Original sin?

Meena_Ameen

Hey everyone i was just at sunday school where we argued about original sin, I am so confused now that i dont know what the church believes. This is what we discussed... When we are born are we born with ADAMS SIN, or are we born with the NATURE of SIN, or both? Before, I thought it was nature of sin, because adam when eating from the tree of knowledge inherited this nature of sin, and as a punishment all mankind would now be born with this nature. WHat my class said was that not only was every man born with the nature of sin, but was also born with ADAMS original sin which was disobeying God. I feel that is wrong because how are we to be judged by the sins of someone else, we are to be judged by our actions. However, im so confused, the teacher said it was both, but I really dont even know anymore.

mikeg

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Perhaps someone will object that the woman sinned before the man and even that the serpent sinned before her … and elsewhere the apostle says: “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived.” … How is it then that sin seems to have come in through one man rather than through one woman? … Here the apostle sticks to the order of nature, and thus when he speaks about sin, because of which death has passed to all men, he attributes the line of human descent, which has succumbed to this death because of sin, not to the woman but to the man. For the descent is not reckoned from the woman but from the man, as the apostle says elsewhere: “For man was not made from woman but woman from man.”

In this context the word world is to be understood either as the place in which people live or as the earthly and corporeal life in which death has its location. It is to this world, that is, to this earthly life, that the saints say that they are crucified and dead.

The death which entered through sin is without doubt that death of which the prophet speaks when he says: “The soul which sins shall surely die.” One might rightly say that our bodily death is a shadow of this death. For whenever a soul dies, the body is obliged to follow suit, like a shadow. Now if someone objects that the Savior did not sin, nor did his soul die because of sin, yet nevertheless his body suffered death, we would answer that the Savior, although he did not himself sin, nevertheless by the assumption of human flesh is said to have become sin. As a result, although he owed his death to nothing else, nor was he bound to anything outside himself, yet for our salvation he voluntarily took on this shadow as part of his incarnation. As he himself said: “I have power to lay my soul down, and I have power to take it again.”

The apostle stated most categorically that the death of sin has passed to all men because all have sinned…. Therefore even if you say that Abel was righteous, still he cannot be excused, for all have sinned, including him.

ORIGEN OF ALEXANDRIA - COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS.

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Although through one man’s sin death has passed to all men, him whom we do not refuse to acknowledge as the father of the human race we cannot refuse to acknowledge as also the author of death…. In Adam I fell, in Adam I was cast out of paradise, in Adam I died. How shall God call me back, except he find me in Adam? For just as in Adam I am guilty of sin and owe a debt to death, so in Christ I am justified.

AMBROSE OF MILAN - ON THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHER SATYRUS 2.6.

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Paul inquires as to how death came into the world and why it prevailed. It came in and prevailed through the sin of one man and continued because all have sinned. Thus once Adam fell, even those who had not eaten of the tree became mortal because of him.

JOHN CRYSOSTOM - HOMILIES ON ROMANS 10.

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Everyone, even little children, have broken God’s covenant, not indeed in virtue of any personal action but in virtue of mankind’s common origin in that single ancestor in whom all have sinned.

AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO - THE CITY OF GOD 16.27.

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“When a man is born, he is already born with death, because he contracts sin from Adam.”

AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO - TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 49.12.2.15

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Death entered into the first man, and into the beginnings of our race, because of sin, and very soon it had corrupted the entire race. In addition to this, the serpent who invented sin, after he had conquered Adam because of the latter’s unfaithfulness, opened up a way for himself to enter the mind of man: “They are corrupt … there is none that does good.” Therefore, having turned away from the face of the most holy God, and because the mind of man willingly inclined towards evil from its adolescence, we lived an absurd life, and death the conqueror devoured us accordingly…. For since we have all copied Adam’s transgression and thus have all sinned, we have incurred a penalty equal to his. Yet the world was not without hope, for in the end sin was destroyed, Satan was defeated and death itself was abolished.

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA - EXPLANATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS.

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SOURCE:
Bray, G. L. 1998. Romans. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture NT 6. InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, Ill

kerestina

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

We have all inherited this nature to sin from Adam and Eve, the first parents of the human race. We are born sinners, separated from God, our Creator.

Meena_Ameen

I understand how death entered into the world, it came in through adam. I know that we are carying the nature of sin which was passed down to us by adam, but how are we carying the exact sin of adam and eve? It doesnt make sense. Adam and eves sin were there own, why are we to be judged for the acts of others? I understand that because man disobeyed God death entered into the world, and now everyman born is born with the nature of death but why do we carry the sin of adam and eve? Its like if i kill someone, and i have a baby, why would he/she be born with my sin of killing someone. Its the same with adam and eve, they disobeyed God, yet we are born with there sin in us, even though we were babies and had no choice nor knew anything we carry there sin and are therefore dead? Why?

mmatt95

To make things even more complicated, ask urselves: do we inherit the GUILT of the sin of Adam, as if we ate ourselves from the forbidden fruit? I always thought no, but i got really confused when i noticed this part from the Gregorian Liturgy:

You revealed to me the tree of life; And made known to me the thorn of death. One plant there was, from which You forbade me to eat. This of which You said to me: "From this only do not eat!"
I ate of my own free will. I laid aside Your law by my own opinion.
I neglected Your commandments. I brought upon myself the sentence of death.

It seems that St Gregory is writing this explicitly as if HE personally brought upon himself the sentence of death.

I'm so confused ???

Meena_Ameen

my priest said we do not inherit adam and eves sin of disobeying God behind that is there own action, all we recieve is the nature of sin which itself is death, however, for a baby, this nature has not yet shown because a baby is like adam and eve before they ate from the tree, they knew not right from wrong so there innocence made them pure, this pureness is what allows you to live with God. Which is why Jesus said no man can enter into the kingdom of heaven unless he becomes a child once again. When everyone grows up the nature of sin begins to work and through our own decision we all sin everysingle one of us which why ultimately why we say death enetered into the world through the envy of the devil. Everyone is tempted by the envy of satan, and because they know right from wrong because of the tree of knowledge of good and evil which adam and eve ate from, it counts as a sin, and sin is death because it is separation from God.

deaddog

This has been always of a great discussion among the fathers. It requires a lot of research, reading, scripture, fathers reference and at the end we might not be able to comprehend. You can probably read
http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.10.en.original_sin_according_to_st._paul.01.htm

You will find this as an eye opening but we still, need more references. But you could also find many other opinions (in the fathers and in the church) that would take you one way or another.

kerestina

By Baptism we get remission of original and actual sins and God forgets them, so we become as pure as Adam before the fall.

jydeacon

i don't think that our church believes in original sin but a fallen nature because if we carry the sins of adam then don't we carry that of our parents and that is not true if a parent does something wrong we don't get in trouble because of them. we took the sinful nature from adam and eve and that is why we are punished. just trying to clear things up. correct me if i am wrong.

God Bless and Pray for me and my weakness