in the Absence of Original Sin
The first section of this book offered an overview of God’s plan for humanity. God’s plan was our spiritual advancement for the ultimate purpose of reunion with our creator. To this reunion we bring our hard earned advancement we made in
this life. These new and unique virtues are added to the perfection of the body of Christ.
The purpose of creation was our spiritual advancement, that we might rejoin God and bring with us our hard won virtues, with or without sin.108
108 Mystical Catholic theology has each individual (member of Christ) agreeing to incarnate. Christ incarnates: trees, rocks, humans, and even virtues, ideas and angels, if we may extend the idea of physical incarnation. Christ himself donates specific attributes of himself, (minus the attribute of divinity); these form all of creation. This direct “donation”
of himself is retained, and is explained in the Catholic principle of “divine omnipresence”, which has Christ retaining his direct, (if limited) form within each entity.
Standard Catholic theology gives a general form and allows the mystical theology of the saints to fill in the details, or even advance existing standard theology to a more detailed level. The mystical theology 143
Sin does not destroy God’s original plan of creation, sin corrupts its execution. The original plan is still discernible, and it has a deliberate beginning, a progression, a perfection and finally a fulfillment and end, as follows:
1. We all know about the beginning, but God did not make
Adam and Eve to remain in human perfection, he made them for divine union with himself, (CCC 398). Jesus Christ was intended from the beginning as their divine union.
2. The era of progression was the perfection of human virtues, in preparation to make divine communion when
Jesus Christ came. It would have likely proceeded with the tribe, then nation of Israel, which would have eagerly awaited the Christ.
The rest of the world (sinless in our scenario) would
gain knowledge of Christ and inclusion over time. The major difference is that sin would not exist anywhere as
of human incarnation has each “person”, really a dimension of Christ, (who is the entire body of Christ, before and after the human incarnation of Christ), agreeing to incarnate. This is a matter of a dimension of Christ agreeing with the whole Christ to incarnate. This idea exists within Catholicism; one example of a dimension of Christ showing independent will, within the person of Chris is the entire life of Jesus Christ, who always showed a free will that was distinct of God the Father, while being in conformity with the greater will.
From Jeremiah 1:5; “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” From this we see the human-like dimension we call Jeremiah, will become a free human person, (person = entity having free moral will).
Furthermore, God’s own idea of free will demands that the future person Jeremiah have free will to become a human person outside of God. This idea does not really oppose the standard ideas of: God, human person, body of Christ, free will; it composes these separate ideas into a unified idea, binary willed incarnation.
Rocks may indeed have no will or say in their incarnation, but entities having rational, moral will (angels, humans), must have complete say, and freedom in their incarnation. This according to God’s own idea of free will.
144
an obstacle, and worldwide preparation would have been more advanced and extensive.109
3. The perfection of God’s plan for humanity was the coming of Jesus Christ, and his union with humanity via the Eucharist at the last supper. The plan was for an eager and prepared humanity to make full divine communion.
Jesus Christ left the Eucharist and a priesthood to administer it to the upcoming generations, who were to
have been guided by those elders already attaining the divine union in this life.
4. The fulfillment is the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is the end of creation, and the beginning of eternity. Our world and its people will live on in the ”new order” of eternity, absent of death and sin, as outlined in the book of Revelation chapter 21.
We now examine in detail these four stages. A better understanding of their original forms can only help us in our own spiritual advancement.
Starting with Adam and Eve would have encountered real
challenges, even in the absence of original sin. Bad weather and resulting famine for one community would have been relieved by another community sharing their food. At a more personal level, each extended family required cooperation, 109 According to the apostle John the “end times” began with the coming of Christ, (1Jn 2:28). The end times or final age, is the era of Christ in which we now live, and not just an era, but a generation. This gives meaning to the obscure gospel verse in Matthew 24:34, “Truly, I say to you, this generation wil not pass away until al these things take place.” This generation is the body of Christ, who is the single person of Christ on earth, who is the faithful, who proceeds from age to age until the final consummation.
145
patience and grace for coexistence. It is unlikely that perfection was served on a platter, it had to be constructed.
This original world was full of goodness, joy and pleasure, and Adam and Eve had to navigate it without making any of it into selfish stimulation. Religious attainment was to be made, but religious pride had to be avoided. Prosperity was not to be hoarded, and disappointment was not to poison hope or purpose, and all of this had to be lived within a large family.110
These extended families would have grown quite large, as
death would not have occurred. Aging would have occurred
without wrinkles, arthritis or disease, and elders looking only 30 years old would have guided upcoming generations. 111
Death was prohibited, but non fatal illness or injury might have occurred, and would have provided opportunities for care giving.
The people would have awaited the coming of Jesus Christ,
not as a redeemer from sin which would not exist, but as their reunion with Christ their creator.112 This communion offered 110 Sometimes an attempt is made to make the most efficient way into the most moral way. But efficiency was not God’s primary design criteria for humanity, love was. In example, God could have easily designed a human person who has no need for sleep or food, and who is so competent, as to have no need of assistance, (angels are such sorts of beings). Our need for parents, food, sleep and help from others, all increase our dependence on community and God. Such necessary interaction requires us to rise beyond self, into love of others and love of God.
