The Gentle Doctor Unveils the Merciful Father

The Gentle Doctor Unveils the Merciful Father

Theologians both ancient and modern strive to interpret the doctrine of Original Sin in its fullness. St. Irenaeus, a Second Century Doctor of the Church, focused minutely on the Scriptural story of Original Sin, teasing truth from easily-overlooked details.  His treatment of the doctrine refuted the heresy of Gnosticism and gently shed light upon the face of a merciful God.  Pope St. John Paul the Great in the Twentieth Century proffered a scholarly treatise of this doctrine, writing with clarity, relying upon centuries of wisdom from the Church’s Magisterium.  His catechesis dove deeply into the logic of Original Sin, validating modern exegetical methods while steadfastly supporting the centuries-old understanding of the dogma. By telescoping from the Original Sin throughout salvation history and into the present age, this modern saint showcased how faith and reason together illuminate Church belief and sacramental practice; while a venerable Church Father drew light from Scripture to reveal a loving God who guides His children with remedial measures to assist them on their journey to beatitude.

St. Irenaeus, a student of St. Polycarp who was himself a disciple of the evangelist St. John, fought early in the history of the Church to define and defend an authentic interpretation of Original Sin. St. Polycarp would have faithfully handed on what he learned from St. John.  Irenaeus needed that advantage of orthodoxy as he refuted the heresies of the Gnostics and shored up the faith of his flock.  In his treatise Adversus Haereses, the saint exhorts sinners to emulate Adam in contrition, unveiling God as the sage, fair, and forgiving Creator who longs to draw His children back to Himself through His Son.

Quoting from the Old and New Testaments, he begins with the end in mind:  that Jesus sought His lost sheep to save all those made in His Image (Irenaeus, Book III.23.1). In the subsequent section (Irenaeus, Book III.23.2), the saint explains that as all men descend from Adam, all men share equally in his punishment and in his redemption.  St. Irenaeus paints a portrait of a just and merciful God who disciplines His children, meting out consequences for their transgression not so harsh that they might perish utterly, nor so mild that they might despise their Father in Heaven (Irenaeus, Book III.23.3).

Irenaeus highlights Adam’s immediate and genuine repentance with the voluntary donning of irritating fig leaves and imputes thoughts of humility to Adam: “I have lost that robe of sanctity from the Spirit...I deserve a covering which gnaws and frets the body.” (Irenaeus, Book III.23.5).  In this same section, the saint declares that “God bestows His compassion upon those who are penitent.” Irenaeus breaks open the Scripture to reveal the love with which God responds to Adam and Eve – tough love to be sure, but love.

God questions Adam, who implicates Eve, who blames the serpent.  Without interrogating the serpent, God allowed “the curse in all its fullness” to fall upon it, for God knew that it had beguiled His children and bore primary culpability (Irenaeus, Book III.23.3 and .5). God thus principally punishes the instigator and permits a mitigated rebuke to fall upon Adam, Eve, and all humanity (Irenaeus, Book III.23.5).  In pity for His despoiled children, God imposes death as a boundary that their sin should not be immortal, interminable, and irremediable (Irenaeus, Book III.23.6).  Adversus Haereses defended the Church’s Traditional teaching on Original Sin, correcting Gnostic misconceptions and depicting God as a prudent Father who treats the penitent with compassion – a timeless message which strengthened practicing Catholics, called back the lapsed Catholics, and encouraged all to seek the Fullness of Truth in the Catholic Church.

Pope St. John Paul II’s Catechesis on Original Sin opens with “the mystery of creation” (Pope JP II, I.2). He traces Original Sin throughout Genesis, moving on from the expulsion from Paradise to the first fratricide, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel, mapping out some of the manifestations which result from the deprivation of sanctifying grace.  He quotes from the Old and New Testaments, numerous Church councils, and papal documents.  While he affirms the Magisterium as the authentic interpreter of Sacred Scripture, he validates current exegetical methods, including literary form analysis (Pope JP II, II.1), with a caution that scientific fact ought to be informed by the wisdom of faith (Pope JP II, V.4). He extends the Church’s understanding of Original Sin’s congenital nature to her practice of infant baptism (Pope JP II, V.5).

Throughout this catena of Church teaching run the simple facts about Original Sin: the essence of this first sin lies in man’s choice to misuse his free will (Pope JP II, I.2), resulting in the loss of his original perfection (Pope JP II, I.5).  Adam forfeited sanctifying grace for all of his descendants (Pope JP II, II.3), whose happy corollary is salvation for all through Jesus Christ (Pope JP II, V.3). This first sin, this refusal to recognize the limits of a creature, arose originally in the angels (Pope JP II, II.7) and can be characterized best as contempt of God (Pope JP II, II.8); therefore, Satan is primarily responsible, though the first couple bear their share of blame.

From his perch nearly two millennia after St. Irenaeus wrote Adversus Haereses, Pope St. John Paul the Great reaffirms the basic truths transmitted implicitly in the early Church (Pope JP II, IV.4).  He explores more deeply than Irenaeus the underlying roots of Original Sin. Irenaeus focuses on the details of Genesis 1-4, while the pope expounds on its expression in man’s sins throughout history, its natural attenuation in the sacrament of infant baptism, and its necessity when speaking to a world befuddled by the evil in which it is enmeshed (Pope JP II, IV.5). With Irenaeus, the pope paints a picture of a loving God who sent a new Adam to redeem humanity and to re-open the Way to Paradise. While Irenaeus defended the Church against Gnosticism, the pope’s Catechesis on Original Sin functioned as an apologetic which answered the modern volleys of the new atheism, moral relativism, the dulling of consciences due to habitual sin, the rise of the unchurched, and the phenomenon of a sacramentalized but uncatechized generation of Catholics.

Pope St. John Paul the Great wrote Catechesis on Original Sin with erudition and clarity, employing a multitude of sources from Scripture and the Magisterium.  He vigorously defended the Faith, arguing well as he presented Church doctrine underlying her sacramental practice.  His scholarly work refutes many attacks on the Church. I find St. Irenaeus’ approach more effective, though, as I lead students and catechumens into a relationship with Christ. People need to experience God’s love and mercy personally before they can intellectually comprehend dogma. St. Irenaeus’ attention to the details of the Fall and his reflections on love as the motivating factor in God’s actions allow the Truth to shed its light abroad in our hearts; moved by that love, we turn toward our Father and respond in kind. With the gentle doctor, I unveil the Father to His children, emphasizing His compassion for us as we journey home to Him.