Original sin in the faith of the Church

 

16. Original sin in the faith of the Church and its hermeneutics in contemporary theology.

 

Introduction: Sin is considered as disobedience against God’s will and as an offence against Him. Intentional violation of God’s law (covenant), rebellion against God’s reign (pesha)Idolatry - treating the finite as ultimate, Lack of right relationship; wickedness, hardness of heart,  Hamartia - missing the mark/target. Sin is a state of being alienated from God. Sin refers an injury or breach in our integral relationships: it creates a chasm between: God, Self, Neighbour and Authentic Self. When someone knowing his duty in any kind of situation does not do accordingly but disobey with free consent then he commits sin. Sin is hurting or breaking our friendship with God.

 

(a) Definition of Sin

According St Augustine, Sin is an offence against reason, truth, and right conscience; it is a failure in genuine love for God and neighbor caused by a perverse attachment to certain goods as an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law. Sin is the failure to love, a refusal to be for the other, to go out of one’s selfishness, or at least a limitation in one’s self donation. Sin makes one less a person, diminishes or damages one in one’s relationship with others. It also implies a rejection or least negligence of the offer of grace, of God loves relationship.

Kinds of Sin: Original Sin, mortal Sins, venial Sins, capital Sins, eternal sins, material and formal sin, and philosophical Sin.

Dogma of the Original Sin

Original sin, is, according to a doctrine proposed in Christian theology, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred to as a "sin nature," to something as drastic as total depravity or automatic guilt by all humans through collective guilt. Original sin is regarded as the general condition of sinfulness, that is (the absence of holiness and perfect charity) into which humans are born, distinct from the actual sins that a person commits. This teaching explicitly states that "original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's descendants". In other words, human beings do not bear any "original guilt" from Adam and Eve's particular sin. The prevailing view, also held in Eastern Orthodoxy, is that human beings bear no guilt for the sin of Adam and Eve.

In Old Testament: The concept of Original Sin starts in Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve disobey God and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a punishment, they are prohibited from eating from the tree of life - God evicts them from Eden. Since Adam and Eve (and every human from this point on) cannot eat from the tree of life, they will die. Death for every human being, then, becomes the penalty for Adam's sin. (The term "sin" does not actually appear in the Bible until Genesis 4, and the Ten Commandments hadn't been published yet, so it is assumed, reasonably, that disobeying a direct order from God is indeed a sin. In the Old Testament, Psalms supports the idea of Original Sin somewhat, though the context isn't as clear as in Romans: "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me." (Psalm 51:5).

In New Testament: The scriptural basis for the doctrine is found in two New Testament books by Paul the Apostle, Romans 5:12-21 and 1 Corinthians 15:22, in which he identifies Adam as the one man through whom death came into the world.

The Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is that Mary was conceived free from original sin: "the most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin. The exceptional character that Catholic doctrine attributes to the conception of Mary thus depends on the reality of original sin. If, as some hold, original sin did not exist, not only she, but all humans would be conceived "immune from all stain of original sin". Teaching of Paul the Apostle,those who uphold this doctrine look to the teaching of Paul the Apostle in Romans 5:12-21 and 1 Corinthians 15:22 for its scriptural base, and see it as perhaps implied in an Old Testament passage Psalm 51:5.

Magisterium or teachings of the Church

The Apostolic Fathers and the Apologists mostly dealt with topics other than original sin. The doctrine of original sin was first developed in 2nd-century Bishop of LyonIrenaeus's struggle against Gnosticism. Irenaeus contrasted their doctrine with the view that the Fall was a step in the wrong direction by Adam, with whom, Irenaeus believed, his descendants had some solidarity or identity, Irenaeus believed that Adam's sin had grave consequences for humanity, that it is the source of human sinfulness, mortality and enslavement to sin, and that all human beings participate in his sin and share his guilt.  The Greek Fathers emphasized the cosmic dimension of the Fall, namely that since Adam human beings are born into a fallen world, but held fast to belief that man, though fallen, is free. They thus did not teach that human beings are deprived of free will and involved in total depravity, which is one understanding of original sin.  During this period the doctrines of human depravity and the inherently sinful nature human flesh were taught by Gnostics, and orthodox Christian writers took great pains to counter them. Christian Apologists insisted that God's future judgment of humanity implied humanity must have the ability to live righteously.

Western Church Fathers, Tertullian, Cyprian, Ambrose and Ambrosiaster considered that mankind shares in Adam's sin, transmitted by human generation. Augustine of Hippo taught that Adam's sin is transmitted by concupiscence, resulting in mankind becoming a massadamnata (mass of perdition, condemned crowd), with much enfeebled, though not destroyed, freedom of will. When Adam sinned, human nature was thenceforth transformed. Adam and Eve, via sexual reproduction, recreated human nature. Their descendants now live in sin, in the form of concupiscence. Original sin, according to Augustine, consists of the guilt of Adam which all humans inherit. As sinners, humans are utterly depraved in nature, lack the freedom to do good, and cannot respond to the will of God without divine grace. Grace is irresistible, results in conversion, and leads to perseverance.

Reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin equated original sin with concupiscence, affirming that it persisted even after baptism and completely destroyed freedom.

