Things to add to Felix Culpa article

- something about the paradox

- notable people that have mentioned or discussed it. anselm, wytcliff, aquinas, plantinga, and that book on Kierkegaard milton?

- it's position in theodicy and the problem of evil

differ from orthodox interpretations of the FAll in which the whole thing is BAD BAD BAD

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Felix culpa is a Latin phrase that comes from the words felix, meaning "happy," "lucky," or "blessed" and culpa, meaning "fault" or "fall". In the Catholic tradition, the phrase is most often translated "happy fault," as in the Catholic Excultet. Other translations include "blessed fall" and "fortunate fall" (JUDD). As a theological concept, felix culpa is a way of understanding the Fall as having positive outcomes, such as the redemption of humankind through the Resurrection. The concept is paradoxical in nature as it looks at the happy consequences of an event which would not have been possible without the Fall (Lovejoy).

The earliest known use of the term appears in the Catholic Paschal Vigil Mass Exsultet, part of the annual Easter Vigil, which states that O felix culpa quae talem et tantum meruit habere redemptorem, "O happy fault that earned for us so great, so glorious a Redeemer." CITE. Many seventh century copies of the Exsultet omitted the phrase, and Thomas Aquinas omitted "felix", refusing to admit that the Fall was necessary for redemption. The Catholic saint Ambrose also speaks of the fortunate ruin of Adam in the Garden of Eden in that his sin brought more good to humanity than if he had stayed perfectly innocent. The Latin expression felix culpa derives from the writings of St. Augustine regarding the Fall of Man, the source of original sin: "For God judged it better to bring good out of evil than not to permit any evil to exist." (in Latin: Melius enim iudicavit de malis benefacere, quam mala nulla esse permittere.) CITE. The medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas cited this line when he explained how the principle that "God allows evils to happen in order to bring a greater good therefrom" underlies the causal relation between original sin and the Divine Redeemer's Incarnation, thus concluding that a higher state is not inhibited by sin.

In the 14th century, John Wycliffe refers to the fortunate fall in his sermons and states that "it was a fortunate sin that Adam sinned and his descendants; therefore as a result of this the world was made better" (JUDD). In the 15th century, in the appendix to Leibniz's Theodicy, he answers the objection concerning he who does not choose the best course must lack either power, knowledge, or goodness, and in doing so he refers to the felix culpa.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, two of the proponents for the theory include Alvin Plantinga and Jason A. Mahn.

The concept also occurs in Hebrew tradition in the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and is associated with God’s judgment. Although it is not a fall, the thinking goes that without their exile in the desert the Israelites would not have the joy of finding their promised land. With their suffering came the hope of victory and their life restored.

In the 17th century, John Milton includes the concept in Paradise Lost. In book 12, Adam proclaims that the good resulting from the Fall is "more wonderful" than the goodness in creation CITE. He exclaims:

"O goodness infinite, Goodness immense! That all this good of evil shall produce,

And evil turn to good; more wonderful

Than that which creation first brought forth

Light out of Darkness! CITE."

In a literary context, the term "felix culpa" can describe how a series of unfortunate events will eventually lead to a happier outcome. The theological concept is one of the underlying themes of Raphael Carter's science fiction novel The Fortunate Fall ; the novel's title derives explicitly from the Latin phrase. It is also the theme of the fifteenth-century English text Adam lay ybounden, of unknown authorship, and it is used in various guises, such as "Foenix culprit", "Poor Felix Culapert!" and "phaymix cupplerts" by James Joyce in Finnegans Wake .

Theodicy

In the philosophy of religion, "felix culpa" is considered as a category of theodicy in response to the problem of evil. Although it is usually discussed historically, there are still contemporary philosophers, such as Alvin Plantinga, who defend the felix culpa theodicy. ADD CITATION HERE!

• Serendipity, a benefit that is accidentally earned

1. Jump up^  
2. Jump up^  
3. Jump up^  Augustine, Enchiridion , viii.
4. Jump up^  Summa Theologica  "III, 1, 3, ad 3"
5. ^ Jump up to:^a b Haines, Victor. (1982). "The Felix Culpa", Washington: America UP.