CLASS NOTES ON THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF ORIGINAL SIN
Theology 141, Sections A, B, C, D and E, Second Semester 2016-2017
Handout No. 9
1. Three preliminary discussions
1.1 Reflection on doctrine of original sin as a
necessary complement to reflection on doctrine of
creation
A. “completing” our view of human reality: from a
focus on our “fundamental vocation to
goodness” to a focus on the “pervasive reality of
evil” in human life
B. both reflections end with the reality of
redemption in JESUS (= broad, transforming,
divine movement in human history of SPIRIT
calling and empowering us to personal
and communal conversion away from human
sinfulness to fullness of life in Christ)
1.2 Theological/ philosophical reflection on the
“problem” of evil/ suffering
A. David Hume: Reality of evil cannot be
reconciled with belief in a God who is all-
powerful and all-good.
B. Responses of theology/ philosophy to this view:
! finitude of creation and natural evil
! human/ spiritual freedom and moral/
spiritual evil
! incomprehensibility of evil
! in Jesus on the Cross, a Mystery of
Goodness who suffers with us because of
evil and overcomes this mystery of evil
1.3 Reflections from fundamental moral theology on
Christian understanding of moral evil (= sin)
A. the Christian understanding of “moral evil”
(= sin) is grounded on a prior Christian
understanding of “human freedom” and
“moral law”
B. Christian understanding of human freedom (HF)
(1) experience of HF ! awareness of oneself as
a distinct, responsible being; experience of
ourselves as creative agents able to choose
among alternatives and capable of self-
determination; capacity to decide what kind of
persons we shall be
(2) HF as manifestation of divine image in
human being ! being created in “image and
likeness” of transcendent God who is Infinitely
Creative and Self-Determining and who is Mystery of
Love and Self-Giving
*** “The soul shows its royal and exalted character … in
that is free and self-governed, swayed autonomously
by its own will.” (St. Gregory)
*** human freedom as attribute of human beings
as relational beings called to fullness of life in
relationships of mutual love and self-giving—
freedom as not so much allowing us to do
something as to be someone, in relation to God,
neighbor, world and self
(3) HF and moral law: Christian view of HF does
not negate/ deny but rather affirms the reality
of a “moral law” ! human freedom not meant
as a license to do and be anything: res-
ponsibility to use human freedom in faith-
fulness to the call of goodness and truth, in
obedience to the obligations of the moral law
*** contemporary “post-modern” view of HF (HF =
“power to live life ‘my way’—to do and be what I
choose”) vs. Christian view of HF (HF = “power to
be faithful to the call of goodness and truth—
fulfilled through obedience to the moral law”)
C. Christian understanding of moral law
(1) “moral law” = “law of human conduct which
arises from the full reality of human nature as
ordered to its ultimate end and which is recognized
by means of reason, indepen-dent of … Christian
revelation” (Peschke 1985, p.142)
(2) For the believing Christian, the moral law is
not something we choose for ourselves but
rather is given to us by God—not for our
punishment but for our fulfillment. ! The
moral law orients us towards authentic hu-
man fulfillment in accordance with God’s de-
signs and plans for the fullness and whole-
ness of human life. ! The moral law in its
fullness is Christ’s liberating law of life-giving
love lived out in the power of the Spirit.
(3) Vatican II has described the moral law is
“inscribed by God” in each person’s “heart”:
“Deep within his conscience man discovers a law
which he has not laid upon himself but which he
must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and
to do what is good and to avoid evil, tells him
inwardly at the right moment: do this, shun that.
For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God.
His dignity lies in observing this law, and by it he
will be judged. His conscience is man’s most
secret core, and his inner sanctuary. There he is
alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths.
By conscience, in a wonderful way, that law is
made known which is fulfilled in the love of God
and of one’s neighbor.” (GS, no. 16)
D. With the horizon of the moral law, the phrases
“authentic exercise of human freedom” and
“misuse of human freedom” become intelligible
for the believing Christian
! authentic exercise of human freedom --> human
actions in accord with obligations of moral law
(moral good) --> authentic humanity (deepening
relationships with God, the neighbor, the world
and the self)
 ! misuse of human freedom --> human actions
that violate obligations of moral law (moral evil =
sin) --> distorted humanity (broken and distorted
relationships in the world)
a. human pride/ idolatry before God (regarding selves
as self-sufficient vs. seeing rootedness in God and
capacity to enter into meaningful relationship with
God as the deepest truth about ourselves)
b. alienation from fellow human beings
c. abuse and destruction of earth
E. we end with a definition of “moral evil” or “sin” =
“human decisions/ actions that violate
obligations of the moral law”
2. Traditional vs. contemporary understanding
of original sin
2.1 Scriptural texts:
a. Genesis 3-11: disobedience of Adam and
Eve, murder of Abel by Cain, Noah and the
Flood, Tower of Babel
b. Romans 5, 12-20: Christ (grace and life) as
opposed to Adam (sin and death)
c. Romans 7, 15-25: “I do not do what I want to
do but what I hate ...”
