What was Christ’s real purpose in showing up on planet earth?
It cannot be to absolve mankind of “original sin.” because that concept was not invented until centuries after Christ’s death, by Augustine.
The Jews to whom Christ preached had no concept of original sin. In fact, the Genesis tale which laid its foundation only became part of Jewish lore after it was introduced by two separate scribes returning from the Babylonian captivity, where they picked up separate versions of the Genesis tale from the Babylonians, who’d gotten them from some Greeks. The Captivity ended only a few centuries B.C.
It makes little sense, to me anyway, that Christ’s purpose was to absolve mankind of a pseudo-sin which no human had never heard of. By my reading, the three useful N.T. books make no mention of original sin. What was Christ’s purpose, really?
Well, actually, St. Paul first articulated the idea of original sin, although he didn’t call it that. But original sin didn’t come into existence at the time it was revealed to us; it existed before, but people didn’t come to understand it in the full Catholic sense until later.
Now, even if you buy into the idea that the Genesis story was written or put together after the Babylonian exile, that would be some 400 years before Christ appeared on earth. So those to whom he preached would have been aware of it.
Original sin is the state of human nature by which it “is wounded in its natural powers. It is subject to ignorance, to suffering, and to the dominion of death and is inclined toward sin.” (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 77) The fact that we recognize that there is evil in the world reveals to us that something is wrong.
Think of original sin as the weakening of our immune system, and our individual sins as various viruses. Jesus came to restore our immune system, thus strengthening us to resist the viruses. Our wills are necessary to cooperate with this cure. The reason why you don’t run into too many perfect people even though Jesus brought the cure is that the treatment is a gradual one, and for the vast majority continues after death. The continued treatment after death is called Purgatory. In the meantime, in this life, we need to keep going back to the clinic (mass) for treatments (Holy Communion). When we are completely cured, with a completely cured incorruptible body to match, that will be Heaven. Those who reject the cure will have the viruses (their sins) permanently inside them. That will be Hell.
Now when Jesus came to earth, his immune system was in perfect condition, and he was thus able to resist all of the viruses. In his Passion, however, all the viruses were tricked into attacking him. Because his immune system was strong enough to resist, he didn’t contract the viruses, but when he died the viruses were killed too. When he rose from the dead, the viruses were gone. We participate in Christ’s total resistance to the viruses, and their elimination, through faith, repentance, and participation in the treatments (the sacraments). But, as I said, the process is a gradual one.
Why is there still evil in the world after Christ, since he killed all the viruses? I think we have that question because of the way we perceive time. We think of it as a process moving in one direction. But the Passion was as effective for those who came before Christ as it was for those who came after. So, perhaps, we should think of time as a kind of mountain, with the Cross and Resurrection at the summit. As we move closer to the summit, the viruses lose their power, until we reach the end where the viruses are all dead and we participate in the eternal life of Christ. Of course, what we think of as time carries us along without any effort on our part. But the real time that I’m talking about requires us to climb it willfully.
Anyway, that’s the best I can do. Like any analogy, use it if it helps you. If not, drop it, and look for another answer.
