21, 28.

148 Cf. Ps 51:12.

149 Rom 4:17.

150 Cf. Gen 1:3; 2 Cor 4:6.

151 Wis 11:20.

152 Col 1:15, Gen 1:26.

153 Cf. Ps 19:2-5; Job 42:3.

154 Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 31.

155 Cf. DS 286; 455-463; 800; 1333; 3002.

156 Ps 8:1; cf. Sir 43:28.

157 Ps 145:3.

158 Acts 17:28.

159 St. Augustine, Conf: 3, 6, 11: PL 32, 688.

160 Wis 11:24-26.

161 Vatican Council I, Dei Filius I: DS 3003; cf. Wis 8:1; Heb 4:13.

162 Ps 115:3.

163 Rev 3:7.

164 Prov 19:21.

165 Cf. Isa 10:5-15; 45:51; Deut 32:39; Sir 11:14.

166 Cf. Ps 22; 32; 35; 103; 138; et al.

167 Mt 6:31-33; cf 10:29-31.

168 Cf. Gen 1:26-28.

169 Cf. Col 1:24.

170 I Cor 3:9; I Thess 3:2; Col 4:11.

171 Phil 2:13; cf. I Cor 12:6.

172 GS 36 § 3.

173 Cf. Mt 19:26; Jn 15:5; 14:13

174 Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I, 25, 6.

175 Cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, SCG III, 71.

176 Cf. St. Augustine, De libero arbitrio I, 1, 2: PL 32, 1221- 1223; St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I-II, 79, 1.

177 St. Augustine, Enchiridion II, 3: PL 40, 236.

178 Gen 45:8; 50:20; cf. Tob 2:12 (Vulgate).

179 Cf. Rom 5:20.

180 Rom 8:28.

181 St. Catherine of Siena, Dialogue IV, 138 "On Divine Providence".

182 The Correspondence of Sir Thomas More, ed. Elizabeth F. Rogers (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1947), letter 206, lines 661-663.

183 Julian of Norwich, The Revelations of Divine Love, tr. James Walshe SJ (London: 1961), ch. 32, 99-100.

184 I Cor 13:12.

185 Cf. Gen 2:2.

186 Ps 115:16; 19:2; Mt 5:16.

187 Lateran Council IV (1215): DS 800; cf. DS 3002 and Paul VI, CPG § 8.

188 St. Augustine, En. in Ps. 103, 1, 15: PL 37, 1348.

189 Mt 18:10; Ps 103:20.

190 Cf. Pius XII, Humani generis: DS 3891; Lk 20:36; Dan 10:9- 12.

191 Mt 25:31.

192 Col 1:16.

193 Heb 1:14.

194 Cf. Job 38:7 (where angels are called "sons of God"); Gen 3:24; 19; 21: 17; 22:11; Acts 7:53; Ex 23:20-23; Judg 13; 6:11-24; Isa 6:6; 1 Kings 19:5.

