I. In the divine order called Nature the effect follows rigidly on the cause, and is proportioned to it; for the sequence amounts to a transmutation of energy from one form to another. It is the same in the higher divine order, the supernatural. Sin is a negative energy, a destructive force: its effect, that is, its punishment, is proportioned to the amount of supernatural energy which sin has neutralized. The three maledictions pronounced by God are prophetic indications of the course of events necessarily consequent on the sin of Adam and Eve. First, God addresses Satan and describes the future in metaphors appropriate to the form which he had, either literally or figuratively, appeared in. He shall be accursed for ever, a cause of death and an object of horror like his reptile type. He shall crawl in snake-like fashion, and shall “eat dirt” (in oriental language), shall grovel in moral baseness and the uncleanness of his temptings of man to sensuality. A second Eve shall arise, who will avenge the fall of her mother by crushing the head of her tempter, in the fact of bearing a divine Son in her virginity. Pay homage to the most blessed Virgin. Great must be her dignity and her power over Satan, since she is mentioned by God on this portentous occasion. Her victory makes her the glory of the human race.
II. God proclaims to Eve the consequence of her act in choosing the natural plane of life instead of the supernatural, and sacrificing the fruit of the tree of life for the fruit of the tree of evil knowledge. “I will multiply thy sorrows and thy conceptions”; that is, as some think, a greater number must come into existence to make up the number of the predestinate, in consequence of so many being lost; or, perhaps, the number will be greater because dependent on mere natural law instead of on supernatural considerations. “In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children.” The great glory and happiness of maternity is to be associated ever with anguish. “He shall have dominion over thee.” The subjection of woman, the too frequent ignoring of the true relations of the sexes, with all the tyranny, degradation, and horrors that still accompany it, is the immediate effect of the substitution of natural, animal, and sensual principles of life for those which are supernatural. Even the completion of human life on earth, the family state, which combines unity with multiplicity and offers such idyllic prospects to all, often becomes disorganized under the influence of naturalistic principles till it is an earthly hell. How far-reaching and various are the consequences of rejecting the supernatural!
III. To Adam God foretells that his rejection of the divine supremacy involves the loss of his own over the earth. The soil will revolt against him and bring forth thorns and briars; the forces of nature will need the coercion of heavy labour before they will yield to man his subsistence. Life is to be a long and bitter struggle against obstacles. Lastly, the body, deserted by the preternatural influx which would have prevented it from retrograding towards common matter, must now go through the ordinary cycle of molecular transformations till the end of the world. The supernatural is necessary for the smooth and ordered working of the wheels of human life, alike in the individual, and the domestic, and the political spheres. It brings a blessing and success most definite, yet one that cannot be catalogued and weighed and defined. The loss of it causes an increase of friction, irregularity of action, disturbance of the accurate adjustment and harmony of parts. Natural remedies can be but partial and uncertain. God’s grace is able to modify to us even the material effects of Adam’s sin. Act always on supernatural principles, rely always on God’s aid, and a blessing will always accompany you.
II. God proclaims to Eve the consequence of her act in choosing the natural plane of life instead of the supernatural, and sacrificing the fruit of the tree of life for the fruit of the tree of evil knowledge. “I will multiply thy sorrows and thy conceptions”; that is, as some think, a greater number must come into existence to make up the number of the predestinate, in consequence of so many being lost; or, perhaps, the number will be greater because dependent on mere natural law instead of on supernatural considerations. “In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children.” The great glory and happiness of maternity is to be associated ever with anguish. “He shall have dominion over thee.” The subjection of woman, the too frequent ignoring of the true relations of the sexes, with all the tyranny, degradation, and horrors that still accompany it, is the immediate effect of the substitution of natural, animal, and sensual principles of life for those which are supernatural. Even the completion of human life on earth, the family state, which combines unity with multiplicity and offers such idyllic prospects to all, often becomes disorganized under the influence of naturalistic principles till it is an earthly hell. How far-reaching and various are the consequences of rejecting the supernatural!
III. To Adam God foretells that his rejection of the divine supremacy involves the loss of his own over the earth. The soil will revolt against him and bring forth thorns and briars; the forces of nature will need the coercion of heavy labour before they will yield to man his subsistence. Life is to be a long and bitter struggle against obstacles. Lastly, the body, deserted by the preternatural influx which would have prevented it from retrograding towards common matter, must now go through the ordinary cycle of molecular transformations till the end of the world. The supernatural is necessary for the smooth and ordered working of the wheels of human life, alike in the individual, and the domestic, and the political spheres. It brings a blessing and success most definite, yet one that cannot be catalogued and weighed and defined. The loss of it causes an increase of friction, irregularity of action, disturbance of the accurate adjustment and harmony of parts. Natural remedies can be but partial and uncertain. God’s grace is able to modify to us even the material effects of Adam’s sin. Act always on supernatural principles, rely always on God’s aid, and a blessing will always accompany you.
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