Preternatural Gifts is one of the meanings of the
Letter P is for … (our alphabetical exploration of the first three chapters of Genesis) See previous posts.
**Definition of Preternatural Gifts
catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=35763 **
Favors granted by God above and beyond the powers or capacities of the nature that receives them but not beyond those of all created nature. Such gifts perfect nature but do not carry it beyond the limits of created nature. They include three great privileges to which human beings have no title–infused knowledge, absence of concupiscence, and bodily immortality. Adam and Eve possessed these gifts before the Fall.
For those who know Father John A. Hardon, S.J. Here is his link.
therealpresence.org/archives/God/God_013.htm
Back to post 467.
The first thing we learn is that Adam did not have a “preternatural” nature. Preternatural gifs are gifts because God freely gave them to Adam in addition to and over and above his normal human nature. It is understandable that people, who are not familiar with the dawn of human history, can miss the difference between preternatural gifts and human nature.
A difficult preternatural gift can be the gift of “absence of concupiscence.” Here is the best explanation that I know.
From the universal
Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition
Links.
usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catechism/catechism-of-the-catholic-church/
scborromeo.org/ccc.htm
**CCC 377 **The “mastery” over the world that God offered man from the beginning was realized above all within man himself:
mastery of self. The first man was unimpaired and ordered in his whole being because he was free from the triple concupiscence that subjugates him to the pleasures of the senses, covetousness for earthly goods, and self-assertion, contrary to the dictates of reason.
**CCC 2514 **St. John distinguishes three kinds of covetousness or concupiscence: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. In the Catholic catechetical tradition, the ninth commandment forbids carnal concupiscence; the tenth forbids coveting another’s goods.
**CCC 2515 **Etymologically, “concupiscence” can refer to any intense form of human desire. Christian theology has given it a particular meaning: the movement of the sensitive appetite contrary to the operation of the human reason. The apostle St. Paul identifies it with the rebellion of the “flesh” against the “spirit.” Concupiscence stems from the disobedience of the first sin. It unsettles man’s moral faculties and, without being in itself an offense, inclines man to commit sins.
**CCC 2516 **Because man is a
composite being, spirit and body, there already exists a certain tension in him; a certain struggle of tendencies between “spirit” and “flesh” develops. But in fact this struggle belongs to the heritage of sin. It is a consequence of sin and at the same time a confirmation of it. It is part of the daily experience of the spiritual battle:
For the Apostle it is not a matter of despising and condemning the body which with the spiritual soul constitutes man’s nature and personal subjectivity. Rather, he is concerned with the morally
good or bad works, or better, the permanent dispositions - virtues and vices - which are the fruit of *submission *(in the first case) or of *resistance *(in the second case) to
the saving action of the Holy Spirit. For this reason the Apostle writes: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”
The above indented paragraph beginning with “For the Apostle…” is in small print. Please read CCC 20-21 for the use of small print.
The “absence of concupiscence” does not make the error of sin impossible. The preternatural gift did not change human nature. Thus, Adam’s human nature has the capacity for intellective free choice. The author of Genesis 2:15-17 clearly affirms that Adam was a normal human being who needed material nourishment.
Personally, I am offended by the idea that since we are not angels, we have a less-endowed nature. If I ever meet the person who originated the silly idea of a human’s less-endowed nature, I am going to slap her or him upside the head. Then I will sincerely forgive the individual for her or his blindness and ask forgiveness from her or him. Because I am older than dirt, any attempt at slapping would be lighter than a summer rain drop and I would probably throw my back out. On second thought, I am going to skip the slapping and then I will
& be
Seriously. It is the highly sentient animals in the beginning of chapter 1, book of Genesis that are less-endowed. We come under Genesis 1: 26-27.
IMO it would be a good idea if Catholics revisited Catholic doctrines and then trace them back to the observations in those amazing first three chapters of Genesis.
npatrol: