Original Sin & God's Grace

Religious Studies: OCR A Level, topic 3.1.2

Original Sin

Original sin is the doctrine that all humans are born in a state of sin. Original sin is not an action, but it is part of our nature.

Original sin says we are born corrupt, damaged, broken and disharmonious.
It begins with the sin of Adam and Eve, but is now passed on through sexual intercourse down the generations.
St. Augustine wrote that ‘from the bad use of free will, there originated the whole train of evil, which . . . conveys the human race from its depraved origin, as from a corrupt root’.

Since the Fall, every act of sex is tainted with lust.
Sex is infected with concupiscence, and so the results of sex, children, are also tainted.
** ‘. . . even infants, not personally in their own life . . . have all broken God’s covenant’.**

Since we all suffer from original sin, we all have a weakened and divided will, often working at odds with our body.
As St. Paul writes, ‘I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but the very thing I hate.’ (Romans 7:15)
So, our selfish appetites can gain control over us.
This can be either in the form of sexual lust, or the selfish desire for earthly things.
St. Augustine argued that ‘we will what we love’, and since what we now love is our own satisfaction, that is what we pursue.

The effects of original sin are also seen in our societies.
Our friendships have become poisoned by selfishness.
We have become corrupt and selfish, and this is a danger to other people.
The lack of harmony is a problem for society since we only think of ourselves, and not the needs of the population.
St. Augustine argued that we need strong, forceful political leadership to establish boundaries.
This would enforce control over human behaviour.

St. Augustine argued that God's grace allows us to overcome sin and achieve the greatest good.

St. Augustine wrote that ‘from the bad use of free will, there originated the whole train of evil, which . . . conveys the human race from its depraved origin, as from a corrupt root’
He continued by saying that the only way to be freed from the consequences of original sin was ‘by the grace of God’. (City of God).

St. Augustine uses the analogy of weighing scales.
Our ‘captive free will’ is weighted in favour of sin, but grace can remove the weights.
Grace can liberate our free will and thus restore our ability to make the right decisions.