195 Cf. Lk 1:11, 26.

196 Heb 1:6.

197 Lk 2:14.

198 Cf. Mt 1:20; 2:13,19; 4:11; 26:53; Mk 1:13; Lk 22:43; § Macc 10:29-30; 11:8.

199 Cf. Lk 2:8-14; Mk 16:5-7.

200 Cf. Acts 1:10-11; Mt 13:41; 24:31; Lk 12:8-9.

201 Cf. Acts 5:18-20; 8:26-29; 10:3-8; 12:6-11; 27:23-25.

202 Cf. Mt 18:10; Lk 16:22; Ps 34:7; 91:10-13; Job 33:23-24; Zech 1:12; Tob 12:12.

203 St. Basil, Adv. Eunomium III, I: PG 29, 656B.

204 Gen 1:1 - 2:4.

205 Cf. DV 11.

206 LG 36 § 2.

207 Cf. St. Augustine, De Genesi adv. Man 1, 2, 4: PL 34, 175.

208 GS 36 § 1.

209 Cf. Ps 145:9.

210 Lk 12:6-7; Mt 12:12.

211 Cf. Gen 1:26.

212 St. Francis of Assisi, Canticle of the Creatures.

213 Gen 2:1-3.

214 Cf. Heb 4:3-4; Jer 31:35-37; 33:19-26.

215 Cf. Gen 1:14.

216 St. Benedict, Regula 43, 3: PL 66, 675-676.

217 Cf. Roman Missal, Easter Vigil 24, prayer after the first reading.

218 Gen 1:27.

219 GS 12 § 3.

220 GS 24 § 3.

221 St. Catherine of Siena, Dialogue IV, 13 "On Divine Providence": LH, Sunday, week 19, OR.

222 Cf. GS 12 § 1; 24 § 3; 39 § 1.

223 St. John Chrysostom, In Gen. sermo 2, 1: PG 54, 587D-588A.

224 GS 22 § 1.

225 St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermo 117: PL 52, 520-521.

226 Acts 17:26; cf. Tob 8:6.

227 Pius XII. Enc. Summi pontificatus 3; cf. NA 1.

228 Pius XII Summi pontificatus 3.

229 Gen 2:7.

230 Cf. Mt 16:25-26; Jn 15:13; Acts 2:41.

231 Cf. Mt 10:28; 26:38; Jn 12:27; 2 Macc 6:30.

232 Cf. I Cor 6:19-20; 15:44-45.

233 GS 14 § 1; cf. Dan 3:57-80.

234 Cf. Council of Vienne (1312): DS 902.

235 Cf. Pius XII, Humani generis: DS 3896; Paul VI, CPG § 8; Lateran Council V (1513): DS 1440.

236 1 Thess 5:23.

237 Cf. Council of Constantinople IV (870): DS 657.

238 Cf. Vatican Council I, Dei Filius: DS 3005; GS 22 § 5; Humani generis: DS 3891.

239 Cf. Jer 31:33; Deut 6:5; 29:3; Isa 29:13; Ezek 36:26; Mt 6:21; Lk 8:15; Rom 5:5.

240 Cf. Gen 2:7, 22.

241 Cf. Isa 49:14-15; 66:13; Ps 131:2-3; Hos 11:1-4; Jer 3:4-19.

242 Gen 2:18.

243 Gen 2:19-20.

244 Gen 2:23

245 Gen 2:24

246 Gen 1:28.

247 Cf. GS 50 § 1.

248 Gen 1:28.

249 Wis 11:24.

250 Cf. Council of Trent (1546): DS 1511.

251 Cf. LG 2.

252 Cf. Gen 2:17; 3:16, 19.

253 Cf. Gen 2:25.

254 Cf. I Jn 2:16.

255 Cf. Gen 2:8.

256 Gen 2:15; cf. 3:17-19

257 St. Augustine, Conf. 7, 7, 11: PL 32, 739.

258 2 Thess 2:7; I Tim 3:16.

259 Cf. Rom 5:20.

260 Cf. Lk 11:21-22; Jn 16:11; I Jn 3:8.

261 Cf. Rom 5:12-21.

262 Jn 16:8.

263 Cf. I Cor 2:16.

264 Cf. GS 13 § 1.

265 Cf. Council of Trent: DS 1513; Pius XII: DS 3897; Paul VI: AAS 58 (1966), 654.

266 Cf. Gen 3:1-5; Wis 2:24.

267 Cf Jn 8:44; Rev 12:9.

268 Lateran Council IV (1215): DS 800.

269 Cf. 2 Pt 2:4.

270 Gen 3:5.

271 I Jn 3:8; Jn 8:44.

272 St. John Damascene, Defide orth. 2, 4: PG 94, 877.

273 Jn 8:44; cf. Mt 4:1-11.

274 I Jn 3:8.

275 Rom 8:28.

276 Gen 2:17.

277 Gen 2:17.

278 Cf. Gen 3:1-11; Rom 5:19.

279 St. Maximus the Confessor, Ambigua: PG 91, 1156C; cf. Gen 3:5.

280 Cf. Rom 3:23.

281 Cf. Gen 3:5-10.

282 Cf. Gen 3:7-16.

283 Cf. Gen 3:17, 19.

284 Rom 8:21.

285 Gen 3:19; cf. 2:17.

286 Cf. Rom 5:12.

287 Cf. Gen 4:3-15; 6:5, 12; Rom 1:18-32; I Cor 1-6; Rev 2-3.

288 GS 13 § 1.

289 Rom 5:12, 19.

290 Rom 5:18.

291 Cf. Council of Trent: DS 1512.

292 Cf. Council of Trent: DS 1514.

293 St. Thomas Aquinas, De malo 4, I.

294 Cf. Council of Trent: DS 1511-1512

295 Cf. Council of Trent: DS 1513.

296 DS 371-372.

297 Cf. DS 1510-1516.

298 Council of Trent (1546): DS 1511; cf. Heb 2:14.

299 Cf. John Paul II, CA 25.

300 Jn 1:29.

301 Cf. John Paul II, RP 16.

302 I Jn 5:19; cf. I Pt 5:8.

303 GS 37 § 2.

304 Cf. Gen 3:9, 15.

305 Cf. I Cor 15:21-22, 45; Phil 2:8; Rom 5:19-20.

306 Cf. Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus: DS 2803; Council of Trent: DS 1573.

307 St. Leo the Great, Sermo 73, 4: PL 54, 396.

308 St. Thomas Aquinas, STh III, I, 3, ad 3; cf. Rom 5:20.