The translation of Romans 5:12 is not a matter of dispute. It is simply a matter of correctly translating the original Greek, which the Latin translation did not. Fr. John
Hello frjohn,
The Coucil of Trent decreed "For that which the apostle has said, By one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death, and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned (Romans 5:12), is not to be understood otherwise than as the Catholic Church spread every where hath always understood it. For, by reason of this rule of faith, from a tradition of the apostles, even infants, who could not as yet commit any sin of themselves, are for this cause truly baptized for the remission of sins, that in them that may be cleansed away by regeneration, which they have contracted by generation. For, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he can not enter into the kingdom of God. (John iii. 5.)
This canon of Trent can also be seen in the councils of Carthage and Orange. So it is a rule of faith in the Catholic Church that however one might want to translate Romans 5:12, it is to be understood that all men have sinned in Adam and thus contract by generation the fault or sin of Adam. Christ promised that he would send to the Church the Spirit of truth who would guide the Church to all truth. The Holy Spirit was sent upon the Church at Pentacost.
CCC#85 “The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God, whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition, has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone. Its authority in this matter is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ.” This means that the task of interpretation has been entrusted to the bishops in communion with the successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome."
So for a catholic, the Church who is guided by the Holy Spirit and which Spirit is the principle author of Holy Scripture, has told us that the authentic interpretation of Romans 5:12 is that all mankind has sinned in Adam.
The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says the meaning of the phrase “eph ho” is much disputed. It list 5 ways that “eph ho” has been variously translated. The New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture says the phrase 'eph ho pantes hemarton" is ambigious and has been variously translated. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary says that most modern commentators understand “eph ho” as the equivalent of a conjunction, “since, because, inasmuch as.” Yet this understanding is also not without some difficulties. However it is translated, the Church understands Romans 5:12 as that in Adam all mankind have sinned.
The CCC#402 says: All men are implicated in Adam’s sin, as St. Paul affirms: “By one man’s disobedience many (that is, all men) were made sinners”: “sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned.” Here we see that Romans 5:12 is translated “because all men sinned.” This appears to be the common translation now. According to the Catholic Church’s rule of faith as the Council of Trent decreed, “because all men sinned” means that all men have sinned in Adam.
The thrust of Romans 5:12-14 is that St Paul is saying that Adam’s sin which resulted in death both bodily death and spiritual death has spread to all mankind. Adam’s sin is the cause of the spiritual and bodily death of all mankind. For even those people before the Law, from Adam to Moses died even though they did not sin after the trespass of Adam which was a positive or formal command. These people did in fact sin against the natural law for we have the account of the flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Cain killing Abel. However, these personal sins were not like the transgression of Adam because the natural law did not explicitly bind under pain of death. If, nevertheless, they in fact had to die, this proves, the Apostle concludes, that death is due not to personal sins but to original sin or the fault of Adam. It is also proved, the Fathers of the Church usually add, by the fact that some people die before reaching the use of reason (infants and children), that is, before they are capable of sinning.
Some commentators interpret “because all men sinned” to refer to personal sins so that the cause of death is not only Adam’s sin but each man’s personal sins too. However, this interpretation appears to contradict what St Paul says in verses 13-14. In these verses, St Paul argues that the personal sins of people from Adam to Moses was not accounted against them to the point of being penalized by death “for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law. But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come.” St Paul concludes in verse 15 “For if by that one person’s transgression the many died.”
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I’m very famaliar with the Discalced Carmelites in the western province of the U.S. and I know a number of the priests in this province.