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ORIGINAL SIN

The term “original sin” was coined by Augustine (Lat. peccatum originale), though its roots are patristic and biblical. Infants are “reborn” in baptism (Irenaeus), cleansed from the “true stains of sin” in them (Origen), the “contagion of the ancient death” (Cyprian). The most important OT contribution is its teaching about the universality of sin (1 Kgs. 8:46; Job 4:17; 14:4; 15:14; 25:4; Ps. 130:3; 143:2; Eccl. 7:20). Gen. 3 should be added to this list, though it had very little direct impact on the rest of the OT (only on Ezek. 28; Wis. 2:24; Sir. 25:24). Judaism does not have a concept of original sin; instead it speaks of an “evil inclination” (Heb. yēṣer hāraʿ) in the heart of everyone, on the basis of Gen. 6:5; 8:21 (cf. Deut. 31:21), but teaches that people can overcome it by vigilantly keeping the law. Gen. 2:4b–3:24 is the beginning of an ancient Yahwistic etiological narrative of origins (chs. 2–11) and stresses that human sinfulness does not derive from God. Its relationship to original sin was first seen by Paul.

Though other NT texts point to original sin (e.g., Heb. 9:26; John 1:29; 8:44), its clearest expression is found in the Pauline literature, always in a context of salvation by Christ. “All have sinned” (Rom. 3:23) and “all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin” (v. 9). They can be justified only by God’s “grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement, by his blood, effective through faith” (Rom. 3:24-25). The universal dimension of Adam’s sin and Christ’s redemption is stated succinctly in 1 Cor. 15:22 (“as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ”) and in greater detail in Rom. 5:12-21: “Sin came into the world” through Adam and “death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned” (v. 12). The full meaning of the final clause, “because all have sinned,” is unclear. It implies personal guilt for committing sin, but in light of statements that Adam’s sin “led to condemnation for all” (Rom. 5:18) and that by his disobedience “the many were made sinners” (v. 19), the connection between Adam’s sin and that of all others must be very intimate. Paul is aware of the dominion of Adam’s sin over all humanity, but does not yet speak of heredity; that was the later contribution of Augustine.

Joseph F. Wimmer, O.S.A.

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ORIGINAL SIN

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)