2.2 Core meaning of original sin
> original sin = “privation of sanctifying grace,”
the condition into which all human beings are
born; universal human state of separation/
alienation from God
> “privation of sanctifying grace” = “being closed to the
call of the Spirit that dwells in the inmost depths of
our being,” “not being in touch with our deeper,
truer selves where the Spirit of the Lord dwells and
speaks”
2.3 Traditional understanding
a. original sin = inherited effect of ancestor’s sin
(based on a reading of story of Adam and Eve
as some sort of factual/ historical account of
humankind’s beginnings)
b. the basis of the universal need for salvation in
Christ--in traditional catechesis, one made
available to each person in the sacrament of
baptism
2.4 Contemporary understanding
A. Three-fold emphasis in the understanding of
original sin
1. original sin = “sin of the world”, sinful situation
of broken and disordered relationships into
which every person is born, whole history of
human sinfulness passed on from generation
to generation, inherited evil consequences of
sin aggravated by one’s own sins
> understanding of Genesis accounts as
“symbolic language used to express religious
truth"—“Israel’s vision of its sinful past”
** theological emphasis: pervasive presence of
evil in human life is due to humankind--due
to the misuse of the gift of human freedom
> transmission of sinful situation: (1) bad
example, (2) bad example with pressure, (3)
obscuration of values and norms, (4) total
obscuration of values and norms
2. original sin = “heart of darkness”, inclination to
evil prior to personal choice experienced by
every person, interior deordination, egoism and
disordered desires/ appetites that every person
experiences within him/ herself
3. relationship between the reality of original sin
and our own personal sins
*** “I sin, so I am a sinner: I am a sinner,
therefore I sin.”
B. Original sin and redemption in Christ
1. Original sin as partial not total reality--shadow
side of humankind’s universal need for grace
and redemption in Christ
> centrality of redemption in Christ: human
solidarity in grace and redemption offered to
every human being through Christ
2. “The Lord saves us but not without us”
> objective redemption/ healing (the life,
ministry, suffering, death and resurrection of
Jesus) vis-a-vis subjective redemption/
healing (our sharing in this redemptive event
by living as disciples of Jesus)
> community of believers ( = Church) bring
their redemption/ healing to completion by
living as disciples of Jesus and continuing
His redemptive ministry, thus becoming
instruments of redemption/ healing for
others
3. Deepening understanding of the reality of sin
3.1 Three-fold emphasis in biblical understanding of sin
a.sin as violation of covenant relationship with God
b.sin as communitarian
c.sin as historical
*** sum: Biblical understanding versus impersonal/
legalistic, privatized and spiritualized
understanding of sin
3.2 Degrees of sinfulness understood in context of a break-
down/ deterioration of our love relationship with God
3.3 Sin and fundamental option
4. Original sin and liberation spirituality
4.1 Doctrine of original sin as theological basis for
the concept of social sin (social sin as a
manifestation of the reality of original sin) and
call to “double liberation” (personal interior
conversion of human persons and conversion of
external sinful situation including the
transformation of unjust social structures)
> importance of “cooperation in community” and
“communities of solidarity” and a more adequate
understanding of the necessity of infant baptism
*** Important note: the call to “double liberation”
corresponds to (or may alternatively be
described as) the call live out the “balanced
spirituality” (deepening religious, moral and
political conversion) ! call to deepen 5-fold
relationships of “extended balanced spirituality”
(including our relationship with the earth/ all of
nature)
4.2 Call for faith in the strength, in the healing and
liberating grace of Christ (versus uncritical
rationalization of human weakness/ sinfulness)
> However, perspective of Christian realism:
understanding reality of grace/ sin tension in all
of human history
4.3 Primacy of redemption as “personal interior
conversion” = for believing Christians, acknow-
ledging one’s sinfulness and opening ourselves
to the experience of God’s gracious, loving and
life-giving Presence in our lives—in our prayer/
sacramental life and in our relationships with
others ( = being filled with this transforming
Presence and then sharing what we have
received)
> St. Paul and St. Augustine on the need for grace
> conversion is God’s initiative: it is God who heals us
with His grace, with His life-giving Presence; God’s
grace and life-giving Presence is made available to
everyone through Christ; but God can only heal us if
we acknowledge our need for healing—this is a
constitutive dimension of repentance
> a deepening awareness of ourselves as sinners in
need of healing and redemption can be said to be the
basis of growth in our life of faith (and for those who
persevere in discipleship, in maturing from “working for
God” to “doing God’s work”)
4.4 Redemption and our participation in the
liturgical/ sacramental life of the Church
> SACRAMENTS = began as the early Christian
community’s attempt to keep alive the presence of
Jesus whom they loved
> “outward signs, instituted by Christ, to give grace,”
“actions made holy by Jesus which enable us to
experience his Presence in our midst”
> sacraments are constantly growing: originated with
Jesus’ words and actions but historically accumulated
additional symbols and gestures which people found
helpful in making Jesus’ Presence felt (context of
Vatican II renewal: restoration of sacraments to their
original order and intent)