all eternity.

Q. 340. {68} Was Jesus Christ always man?
A. Jesus Christ was not always man, but became man at the time of His
Incarnation.

Q. 341. {69} What do you mean by the Incarnation?
A. By the Incarnation I mean that the Son of God was made man.

Q. 342. {70} How was the Son of God made man?
A. The Son of God was conceived and made man by the power of the Holy
Ghost, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Q. 343. {71} Is the Blessed Virgin Mary truly the Mother of God?
A. The Blessed Virgin Mary is truly the Mother of God, because the same
Divine Person who is the Son of God is also the Son of the Blessed
Virgin Mary.

Q. 344. {72} Did the Son of God become man immediately after the sin of
our first parents?
A. The Son of God did not become man immediately after the sin of our
first parents, but was promised to them as a Redeemer.

Q. 345. How many years passed from the time Adam sinned till the time
the Redeemer came?
A. About 4,000 years passed from the time Adam sinned till the time the
Redeemer came.

Q. 346. What was the moral condition of the world just before the coming
of Our Lord?
A. Just before the coming of Our Lord the moral condition of the world
was very bad. Idolatry, injustice, cruelty, immorality and horrid vices
were common almost everywhere.

Q. 347. Why was the coming of the Redeemer so long delayed?
A. The coming of the Redeemer was so long delayed that the
world--suffering from every misery--might learn the great evil of sin
and know that God alone could help fallen man.

Q. 348. When was the Redeemer promised to mankind?
A. The Redeemer was first promised to mankind in the Garden of Paradise,
and often afterward through Abraham and his descendants, the patriarchs,
and through numerous prophets.

Q. 349. Who were the prophets?
A. The prophets were inspired men to whom God revealed the future, that
they might with absolute certainty make it known to the people.

Q. 350. What did the prophets foretell concerning the Redeemer?
A. The prophets, taken together, foretold so accurately all the
circumstances of the birth, life, death, resurrection and glory of the
Redeemer that no one who carefully studied their writings could fail to
recognize Him when He came.

Q. 351. Have all these prophecies concerning the Redeemer been
fulfilled?
A. All the prophecies concerning the Redeemer have been fulfilled in
every point by the circumstances of Christ's birth, life, death,
resurre