The Mysterium Iniquitatis

Yesterday Mark Shea posted a reflection on the irrational nature of sin. It's an excellent post, which I would recommend reading.

That post sparked a few comments about the "mysterious" nature of sin, specifically in light of its irrationality. Sin just does make sense. Literally.

Some of the comments led me to make my own, which I am reproducing here:

To others who disagree that sin is a mystery: think about Adam and Eve in the garden. They exist in a state of integrated humanity, as truly happy as possible without the beatific vision. They are fully aware of what is True, Good, and Beautiful. They have no innate inclination (i.e. concupiscence) to sin.

Yet they do sin. Somehow, they manage to reject The Truth, Goodness, and Beauty that is God and choose an inferior good.

Does that make any sense? No... it's irrational, just like all sin. For those of you who are Catholic, read paragraph 1849 in the Catechism: "sin is an offense against reason, truth, and right conscience." Note what is first in the list: reason.

I blogged more on this a while back, here.