Original Sin III
In Part II of my series on Original Sin, I quoted some people and documents as an interpretive guide for a better understanding of Original Sin. I want to unpack those quotations here in this post.
The Catechism talks about the loss of the "grace of original holiness" or "original justice." This is important because it comprises about half of the doctrine of Original Sin. We begin by asking, what is a human? A rational animal is the classical answer. It is not in the essence or in the being of a human to have favor with God (nor disfavor). Pius V was clear on this, condemning the view that humans by their very nature deserves God's original glory. So, God bestows favor on man and this favor, because it is not an entitlement, is a type of grace. This grace, being the first grace man has ever received, is called commonly called Original Grace.
Half of the definition of Original Sin is the loss of original grace. A commonly told analogy concerning original grace goes as follows: God graces your dad with $10 million. You stand to inherit that money, simply because you are his offspring, the next generation. However, your dad messed up, and God withdrew his grace of $10 million. Because your dad lost it, you have nothing to inherit. You will not inherit the grace of God through generation.
The second half of the definition of Original Sin is that we inherit the state of sin from Adam. That is, we do not desire to seek God and human nature tends towards sin, a concept reinforced in Romans. The Catechism says original sin is a state and not an act, and Innocent emphasizes the distinction between the two, between original sin and actual sin ("act" being the root in "act" and "actual"). We inherit the original sin, but not the actual sin, and therefore, the two cause different outcomes in the afterlife, Original Sin causing one to lose the grace of God's presence (commonly called the Beatific Vision) but not eternal torment or Hell (there is some debate as to whether these two are one in the same. Fascinating question. I don't know.).
And that's what original sin is: the loss of Original Grace and inheritance of a wounded nature, which includes death. For some reason, one even I did not understand, the International Church of Christ denies this, and let me remind the reader it is for them I intend this series of posts to reach. So, let me deal with some possible objections.
There are a few verses in the Old Testament where the bible rhetorically asks why the sons shall suffer for the iniquity of the father (Ezekiel 18:19-20) and the ICOC will point to them and say this suggests original sin is false. There are a couple of possible responses.
First, so what? What follows? Let's say these passages do show that Original Sin is false. Does that mean Original Sin is false? Not quite. Because in the context of this conversation a case for Original Sin was given as well, the more modest claim is that the doctrine is in contention, but not that it is false. You may have an argument that Original Sin is false, but just because you presented it after I presented my case for it being true doesn't mean you've won.
Imagine the opposite happened. Imagine you presented a case that Original Sin was false, and then I presented an argument that it was true. Does it follow that because I contradicted you by going second that I came out on top? No. All it simply means is that we're understanding scripture differently, and we both can't be right. We just have to figure out who. At best we have a stalemate.
Secondly, there are other verses similar to these supposed anti Original Sin verses that suggest there is more to the picture. For example, in Deuteronomy 5:9-10, we see God telling some people that those will inherit punishment while others will inherit love. When you take into consideration verses like Leviticus 26:39 and Exodus 34:6-7, we see God can choose what you inherit, be it good or bad, but you will inherit nonetheless. Now imagine someone in that time said, "Well wait a minute God. Either we will inherit punishment or we will not. Which is it?" That would make no sense because the point isn't what we inherit, but the mere fact that people will inherent, period. Inheritance, whether it be good or bad, is always assumed. So, to point to verses that say we will not inherit the guilt or consequences of our fathers, granting it its full strength in this argument, still does nothing to the doctrine of Original Sin. What needs to be said is, inheritance is a principal no longer in play, and that is a concept found nowhere in scripture, not in the Old Testament, nor in the New (Matthew 5:5, 19:25, 25:34, Luke 10:25, 1Corinthians 6:9, 15:50, Ephesians 1:14, 5:5, Colossians 3:24, Hebrews 9:15, 1Peter 1:4, and Revelation 21:7).
Some complain that inheritance isn't fair, but they only complain when they inherit something bad or it's not in their favor. If, however, they talk about inheriting God's kingdom, they have no problem. But that's not fair either, if by fair they mean they don't deserve it. You can never earn grace, you never deserve grace. So what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. As Trent says about generation and regeneration, we inherit by generation of Adam Original Sin and a sin nature, and we inherit by regeneration of Christ sanctifying grace and a holiness.
