6. What is Creation?
God is distinct
from creation
God is surrounded by
twelve angels and is
distinguished from the
cosmos that he is
creating. He holds back
his cloak to emphasise
that he is not part of
the created order.
God creates
The action of pointing
with the right hand
indicates that it is God
who creates the world
directly and out of
nothing; it also conveys
a sense of purpose
operating in creation.
7. What do philosophy and science say?
Plato and Aristotle from The School of Athens by Raphael Sanzio
8. What do philosophy and science say?
Philosophy shows that the
universe has a necessary cause, but
cannot tell us if the universe has
always existed.
According to the ‘Big Bang’
theory (which was first proposed
by a Catholic priest, Monsignor
Georges Lemaître), the universe
developed from a compact,
primitive and fiery state. Science,
however, cannot investigate
causes beyond the physical
universe.
9. What do philosophy and science say?
God, however, has revealed
that the universe had a
beginning and was created
‘out of nothing’ – out of no
other pre-existing thing, “In
the beginning, God created the
heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1).
10. What is special about human beings?
The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo
11. What is special about human beings?
Scripture testifies that
human beings are unique
in having a material body
and a spiritual soul, and
that each soul is directly
created by God.
Human beings are
persons, not merely things
or even animals, and are
therefore of the greatest
worth and dignity.
12. What is special about human beings?
The account in Genesis is
not a scientific treatise, but
is God’s way of revealing to
us certain truths about
creation and our origins.
Genesis reveals that at some
point in time God created
one man and one woman
with a material body and,
uniquely among animals, a
spiritual soul.
13. What is special about human beings?
In Genesis these parents of
the human race are called
Adam, meaning ‘man’, and
Eve, “the mother of all those
who live” (Gen 1:20). This
teaching does not exclude
the possible evolution of the
human body from already
existing and living matter.
14. What is special about human beings?
While science has not
reached a final conclusion
on our biological origins,
modern genetics has
confirmed that the human
race is a single, close
genetic family.
15. What was the first state of human beings?
The Garden of Eden by Jacob de Backer
16. What was the first state of human beings?
This picture highlights the creation of the first man and women in
harmony with God and nature. Scripture says that God walked with
them, showing that they enjoyed the gift of sanctifying grace.
God Eve
Adam
17. What was the first state of human beings?
God has revealed that he created
Adam and Eve without defect and
with special gifts:
• Freedom from disordered desires
• Bodily immortality
• Freedom from suffering
• Extraordinary gifts of knowledge
18. What was the first state of human beings?
Above all, God gave Adam and
Eve grace, enabling them to enjoy
his intimate friendship. This
relationship was to culminate in the
perfect and lasting vision of God.
All these gifts and graces should
have been passed on to the whole
human race, including ourselves.
20. Summary
Activities Menu Presentation Part II
• Creation is the special act by which
God freely creates all things that exist
out of nothing.
• Scripture testifies that human beings
are unique in having a material body
and a spiritual soul, and that each soul
is directly created by God.
• God has revealed that he created
Adam and Eve without defect and
with extraordinary gifts, especially that
of intimate friendship with himself.
21. Questions to reinforce key points
Freedom from disordered desires
Bodily immortality
Freedom from suffering
Special gifts of knowledge
What was the first state of human beings?
Activities Menu Presentation Part II
1
2
Click on a box to reveal one
of the answers
3
4
22. Discussion questions
Activities Menu Presentation Part II
• Discuss what it means to
say that God is the creator
of the world.
• Discuss what insights the
Genesis account gives us
into the origin and dignity
of human life.
Select one or more of the following:
23. Practical activities
Activities Menu Presentation Part II
• Read the account of the
creation in Genesis 1:1-2:3.
• Read the Compendium of the
Catechism questions 51-72.
• Pray Daniel 3:52-90, a
canticle of praise to God the
creator.
Select one or more of the following:
25. What is the Fall?
The Fall is the historical event of
the first parents of the human race
freely choosing to disobey God
and thereby suffering serious
consequences for themselves and
all subsequent generations.
KEY DEFINITION
26. What is the Fall?
The expulsion of Adam
and Eve out of the Garden
of Eden after the Fall.
The loss of paradise is one
of the consequences of
Original Sin.
EveAdam
Angel
27. What was the event of the Fall?
The Temptation of Adam by Tintoretto
28. What was the event of the Fall?
God’s revelation confirms that at the
root of all the world’s disorder is an
actual, personal sin of mankind’s first
parents.
