Both were to blame, not just Adam. You are incorrect to say that HE got all of thet blame ...
Well, as you clarify in your post, you believe that the Fall caused us to be born lost (without God's help). Did Eve contribute to the Fall or not? If 'No', then Adam gets all the blame. If 'Yes', and Eve contributed to our being lost, then that would mean that Mary contributed to our salvation, right?
Catholics don't believe that man has a "sinful" nature. We have a PROPENSITY to sin as a result of concupiscience.
Oh, then my mistake on the sinful nature issue, sorry.
IF our nature was evil, then Jesus Christ did NOT take up our nature during the incarnation. The POTENTIAL exists for man to be sinless, in Christ (as Mary has shown).
I would say 'Yes' to the first sentence. The human nature that Jesus took on did not include our sin nature. It never applied to Him. He never sinned because it was never in His nature to sin. Christ could not have inherited Adam's sin because Adam's sin was AGAINST Christ.
So, Mary was the only human ever to live up to her potential and never sin? She bested not only all the Church Fathers and every Pope who has ever lived, but ALL OF THE APOSTLES as well. It would seem to me that if she was so incredibly superior to all of the Apostles, that she would have gotten her own book in the Bible, or at least been treated as a major figure. She got neither.
FK: "God does not cause us to do evil, although He remains in control of all things."
I don't see the distinction you make. It would be better to say "God allows evil for HIS own purposes. God does not cause evil".
I agree with both statements. I also believe that God is in control of good things.
Thus, MAN is the operating agent and cause of evil. Would this be agreeable to your point of view? Classic Calvinism would say that God inevitably ALSO causes evil and actively reprobates men to hell. It is at this point where we would part company.
In the way I think you are using the first sentence, I can agree with you. I think we would also agree that satan is a source of "evil".
Maybe, then, I am not familiar enough with Classic Calvinism. I can't think of anyone on my side who has ever argued here that God causes evil, and I don't think I have heard from anyone that God actively sends people to hell. :) The way I understand it is that God simply passes over some people and does not give them the grace they would need to be saved. He leaves them to their own natures and justice is done. There is no "duty" on God to save everyone. This is different from Him "sending" anyone to hell. Perhaps someone more experienced in Calvinism could explain this better. :)
FK: "If 'Yes', and Eve contributed to our being lost, then that would mean that Mary contributed to our salvation, right?"
It is manifestly true that as the Most Holy Theotokos, she did contribute to our salvation. The Church has always taught this.
Joe: "IF our nature was evil, then Jesus Christ did NOT take up our nature during the incarnation. The POTENTIAL exists for man to be sinless, in Christ (as Mary has shown).'
FK: I would say 'Yes' to the first sentence. The human nature that Jesus took on did not include our sin nature. It never applied to Him. He never sinned because it was never in His nature to sin. Christ could not have inherited Adam's sin because Adam's sin was AGAINST Christ."
So Christ's human nature was not a "real" human nature? FK, the Creed says "True God and True Man". As for inheriting Adam's sin, although some Latin Rite Catholics in the past may have misstated the theology of The Church in this regard, it is my understanding that even the Latins now clearly teach, in conformity with the Fathers, that NONE of us, NO ONE inherits the Sin of Adam. Please clarify for me if you indeed believe that Christ did not share fully our human nature and that we inherit the Sin of Adam and if so, your basis for these beliefs.
The Fall effected mankind solely because of Adam's disobedience to God, since he was the first man, our representative and prototype. Eve, however, did play a part. She participated in a manner that God deemed to be allow - but did not take away from Adam's responsibility. In other words, man fell because of Adam - regardless of Eve's actions. But as Mary, Eve played a participatory role. Can any other human say that they suffered more than Mary at the foot of the cross? Two people were pierced with a sword at Calvary.
The human nature that Jesus took on did not include our sin nature. It never applied to Him. He never sinned because it was never in His nature to sin.
Then man is not saved. Christ did not sin, nor was He subject to concupiscience. But this was because He was made as man was originally made - WITH sanctifying grace. As a result of Adam's sin, WE are not born with it. Christ was subject to temptations - but He did not give in to them. Thus, if Christ is man, then man has the POTENTIAL to be sinless - just as Adam had the ability to choose NOT to sin. If Christ was born in a nature other than man's nature, then how is He our Mediator?
So, Mary was the only human ever to live up to her potential and never sin? She bested not only all the Church Fathers and every Pope who has ever lived, but ALL OF THE APOSTLES as well.
No. Her and Jesus.
It would seem to me that if she was so incredibly superior to all of the Apostles, that she would have gotten her own book in the Bible, or at least been treated as a major figure. She got neither.
That's because you do not understand that humility is a superior attribute, one required to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Man gains eternal life by LOSING their life here, not receiving acolades and books dedicated to them in the Bible!
I also believe that God is in control of good things.
Sure. We cannot do good without God's gifts.
I can't think of anyone on my side who has ever argued here that God causes evil, and I don't think I have heard from anyone that God actively sends people to hell
Calvinists don't say it, but their theology inevitably leads on down that heretical idea. IF man has no free will, then GOD is the author of an evil action. Thus, GOD creates men for the express purpose to condemn to hell. It is not just to condemn someone for an action that is not their responsibility or ability to choose the correct action in the first place. Thus, no free will, then man is not responsible for his actions. This is where Calvinism leads a person - to claim that God is the author of evil.
He leaves them to their own natures and justice is done. There is no "duty" on God to save everyone. This is different from Him "sending" anyone to hell.
Fortunately, you still have retained some Christian sense from before your turn to Calvinism. This above is correct, but not in line with Calvinism's theology. Calvin would have God positively reprobating man to hell - for actions that were beyond man's ability to choose.
Regards
The fallen man is not a standard of humanity in any shape or form, but only something less.
To cause — the one, such as a person, event, or condition, that is responsible for an action or result
I think Isa 45:7 says it clearly enough: "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."