Course 1, Chapter 17: Justice reconciled with divine mercy in the punish ment of original sin

1. What was the justice of God in the punishment of original sin?

The justice of God in the punishment of original sin was perfect and free from all reproach. 1 st. The command which God had given to our first parents was easy to keep. 2d. It was all-important; it was the exterior mark of the fidelity which God required of them in gratitude for the great blessings heaped upon them, and to which he had attached their happiness. 3d. It was perfectly -just, for it was God himself vvho had given it, and God is surely free to confer his favors on such conditions as he pleases.

2. What are the effects of original sin?

The effects of original sin are, 1st. Privation of sanctifying grace. 2d. Ignorance, concupiscence, sufferings and death.

3. How did God show his mercy in the punishment of original sin?

The mercy of God in the punishment of original sin, was as perfect as his justice Instead of punish ing our first parents with death the moment they sinned, as he had a right to do, God granted them time

for repentance and gave them the means of repenting, by promising them a Saviour, who would restore to them all the blessings they had lost, and confer even greater ones.

4. What was the cause of this mercy?

The cause of this great mercy was the Eternal Word, the only Son of God, who offered himself to his Father to expiate the sins of our first parents.

5. How did God reconcile the rights of his justice with those of his mercy, in the punishment of original sin V

To reconcile the claims of his justice, which required the punishment of man, with those of mercy, which called aloud for his pardon, God accepted the death of one man in the place of all men, and in consideration of this Man, a victim for all, he forgives all other men.

6. What will this man be?

He will be the object of all the rigor of God's justice, since he will be loaded with the sins of all men. He will also be infinitely loved by God, since in consideration of him, God will pardon all men. This mediator will be a Man-God. Man, that he may be capable of suffering; God, in order to give in finite merit to his sufferings.

7. Could man have been saved except through this mediator?

No man could have been saved except through this mediator, because he alone, being a Man-God,could expiate sin, and re-establish between God and man the supernatural union which sin had destroyed.

8. How were those saved who lived before the coming of the mediator?

They who lived before the coming of the mediator were saved also by the merits of t'> is mediator. In order thereto, they had to believe in him. This faith in a mediator his always IHVH necessary, at all times, before as well as since his coming.

CATECHISM OF PERSEVERANCE.