Did God Create Adam and Eve Full of Grace?

Scripture does not tell us explicitly that God created Adam and Eve full of sanctifying grace, but it implies that God did. Therefore, this article will explain how we can know that God created Adam and Eve full of grace.

Catechism On Adam and Eve Being Full of Grace

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

The first man was not only created good, but was also established in friendship with his Creator and in harmony with himself and with the creation around him, in a state that would be surpassed only by the glory of the new creation in Christ.

The Church, interpreting the symbolism of biblical language in an authentic way, in the light of the New Testament and Tradition, teaches that our first parents, Adam and Eve, were constituted in an original 'state of holiness and justice.' This grace of original holiness was 'to share in. . .divine life.'

By the radiance of this grace all dimensions of man's life were confirmed. As long as he remained in the divine intimacy, man would not have to suffer or die. The inner harmony of the human person, the harmony between man and woman, and finally the harmony between the first couple and all creation, comprised the state called 'original justice.'

Scripture On Adam and Eve Being Full of Grace

Scripture implies God created Adam and Eve full of grace. We know this for a few reasons: 1) God created man in His own image and likeness (Gen 1:26); 2) God gave man the capacity to receive grace; 3) after God created man, He looked across creation and said it was “very good” (Gen 1:31); and 4) God created man to live forever (Genesis 2:17).  For more on why Genesis 1-3 is historical allegory, please click here.

First, God, who is spirit and grace, created man in His image and likeness, which means God gave man finite spiritual qualities that mirror His attributes. For instance, God is infinite power, truth, and love, and He gives humans finite power, truth, and love. Similarly, God is grace, and He communicates grace to those whom He designed for its reception for the purpose of making them spiritually alive. To emphasize this point, Genesis 2:7 says that man became a living soul (see also 1 Cor 15:45).

Since God made everything perfect in the beginning (deficiencies came about because of the Fall), and humans must be full of grace to be perfect, God fully infused Adam’s and Eve’s souls with sanctifying grace. Since grace perfects man, God’s creation of the first two humans without grace defies reason. Rather, God made Adam and Eve full of grace because He designed their perfect souls for grace. And they had not not inclined themselves toward sin that would have impeded their souls’ reception of grace.

Second, God justifies us with His grace by giving us a soul He designed to receive it. If God did not infuse Adam's and Eve's souls with grace at the moment of prelapsarian (before the Fall) creation, He would have made them without something that He clearly designed their souls to receive. If He made them with the capacity to receive grace but did not give it to them, He would have made them with a defect. Therefore, God made them with grace. In other words, God created Adam and Eve in a state of friendship with Him. He did not create them as enemies. To be God's friend, sanctifying grace is necessary. Therefore, God gave them sanctifying grace at the moment He created them.

Continuing this line of reasoning, since sanctifying grace is necessary for friendship with God, if had God made man without sanctifying grace in his soul, then God would have made man as His enemy. However, after God made man, He looked across creation and declared it "very good." But if God made man as His enemy, then man was not good at all. Therefore, God made man with sanctifying grace.

Third, before God created man, He looked at His physical creation and declared it “good.” But after He created man, He looked across creation and declared it “very good.” Thus, man had something in addition to the natural that allowed God to declare this. If God had created man with merely natural qualities, He would have simply declared him “good” like He did with the rest of creation.

But God gave man something that not only made him very good but made all of creation very good. This something was grace, which was God’s supernatural life and love that He communicated to Adam and Eve for the sake of a loving relationship with Him and perfect dominion over creation. The Christian tradition has called this the state of perfect harmony between the Creator and His creation Original Justice.

Fourth, God told Adam, and Eve by proxy, that they were not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil or they would die. The implication here is that Adam and Eve would have lived forever had they not eaten from this tree. So, God created man to live forever, but man lost life after he ate from the tree. Although Adam and Eve lost physical life much later (Gen 5:1-5), God removed them from the Garden (Paradise) immediately because they lost spiritual life instantly. Since their souls were out of communion with God, God did not allow them to remain in the paradise He created for them.