The Marvel Question— Could the multi-verse support an “Adam” who never sinned?
Could There Be a Parallel Universe Where Adam Never Sinned?
(Utrum possit esse universum parallelum in quo Adam numquam peccavit?)
Objection 1:
It seems possible that there could be another universe in which Adam never sinned. For Adam possessed free will, and since free will entails the ability to choose between alternatives, it follows that there could be a reality in which he chose obedience rather than disobedience.
Objection 2:
Furthermore, God is omnipotent and is not constrained by a single order of creation. If God can create multiple angels with distinct natures and purposes, He could likewise create multiple universes with different human histories. Therefore, there could exist a world in which Adam remained in original justice and did not transmit original sin to his descendants.
Objection 3:
Additionally, since God does not will sin but merely permits it (ST I, q.19, a.9), it seems that a world without sin would be more in accordance with His divine goodness. Therefore, a parallel universe where Adam never sinned should be considered a better possibility.
On the Contrary:
It is written: “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love.” (Ephesians 1:4). If God’s plan from eternity was the election of man in Christ, then it follows that the order of salvation history, including the Fall and Redemption, is willed within divine providence and could not be otherwise.
Furthermore, Pope Pius X, in Pascendi Dominici Gregis, condemns the Modernist tendency to view history as an accidental unfolding of events, rather than a divinely ordered plan:
“They pervert the eternal concept of truth, making it a matter of human consciousness rather than divine revelation.” (Pascendi, 1907).
Therefore, any speculation about a world where Adam never sinned contradicts the immutable plan of God.
I Answer That:
The idea of a parallel universe in which Adam never sinned contradicts the nature of Divine Providence, the necessity of the Incarnation, and the ultimate ordering of all things to the highest good. This can be demonstrated in three ways:
1. The Fall as Permitted within Divine Providence
Aquinas teaches that God, in His wisdom, permits evil only to bring about a greater good (ST I, q.22, a.2). The Fall was not willed by God in the sense that He caused sin, but He permitted it because it was ordered toward a greater manifestation of His mercy.
“For God hath shut up all in unbelief, that He may have mercy on all.” (Romans 11:32)
Had Adam not sinned, the human race would have remained in a state of natural happiness but would not have known the fullness of divine mercy expressed through the Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection of Christ. This is the meaning of the Felix Culpa (O Happy Fault), as chanted in the Easter Vigil:
“O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the death of Christ! O happy fault that merited so great, so glorious a Redeemer!”
Thus, since God’s plan is ordered to the highest good, a reality where Adam never sinned would have deprived humanity of the greatest good—Christ’s redeeming love.
2. The Necessity of Christ’s Incarnation
Aquinas, in discussing whether the Incarnation would have occurred without sin, teaches:
“The work of the Incarnation was ordained by God as a remedy for sin; so that, had sin not existed, the Incarnation would not have been.” (ST III, q.1, a.3)
Thus, if Adam had never sinned, Christ—the Son of God—would not have assumed human nature to redeem mankind. But since the Incarnation is the central act of divine love, it follows that a world without the Fall would lack the highest good: God made man.
St. Paul explicitly affirms that Christ’s coming was predestined in relation to the Fall:
“Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” (Romans 5:20)
Therefore, a world without the Fall would have been a lesser world, lacking the supreme gift of divine mercy revealed in Christ’s Passion.
3. The Immutability of God’s Will
Aquinas states that God’s knowledge is eternal and His will does not change (ST I, q.19, a.1). From all eternity, God willed to create this specific world, in which Adam would fall and Christ would redeem. To propose a parallel universe where Adam never sinned implies a mutable God, who changes His will or has multiple contradictory plans.
Pope Pius X warns against the error of evolutionary history, which sees reality as an open-ended series of possibilities rather than a providentially guided plan:
“The Modernists pervert the sense of history, making it a shifting process of human development rather than a divinely ordered sequence of events.” (Pascendi, 1907)
Thus, the idea of a parallel universe with a different salvation history is incompatible with the immutable, providential order willed by God.
Reply to Objections:
Reply to Objection 1:
It is true that Adam had free will and could have chosen not to sin. However, God’s providence includes human free choices while ordering them to the ultimate good (ST I, q.83, a.1). Since God knew from eternity that Adam would sin, His plan for redemption was already in place, making an alternate history impossible within divine providence.
Reply to Objection 2:
God’s omnipotence is not constrained, but His will is always ordered to the highest possible good (ST I, q.25, a.5). If another universe were superior, God would have willed it. Since Christ’s redemption is the greatest manifestation of divine love, it follows that a world without the Fall would not be better but lesser.
Reply to Objection 3:
While God does not will sin, He permits it in order to manifest His greater mercy. As St. Augustine teaches:
“God judged it better to bring good out of evil, than not to permit evil at all.” (Enchiridion, 27)
Therefore, a world without the Fall would not have led to the greatest good—Christ’s sacrifice and the outpouring of grace upon mankind.
Conclusion:
It is impossible that a parallel universe exists where Adam never sinned, because:
The Fall was permitted by divine providence to bring about the highest good—Christ’s redemption.
The Incarnation is ordered to sin, meaning it would not have happened in a sinless world.
God’s will is immutable, and He has chosen this reality as the best means to glorify His mercy.
Thus, rather than longing for an alternate world without sin, we should rejoice in the reality that Christ has come to redeem us and elevate us beyond what Adam ever had in Eden. As Scripture affirms:
“Behold, I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5)