How is the Soul like God?
The soul is like God because it is a spirit having understanding and free will, and is destined to live forever. We are especially like God when we know and love him; first, in a merely natural way without the aid of grace, second, in a supernatural way here on earth, with the aid of grace, third, in a perfect way in heaven, with the aid of the special light God gives to the souls of the blessed. Understanding is the power of the soul to apprehend, to judge, and to reason, and thus to know right from wrong. Conscience is that judgment by which we decide here and now what we should do as good or avoid as evil. Free will is that power of the soul to choose either to act or not act. Human souls live forever because they are spirits, and the never ending life of the soul is called immortality.
Who Were the First Man and Woman?
The first man and woman were Adam and Eve, the first parents of the whole human race. If scientific proof of development of the body of man could be had, it would not be opposed to Catholic doctrine, provided that some special action of God is admitted not only in the creation of the soul but also in the production of the body of Adam. The human soul, being spiritual, could not possibly have developed from a lower, material form of life. Scripture teaches that Adam’s soul, like every human soul, was created directly by God.
God Bestowed Gifts on Adam and Eve
The chief gift bestowed on Adam and Eve by God was sanctifying grace, which made them children of God and gave them a right to heaven. Sanctifying grace is a supernatural gift which is a sharing in the nature of God himself, and which raises man to a supernatural order, conferring on them powers entirely above those proper to human nature. Together with sanctifying grace, God gave Adam and Eve the supernatural virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
They were also given happiness in paradise, great knowledge, and control of the passions by reason and freedom from suffering and death. These gifts are not supernatural or above all created natures, but they are preternatural, that is, beyond the powers of human nature.
If Adam had not sinned, these gifts would have been transmitted
To all mankind as the possession of human nature.
God Gave Adam and Eve a Command
The Bible tells us that God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the fruit of a certain tree that grew in the Garden of Paradise. God wished to test the obedience of our first parents in order that they might have the privilege of proving themselves faithful to him and of meriting everlasting happiness in heaven. Adam and Eve did not obey the command of God, but ate the forbidden fruit. In eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve committed sins of pride and disobedience. Our first parents sinned grievously because they deliberately disobeyed a serious command of God.
