“Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spread to all men because all sinned – for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.” (Romans 5:12-14)

The period attested here is “from Adam to Moses” or the period before written Scriptures. The words of the 10 commandments given to Moses ushered in a new age of written communication from God.

The code of Hammurabi is estimated to have been written in stone a few centuries before Moses and is preserved in France as evidence of early written public codes for humans.

In revealed history, the first 11 chapters of Genesis are often referred to as “pre-history” or more precisely before written history. The choosing of Abraham and God’s Covenant with him marks the end of the “pre-history” and the arrival of a series of invitations God would make to various human persons to help advance God’s plan on earth. hat about before this time?

God was actively calling humans, beginning with our first parents, to cooperate with him in his plans for humanity. The first to be so called were Adam and Eve themselves, when God said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it…” (Genesis 1:28).

Even after their fall, the cooperation of our first parents in God’s plan is marked by their acceptance and recognition of what God had asked of them, and of God’s recognition of their efforts.

“The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she became the mother of all the living. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” (Genesis 3:2021) Early in the pre-history, God’s choice of Noah, shows the intervention from heaven to reign in the effects of sin that had been growing since Adam and Eve, and at the same time renew all of creation for further developments ahead.

The entire history of salvation, recorded in Scripture, shows God continually calling those who will cooperate, to be part of his plan of good for all humanity. For all of us, it is good to have our hearts open to hear what God may ask of us for the benefit of others.

Pastor Fr. William Hodgson is the priest at St. Edward Catholic Church in Cassville. He may be reached at 417-847-4948 or stedwardcassville@gmail.com.