The event of the Fall is revealed by
God and presented in the book of
Genesis (the first book of the Bible)
in a figurative way.
Echoes of this reality can also be
found in the Creation accounts of
other ancient cultures – accounts
which refer, not just to sin in general,
but to an actual, historical event.
29. What was the event of the Fall?
The Fall of the Rebel Angels by Bruegel
The Church teaches that this
Fall of human beings
followed the Fall of certain
number of purely spiritual
beings called angels.
The leader of the rebel angels
(demons), the devil, is
depicted as the serpent of the
book of Genesis who
tempted man to imitate his
own disobedience.
30. What was the event of the Fall?
The choice presented to
human beings was to
make one simple act of
obedience to God.
The serpent or devil,
however, tempted our
first parents with a lie
and they disobeyed God.
31. What was the event of the Fall?
God said, “You may freely eat of
every tree of the garden; but of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil you
shall not eat, for in the day that you eat
of it you shall die.”
Gen 2:17
The devil said, “You will not die.
For God knows that when you eat of it
your eyes will be opened, and you will
be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Gen 3:1-5
32. What was the event of the Fall?
The Original Sin:
So when the woman saw that the tree
was good for food, and that it was a
delight to the eyes, and that the tree was
to be desired to make one wise, she
took of its fruit and ate; and she also
gave some to her husband, and he ate.
Gen 3:6
33. This depiction of the Fall of the rebel angels also portrays well the disorders
within the human soul and in society that are some of the effects of sin.
What were the effects of the Fall?
34. What were the effects of the Fall?
The sin of Adam and Eve was very great
because of their perfect creation, with so
many gifts and graces, and because they
were the parents of the human race.
By their sin, Adam and Eve lost:
• Their special gifts and perfect state
• Their friendship with God in grace
• The promise of future glory
35. What were the effects of the Fall?
As descendents of Adam we inherit:
• Original Sin – the guilt of his sin
as father of our race
• Evil concupiscence and disorder – a
life of suffering, ignorance and
discontent ending in death
• A state without grace – a life
without union with God and
with no promise of heaven
36. Was there hope after the Fall?
Madonna with Serpent by Caravaggio
37. Was there hope after the Fall?
Unlike the fallen angels, the
human race would not be
lost forever.
God in his mercy promised
a means of salvation from
sin and death.
38. Was there hope after the Fall?
In God’s plan of salvation
history, there would one
day be a new Adam and a
second Eve.
“And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and
hers; he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
Gen 3:15
40. Was there hope after the Fall?
Jesus and Mary
crush the head of
the serpent (devil)
This symbolises the
fulfilment of the
prophecy of
Gen 3:16.
Mary
Jesus
The devil
This picture shows
hope fulfilled after
the Fall with the
coming of Christ.
It shows us that
Jesus is the new
Adam and Mary,
Mother of the
Church, is the
second Eve.
St Anne
mother of Mary,
reminds us that that
this promise has
come through the
generations.
42. Summary
Activities Menu
• The Fall is the historical event of the first
parents of the human race freely choosing to
disobey God and thereby suffering serious
consequences for themselves and for all
subsequent generations.
• As descendents of Adam we inherit Original
Sin, evil concupiscence and disorder and a
state without grace, ending in death.
• God in his mercy has promised us a means
of salvation from sin and death. In God’s
plan of salvation history, there would one
day be a new Adam and a second Eve.
Concluding Prayer
43. Questions to reinforce key points
Original sin
Concupiscence and disorder
A state without grace
What do we inherit from Adam?
Activities Menu Concluding Prayer
1
2
3
Click on a box to reveal one
of the answers
44. Discussion questions
Activities Menu
• Discuss some of the common
effects of the Fall that can be
seen in human society and
behaviour today.
• Discuss whether God was
wrong to create beings with
free will.
Select one or more of the following:
Concluding Prayer
45. Practical activities
Activities Menu
• Read the account of the Fall
in Genesis 2:17; 3:1-24.
• Read the Compendium of the
Catechism questions 73-78.
Select one or more of the following:
Concluding Prayer
46. Final Prayer
From Psalm 103
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who
forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems
your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good as long as you live … He will not always
chide, nor will he keep his anger for ever. He does not deal with us
according to our sins, nor requite us according to our iniquities. For as
the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love
toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far
does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father pities his
children, so the LORD pities those who fear him … who keep his
covenant and remember to do his commandments.
Amen.