The Catechism talks about the loss of the "grace of original holiness" or "original justice." This is important because it comprises about half of the doctrine of Original Sin. We begin by asking, what is a human? A rational animal is the classical answer. It is not in the essence or in the being of a human to have favor with God (nor disfavor). Pius V was clear on this, condemning the view that humans by their very nature deserves God's original glory. So, God bestows favor on man and this favor, because it is not an entitlement, is a type of grace. This grace, being the first grace man has ever received, is called commonly called Original Grace.
Half of the definition of Original Sin is the loss of original grace. A commonly told analogy concerning original grace goes as follows: God graces your dad with $10 million. You stand to inherit that money, simply because you are his offspring, the next generation. However, your dad messed up, and God withdrew his grace of $10 million. Because your dad lost it, you have nothing to inherit. You will not inherit the grace of God through generation.
The second half of the definition of Original Sin is that we inherit the state of sin from Adam. That is, we do not desire to seek God and human nature tends towards sin, a concept reinforced in Romans. The Catechism says original sin is a state and not an act, and Innocent emphasizes the distinction between the two, between original sin and actual sin ("act" being the root in "act" and "actual"). We inherit the original sin, but not the actual sin, and therefore, the two cause different outcomes in the afterlife, Original Sin causing one to lose the grace of God's presence (commonly called the Beatific Vision) but not eternal torment or Hell (there is some debate as to whether these two are one in the same. Fascinating question. I don't know.).
And that's what original sin is: the loss of Original Grace and inheritance of a wounded nature, which includes death. For some reason, one even I did not understand, the International Church of Christ denies this, and let me remind the reader it is for them I intend this series of posts to reach. So, let me deal with some possible objections.
There are a few verses in the Old Testament where the bible rhetorically asks why the sons shall suffer for the iniquity of the father (Ezekiel 18:19-20) and the ICOC will point to them and say this suggests original sin is false. There are a couple of possible responses.
First, so what? What follows? Let's say these passages do show that Original Sin is false. Does that mean Original Sin is false? Not quite. Because in the context of this conversation a case for Original Sin was given as well, the more modest claim is that the doctrine is in contention, but not that it is false. You may have an argument that Original Sin is false, but just because you presented it after I presented my case for it being true doesn't mean you've won.
Imagine the opposite happened. Imagine you presented a case that Original Sin was false, and then I presented an argument that it was true. Does it follow that because I contradicted you by going second that I came out on top? No. All it simply means is that we're understanding scripture differently, and we both can't be right. We just have to figure out who. At best we have a stalemate.
Secondly, there are other verses similar to these supposed anti Original Sin verses that suggest there is more to the picture. For example, in Deuteronomy 5:9-10, we see God telling some people that those will inherit punishment while others will inherit love. When you take into consideration verses like Leviticus 26:39 and Exodus 34:6-7, we see God can choose what you inherit, be it good or bad, but you will inherit nonetheless. Now imagine someone in that time said, "Well wait a minute God. Either we will inherit punishment or we will not. Which is it?" That would make no sense because the point isn't what we inherit, but the mere fact that people will inherent, period. Inheritance, whether it be good or bad, is always assumed. So, to point to verses that say we will not inherit the guilt or consequences of our fathers, granting it its full strength in this argument, still does nothing to the doctrine of Original Sin. What needs to be said is, inheritance is a principal no longer in play, and that is a concept found nowhere in scripture, not in the Old Testament, nor in the New (Matthew 5:5, 19:25, 25:34, Luke 10:25, 1Corinthians 6:9, 15:50, Ephesians 1:14, 5:5, Colossians 3:24, Hebrews 9:15, 1Peter 1:4, and Revelation 21:7).
Some complain that inheritance isn't fair, but they only complain when they inherit something bad or it's not in their favor. If, however, they talk about inheriting God's kingdom, they have no problem. But that's not fair either, if by fair they mean they don't deserve it. You can never earn grace, you never deserve grace. So what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. As Trent says about generation and regeneration, we inherit by generation of Adam Original Sin and a sin nature, and we inherit by regeneration of Christ sanctifying grace and a holiness.
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