111 The Virgin Mary was exempt from original sin and its consequences.
This was to have been the norm for all humanity.
112 Adam and Eve had an immediate and intimate knowledge of God, but religion came later. In a sinless world, there would have been prophets and angels sent to announce upcoming events such as the coming of Christ, or to bestow blessings and appreciation upon the people. An organized religion would have certainly been necessary with the coming of Jesus Christ, who left behind the sacrament of the Eucharist, which was to have provided divine inclusion.
146
would have been full divine union. In this life affected by sin, we begin our participation in the human nature of Jesus Christ, then later in the divine nature of Jesus Christ.113
Sin is the reason for this. It both cuts our life span from unlimited to 40 years (at the time of Jesus), and damages and delays our spiritual advancement. In the original sinless world those who had made their perfection of human virtues, and faith would be ready for the divine inclusion offered by Jesus when he came.
113 Prior to Jesus Christ individuals would have perfected their virtues and faith, but could not make divine union. The first coming of Jesus Christ offered divine union via the Eucharist. The second coming of Jesus Christ brings an end to the realm of creation, and everyone and everything able to, will enter into eternity which wil be lived on a renewed earth. This is the creation/reunion cycle, with Christ being the beginning and the end, (Rev 22:13). Christ creates us from himself, we are intended for reunion into the very divine person of Christ, from who we originated.
So far as is known this cycle of creation and redemption operates only once and is not repeating, although such repetition is entirely within the ability of God. Such a repeated creation cycle is not reincarnation. In example the “Big Bang”, which is accepted as a possibility by the Church, necessarily includes the possibility of a “Big Crunch”, in which al of creation returns to its singular point of origin (God). All of former creation would now be part of the single person of Christ (and not a bank of human souls). God may at his pleasure again make original creation from himself, by way of another Big Bang/Big Crunch cycle. This is different from reincarnation in which a created soul travels serially among created bodies. The end of this cycle, repeated or not, would have “God being all in all”, (1Cor 15:28).
To date, any Big Bang, crunch or cycle is estimated to involve the creation of energy and matter. Does created spirit such as virtue have its origin in the Big Bang and its end in the Big Crunch?
Prior to our creation we were not a human person within Christ, but we were individually discernible dimensions of Christ. From Jeremiah 1:5,
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” We did not come from a bank of souls in Heaven, but from Christ, who has an eternal idea of each person. It is this idea which gives form to nothing (the medium Christ uses for creation, CCC 296). When Christ incarnates directly Jesus results; when Christ incarnates selected attributes of himself via the medium of nothing, humanity and creation results.
147
Jesus not only came as planned, but left as planned. The
original plan had Jesus coming to offer divine inclusion, and leaving the sacraments of divine inclusion and a priesthood to administer them.
The upcoming generations after the ascension of Christ would have made divine inclusion via the Eucharist, not baptism. Baptism was never an originally planned sacrament, (because sin was never planned). Baptism was devised by Christ as a response to sin.
Baptism is now the primary sacrament of sanctification, due to its inherent forgiveness of sin. The Eucharist now acts in the realm of actual grace, but Jesus does speak of its original sanctifying nature.114
“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of
the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of 114 We observe that the very first communion of Jesus Christ and humanity occurred at the Eucharist of the last supper. In this communion Jesus took on the sins of the apostles, and they became members of the body of Christ by the reception of sanctifying grace. Immediately after this first Eucharist, baptism became the norm for the delivery of sanctifying grace.
Jesus could have made this first union with humanity by baptism, (this is the norm today), but he chose the Eucharist instead. The apostles were presumably baptized, but with the “baptism of repentance” (Acts 19:4), rather than sacramental baptism, which infuses sanctifying grace, and provides union with Jesus Christ.
The reason seems to be that before the apostles could provide sacramental baptism, they first had to receive sanctifying grace themselves, so they could give it to others. Jesus chose the Eucharist, not baptism as the means to provide the first infusion of sanctifying grace to the apostles. This shows the real sanctifying nature of the Eucharist, as it was originally intended to do.
148
the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”, (Jn 6:53:58).
This first coming of Jesus Christ in a sinless world, would not have him suffering or dying. His mission likely would have lasted longer, but he would have returned to Heaven, and humanity would have carried on its task of spiritual advancement, which was now divine inclusion offered by the Eucharist, which Jesus instituted before his ascension and return to Heaven.
In our scenario of a sinless world, the world would have
been much more amenable toward Christ and Christianity and the divine inclusion it offers.
