In
Lesson Fourth of the
Baltimore Catechism No. 2, we discussed God's Creation and His preeminence over it.
Now, in Lesson Fifth, we learn the origin of our first parents, Adam and Eve. Created holy and innocent, they used their free will to disobey God's one command. Through this Original Sin, sickness and death entered the world, and each of us struggles with the effects of their sin. Only the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived without sin, through the merits of her Son.
The questions are numbered consecutively with Lesson Fourth. For more information and links to other resources, click on each question below.
A. The first man and woman were Adam and Eve.
A. Adam and Eve were innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God.
A. To try their obedience God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of a certain fruit which grew in the garden of Paradise.
A. The chief blessings intended for Adam and Eve, had they remained faithful to God, were a constant state of happiness in this life and everlasting glory in the next.
A. Adam and Eve did not remain faithful to God; but broke His command by eating the forbidden fruit.
A. Adam and Eve, on account of their sin, lost innocence and holiness, and were doomed to sickness and death.
A. On account of the disobedience of our first parents, we all share in their sin and punishment, as we should have shared in their happiness if they had remained faithful.
A. Our nature was corrupted by the sin of our first parents, which darkened our understanding, weakened our will, and left in us a strong inclination to evil.
A. The sin which we inherit from our first parents is called original sin.
A. This sin is called original because it comes down to us from our first parents, and we are brought into the world with its guilt on our soul.
A. This corruption of our nature and other punishments remain in us after original sin is forgiven.
A. The Blessed Virgin Mary, through the merits of her Divine Son, was preserved free from the guilt of original sin, and this privilege is called her
Immaculate Conception.
