The name Adam means “the man,” and Eve — the name Adam gave his wife — means “the mother of all the living.” The enormity of their sin of disobedience was akin to Satan’s, formerly Lucifer or Lightbearer, who wanted to be autonomous and to be worshiped in place of God. From the bearer of light he had become the prince of darkness and the father of lies.
Satan called God the liar when he contradicted God’s warning to them and said, “You surely shall not die,” for by taking and eating of the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge (i.e., experience) of good and evil, he said, they would become like God — God’s autonomous equals. The enormity of their sin lay in the fact that they had no inclination to evil as we do. That inclination comes down to us as a kind of birth defect caused by the violent impact of that first of all human sins which we call Original Sin. But although they suffered the natural consequences of their sin, indications seem to be that they repented afterward, lived godly lives, and died holy deaths.
Prayer
O most merciful God, we thank You for Your great love and mercy, as well as Your wonderful forgiveness which You happily give to those who repent of sin and turn back to You, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Other Saints We Remember Today
St. Adele (1137), Widow
Vigil of Christmas