The second coming of Jesus Christ would have been to a
grateful and prepared humanity. Everyone would have made personal divine union and eagerly awaited the general communion, which would bring an end to creation and our entry into eternity. This eternity and divinity of God was to have included all of creation.115 God’s great project was finally to have reached its divine and eternal conclusion, but not its end. Humanity (and the angels) were to have lived forever in 115 What would happen to those people who were stil unprepared for divine inclusion at the second coming of Jesus Christ? In a sinless world there would be no evil or Hell. One scenario would have Jesus making divine inclusion with all who could make it, those unable (unprepared) to make divine inclusion would simply not make it and be left behind. But not in Hell, rather in a benign Purgatory. An “originally planned” Purgatory would be possible, but only for the remediation of imperfection, not for the expiation of sin, which is now part of the Purgatory process. The judgment process is actually attempted communion with Christ, with three possible outcomes: Heaven, Purgatory or Hell. See also the description of judgment and Hell on pages 126-127.
149
joyful perfection on the promised new earth. The angels would enjoy a new Heaven.
______________________________________
The preceding paragraphs propose how creation might
have developed in the absence of original (and subsequent) sin. As we know, original sin did occur; whatever it was, it was some event less than the original perfection, and all of creation suffered. We now briefly examine some of the effects of sin upon God’s great plan of creation. We all know the story up to the present, and we start this examination with the coming of Jesus Christ, 2000 years ago.
The first coming of Christ was, (and remains) the personal communion; but it is now corrupted by sin into the personal judgment, and now with Hell as a possibility.116
The second coming of Christ remains the general
communion, in which Christ will attempt union will all of his creation. This general communion is now corrupted by sin into the general judgment with Hell as a possibility.
Hell is failed communion, Christ attempts communion
with humans (and angels). All goodness and those owning it may make the communion, evil and those owning it are left 116 The original personal communion would have been via the Eucharist, with only one outcome, divine inclusion into Jesus Christ. Because of sin the personal communion now has three possible outcomes, (1) full divine inclusion into Christ, which is very rare; (2) inclusion into the human nature of Christ, which is very common; (3) non inclusion into Christ, in the case of a adult catechumen being improperly disposed. Now our sanctifying personal communion is made by baptism, not the Eucharist.
The Eucharist is now understood to be an actual grace rather than a sanctifying grace.
Observe that our entry into the human nature of Christ at baptism, is actually entry into Purgatory, which is participation in Christ short of full divine union. In Purgatory, Christ expects us to make spiritual advancement with a goal of full divine inclusion into Christ.
150
behind. That’s hell — all the evil left behind which cannot make its intended reunion with God.117
In parallel with the Christ, and those electing to make union with the Christ, there are the anti-Christ’s, who are the many of history who have rejected participation with Christ.
Even in his lifetime, the apostle John speaks of many antiChrist’s, (1John 2:28). Such rejection of Christ must be studied, understood and avoided in our own spiritual advancement.
The book of Revelation is mostly prophecy about
catastrophes caused by sin, and put into motion by opening the scroll with seven seals. In the absence of original and subsequent sin, this scroll would have unleashed great blessings. God did not, and could not, write a scroll of disasters. Everything, event and person was intended and created as good, not evil.118 Even the anti-Christ was to have been a great good, rather than a great evil. God created everything as good, and there are no exceptions. Original and subsequent sin corrupts goodness into evil.
The coming human anti-Christ was not created to do evil,
but to do a great good. Just as John the Baptist prepared Israel for the first coming of Christ, the anti-Christ was to have been a great prophet/leader preparing humanity for divine fulfillment at the second coming of Christ.119
117 The original plan would have had the personal communion occurring via the Eucharist in this life, we would have entered into full divine incorporation with Christ. Any personal judgment after death was never part of the original plan. Now divine incorporation into Christ is often delayed until after death and after Purgatory. No after death events of any sort were planned, because death was never planned.
118 Even today, every thing created by Christ is created good. As it enters the realm of creation it must take on a share of original sin, which is created by humanity but assigned by Christ.
119 Jesus Christ came as planned (first coming), made the required remediation of sin, then offered divine communion with himself. He left a priesthood and sacraments to do this. His second coming will be the final 151
The seven sealed scroll in the book of Revelation is not yet fully written, what it ultimately unleashes will be determined by our free actions. As intended by God, it would have dispensed blessing after blessing upon humanity.
The book of Revelation, chapter 21 tells of God dwelling
with his people on a renewed earth. Sin and its effects will no longer afflict humanity. From Revelation 21:1-4,
“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look!
God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’” 120
formation of his creation project. Everybody and everything will enter into the eternal divine order, termed the “new order” in Revelation chapter 21.
From 1John 2:28, “…this is the last hour; and as you have heard, the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.” Here the apostle John identifies the first coming of Jesus Christ as being the final stage or “last hour” of creation. In this final stage (the last 2000 years), there are those who elect to become Christ, and those who elect to become an anti-Christ. The onset of eternity will occur at the second coming of Christ.
120 This upcoming event of Christ on earth is the resurrection, and not a continuance of the world of Adam and Eve; all of creation will exist in a new divine order of being, as participants in Christ. Nevertheless, it wil be a real life, complete with free will.
152