Original Sin

[T_Hope]

I wasn’t sure where to ask this question, so I hope the moderators will move it appropriately for me. Sorry!

I want to understand original sin. Someone mentioned it in a conversation yesterday and I got the impression that maybe they were trying to say that some of the difficulties we deal with everyday are the effects of original sin.

I’m not sure I get it. Can someone help me with this very new concept?

Hope

 

[peary]

“Original sin” (meaning the first sin committed by the “first family”) was disobedience to God. It took place at a time where Adam and Eve were still in an immaculate state and had access to the Beatific Vision. Both had free will to do the right thing.

Original sin is a spiritual condition which eventually took its toll on the physical - i.e., instead of an immortal physical body such as exhibited by Christ when He arose (which, by the way, is what Adam and Eve possessed), the body died and succumbed to the natural world around it.

Adam and Eve did not reject God as some of the angels did; I believe they still loved Him, but they disobeyed His command. That is why God never rejected them outright but promised a way for their progeny to be redeemed.

When we are born, we are born into the spiritual condition of having been tainted with original sin, and it is baptism that alleviates that condition in us.

 

[manualman]

I think the catechism is now online and you can look it up there for the BEST explanation.

But in short, God originally created Adam and Eve in the garden entirely good. They had no sin, no sinful inclinations and even perhaps no concept of the right and wrong. They weren’t plagued by the selfishness that we are today. There was only one thing that was forbidden (a certain fruit) as both a test and a way to establish genuine free will (the other choice). Adam and Eve failed that test and sin entered the world by it. every moral flaw that we as humans have came about as a result of that sin.

Our very fiber is ‘stained’ by this original sin such that although we retain the goodness of being made in the image and likeness of God, we also now have a tragic flaw that inclines us towards sin.

This is one of the key factors in catholicism that is lacking in so many other religions. many teach that man is good, but their teaching fails to account for the evil things we all do. Others teach that man is evil, but that teaching fails to account for some of the amazing good things humanity has achieved. Catholic teaching clearly shows how BOTH are possible.

Jesus, of course, came to offer us salvation from our fatal flaw of sin. Not just forgiveness, but eventually a complete rebuilding of our character so that in heaven we will no longer have even the inclination towards sin. Here’s to the future! (insert frothy mug icon here!)

 

[T_Hope]

Thank you for responding and helping me to think this through.

So we inherit the effects of original sin. That makes sense to me. And the need for redemption from sin I see more clearly.

I was taught (former Mormon and it’s all the religion I was ever taught) that we are not responsible for Adam’s disobedience and that is why Mormons say they do not believe in original sin and therefore why they do not believe in infant baptism which is partly why I asked the question.

Seems like the Mormon perspective is that baptism only washes away sin which an infant has not yet committed. But that’s not the only purpose to baptism, is it?

The catechism says: 1213 Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: “Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water in the word.”

It’s a gateway.

Jesus said: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God!”

It’s a gift. And a necessary one. Is that the thought behind infant baptism? I think I understand and I think that infant baptism then is a very important gift.

Am I thinking this through correctly? It feels close to being right.

Hope

 

[manualman]

Yes! With caveats. We don’t bear personal guilt for Adam’s sin. But his sin HAS had a morally crippling effect on us. You can see echoes of this effect in more recent history. For example, take sexual abuse crimes against children. Victims of abuse bear absolutely no blame for the sins of the abuser. But sexual abuse victims have been clearly shown to be at greatly elevated risk of becoming abusers themselves someday.

Original Sin is transmitted in much the same way. Simon and Garfunkel aside, no man IS an island. Humans are a community and sins affect not just the sinner but the ENTIRE community. When Adam and Eve sinned, sin entered the world and contaminated us all. It’s not that we must be punished for what they did, but that what they did has affected us in such a way that without an infusion of Sanctifying Grace, we don’t have strength enough on our own to prevail against all our sinful temptations. We retain the goodness of being created in the image and likeness of God, but we are all currently in the “damaged goods” category. We lack the ability to consistently choose right over wrong.

 

[rwoehmke]

Also in Baptism we receive the initial ability that will enable us to see God face to face as he is when we enter heaven. This is called sanctifying grace.