Would Christ have come if Adam had not sinned? Did Adam fall, or was he pushed? Irenaeus puts it like this: just as God appointed a monster to swallow Jonah for a time, so he ordained Satan to swallow up humanity in death for a time. But humanity was subjected to death in hope, so that God might have mercy, and the apparent victory of Satan gave way to the true and final victory of Christ.77 Death, then, was brought about as an act of judgment; but there was mercy in the judgment, for death prevented man from being immortal in his state of naked alienation from God. Through death, humanity
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