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Question 392

Hi, Father Christopher. In the book of Genesis we read that the first couple were both naked yet not ashamed. We read further on that they had children once they were expelled from Eden. If the fall had not occurred, would the first couple have reproduced? Since prior to the fall they lived together in innocence, doesn't that mean that they would not have reproduced? A further question is that since God made them capable of reproduction then doesn't that mean that He foresaw the fall and yet still decided to create them in any event?

 

 

Answer to Question 392

 

Only after the exile from Paradise did sexual relations between Adam and Eve begin. Before this they lived an angelic life. The first chapter tells us that when God created them male and female he blessed them, saying, Increase and multiply, and fill the earth. This was said in anticipation of the fall. God knew the risk of creating Adam with a free will and foresaw that he would fall into sin and death. Thus from the very beginning God pronounced the plan of salvation that would allow Adam to re-unite with him. This plan was the process of regeneration, "the increase and multiply" which through children, Adam or Adam's nature would continue to live until the plan of salvation should be fulfilled with the coming of Christ.