"It remains therefore that the first inordinateness of the
human appetite resulted from his coveting inordinately some
spiritual good. Now he would not have
coveted it inordinately, by desiring it according to his measure as established by the Divine rule. Hence it follows that
man's first
sin consisted in his coveting some
spiritual good above his measure: and this pertains to
pride. Therefore it is evident that
man's first
sin was
pride." - St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa, Article 1.
Both Adam and Eve sinned through pride.
Reading further, I came across Article 4 labelled 'Whether Adam's sin was more grievous than Eve's?' St. Thomas Aquinas states that:
"As regards the genus itself of the sin, the sin of each is considered to be equal, for each sinned by pride." However, he further states that
"as regards the species of pride, the woman sinned more grievously, for three reasons. First, because she was more puffed up than the man. For the woman believed in the serpent's persuasive words, namely that God had forbidden them to eat of the tree, lest they should become like to Him; so that in wishing to attain to God's likeness by eating of the forbidden fruit, her pride rose to the height of desiring to obtain something against God's will. On the other hand, the man did not believe this to be true; wherefore he did not wish to attain to God's likeness against God's will: but his pride consisted in wishing to attain thereto by his own power. Secondly, the woman not only herself sinned, but suggested sin to the man; wherefore she sinned against both God and her neighbor. Thirdly, the man's sin was diminished by the fact that, as Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. xi, 42), "he consented to the sin out of a certain friendly good-will, on account of which a man sometimes will offend God rather than make an enemy of his friend. That he ought not to have done so is shown by the just issue of the Divine sentence.
It is therefore evident that the woman's sin was more grievous than the man's."
I see now where Pax and WorldAway are drawing their thinking from.
I stand corrected. That said, Pride was still the first sin regardless of the other elements involved. Further, St. Thomas also clarifies that:
"I answer that, As stated (
Article 3), the gravity of a
sin depends on the
species (kind) rather than on a circuмstance of that
sin. Accordingly we must assert that, if we consider the
condition attaching to these
persons, the
man's sin is the more grievous, because he was more perfect than the
woman." (in terms of reasoning power and not being deceived).
All more complex than I think most of us were aware of. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but the summary of this is that both Adam and Eve both sinned through pride, however, despite Adam having less excuse than the woman, his responsibility was somewhat mitigated because of his wanting to please his neighbour (Eve); something Eve had not shown due to her more excessive pride.
Bottom line: Eve did not make Adam sin and Adam is equally responsible for the fall of mankind:
Romans 5: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people” (verse 12).
“Death reigned from the time of Adam . . . even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam” (verse 14).
“Many died by the trespass of the one man” (verse 15).
“By the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man” (verse 17).
“Through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners” (verse 19).
See, scripture can work both ways.
Now, back to pants. So WorldAway, the moment I put on a pair of pants to back a horse, or climb a rock hanging, I'm a an excessively proudful feminist? All I can say is I'm glad you're not my spiritual director because he says its fine, as long as its in cases of necessity and where common sense dictates. :)
Topic: Women’s pants (Read 3763 times)