The Council of Trent, while not pronouncing on points disputed among Catholic theologians, condemned the teaching that in baptism the whole of what belongs to the essence of sin is not taken away, but is only cancelled or not imputed, and declared the concupiscence that remains after baptism not truly and properly "sin" in the baptized, but only to be called sin in the sense that it is of sin and inclines to sin.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: by his sin Adam, as the first man, lost the original holiness and justice he had received from God, not only for himself but for all humans. Adam and Eve transmitted to their descendants human nature wounded by their own first sin and hence deprived of original holiness and justice; this deprivation is called "original sin". As a result of original sin, human nature is weakened in its powers, subject to ignorance, suffering and the domination of death, and inclined to sin (this inclination is called "concupiscence").

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that in "yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state … original sin is called "sin" only in an analogical sense: it is a sin "contracted" and not "committed" - a state and not an act" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 404). This "state of deprivation of the original holiness and justice … transmitted to the descendants of Adam along with human nature" involves no personal responsibility or personal guilt on their part (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 405). Personal responsibility and guilt were Adam's, who because of his sin, was unable to pass on to his descendants a human nature with the holiness with which it would otherwise have been endowed, in this way implicating them in his sin. The doctrine of original sin thus does not impute the sin of the father to his children, but merely states that they inherit from him a "human nature deprived of original holiness and justice", which is "transmitted by propagation to all mankind" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 404).

The Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is that Mary was conceived free from original sin: "the most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin." The exceptional character that Catholic doctrine attributes to the conception of Mary thus depends on the reality of original sin. If, as some hold, original sin did not exist, not only she, but all humans would be conceived "immune from all stain of original sin".

In Christian theology, the condition of sin that marks all humans as a result of Adam's first act of disobedience.

In Christian doctrine, the condition or state of sin into which each human being is born, or its origin in Adam's disobedience to God when he ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. His guilt was transmitted to his descendants. Though Genesis describes Adam's sufferings as the consequence of his disobedience, it does not make Adam's sin hereditary. The main scriptural basis of the doctrine is found in the writings of St. Paul; St. Augustine helped make humanity's sinful nature a central element in orthodox Christian theology. Medieval theologians continued to explore the issue, and Thomas Aquinas offered a more optimistic view of human nature in his teachings on original sin than had Augustine. Martin Luther and John Calvin accepted a more Augustinian understanding, and modern evolutionary theory and biblical source criticism raised new challenges for the definition of original sin.

(b) The Doctrine of Freewill or Human Freedom: Freedom that shows man is autonomous. It asserts that God does not have ultimate control over His creation. The problem of free will assumed quite a new character with the advent of the Christian religion. The doctrine that God has created man, has commanded him to obey the moral law, and has promised to reward or punish him for observance or violation of this law, made the reality of moral liberty an issue of transcendent importance. Unless man is really free, he cannot be justly held responsible for his actions, any more than for the date of his birth or the color of his eyes.

Catholic doctrine: St. Augustine clearly teaches the freedom of the will against the Manicheans, but insists against the Semi pelagians on the necessity of grace, as a foundation of merit. He also emphasizes very strongly the absolute rule of God over men's wills by His omnipotence and omniscience--through the infinite store, as it were, of motives which He has had at His disposal from all eternity, and by the foreknowledge of those to which the will of each human being would freely consent.

The teaching of St. Augustine is developed by St. Thomas Aquinas both in theology and philosophy. Will is rational appetite. Man necessarily desires beatitude, but he can freely choose between different forms of it. Free will is simply this elective power. Infinite Good is not visible to the intellect in this life.

Capability of the intellect for conceiving the universal lies the root of our freedom. But God possesses an infallibleknowledge of man's future actions.

Human responsibility in Catholic Teaching

The Bible always conceives of sin in the framework of man’s relationship to God. In its deepest nature, sin is the refusal to respond to God’s initiative of love. For the Greek’s sin was an error, ignorance or a foolishness by which man harms himself. Their understanding of sin is entirely different from that of the Bible. For the latter, sin is an offence against God and unfaithfulness to him.

The history of mankind is seen precisely at the history of falling away from God through sin and, thanks to God’s mercy and grace, a turning home to him. Sin therefore is a primary presupposition of the Old Testament, especially of the prophets.

Original sin, in Christian theology, the sin of Adam, by which all humankind fell from divine grace. Saint Augustine was the fundamental theologian in the formulation of this doctrine, which states that the essentially graceless nature of humanity requires redemption to save it. The purpose of baptism is to wash away original sin and to restore the individual to an innocent state, although even after baptism a tendency to sin remains as a result of original sin.

In the Catholic Encyclopedia it is stated that Original Sin is 1) the sin which Adam committed and 2) its effects, the hereditary stain which all his descendents are born with (Herant).  In a Bible verse, Adam and Eve are tempted by the Serpent to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, thus being closer to God.  In so doing, they become aware of their nakedness and hide from God in its shame.  As a result, God banishes Adam and Eve from Eden, resigning them to a life much more difficult; including death, sin, working of the land, and painful childbirth.  St. Paul expands on the Old Testament account by adding that all of Adam’s descendents acquire the guilt of his transgressions. 

Conclusion: Sin crates a separation between God and us. So, we reconcile with God through our consciousness of sin and penance. So, the consciousness of sin and sacrament of reconciliation is very much essential for Catholic believers. The sacrament of reconciliation is neglecting by us day by day but also many of us waiting for receiving this sacrament before God. After receiving this sacrament, people feel eternal bliss (Heavenly peace) in their heart.