9. The Fall

9. The Fall Scripture and Tradition Shed Light on the Origin and Mystery of Evil Compendium 73-78 Genesis 3:14-15 Evil began with the rejection of God by Satan and the fallen Angels. Satan seduced our first parents to doubt God's friendship. In creating beings that share in his own freedom, God takes the risk of love. Love means the lover freely chooses the beloved and vice versa. It also means that the lover can love someone or something else in place of the beloved. Adam and Eve chose to replicate the sin of the fallen angels. That is to be "like God" on their own terms and masters of their own destiny. This was the original sin which caused the loss of original grace of holiness and justice. Although human goodness and dignity were not lost completely, the natural harmony and friendship between the human family and God were radically disrupted. Original sin is not a personal act but an inherent part of the human condition that leads to the shared human tendency to reject God and choose what is evil. All human beings, save the Blessed Virgin by a singular grace, are born with ordinal sin. God, the consummate lover, did not withdraw his love but lavished it all the more and promised that evil would be conquered and man would be lifted up from his fall. The Church sings of the sin of Adam and Eve as a "happy fault".