Original Sin in Ancient Jewish Thought

 A common claim among Christians who deny Original Sin is that the doctrine in some way originated with St. Augustine. St. Augustine lived between 354 and 430 AD. There are, however, texts that predate St. Augustine that do refer to the doctrine of Original Sin. For example, you have in Sirach 25:24, the following verse, "From a woman sin had its beginning, and because of her we all die." 

Sirach is considered canon by Catholics, but suppose for the sake of argument it is not. It would still be true that Jews at the time thought this, since Sirach was written around 180 BC. That's still 500 years before St. Augustine. What does this verse show? It shows that Eve's sin is the cause of our death. Does it mean just physical death? Looking at the context of this verse, which begins at 25:13, it is about the spiritual dangers of an evil woman. So it is more likely here that it speaks of spiritual death, if not physical as well. And to be caused by our original parents to be spiritually dead is what Original Sin teaches. 

Another source that both Catholics and Protestants would consider apocryphal is 4 Ezra, sometimes spelled Esdras. In 7:118, it reads, "O Adam, what have you done? For though it was you who sinned, the fall was not yours alone, but ours also who are your descendants." The scholarly consensus is that this was written around the end of the 1st century, which predates St. Augustine by about 250 years. Here we learn that some Jews thought that the fall of Adam is also our fall. It would seem implausible to suggest that the fall here means the consequences of Adam's sin, but not Adam's sin itself. No one really understands Adam's fall in that way. It would be an odd consequence to say that Adam's actions had consequences, but not guilt, as if Adam did nothing wrong. So Adam's wrongdoing is ours as well. 

Finally, in Psuedo-Philo, a name for an anonymous author, work the "Biblical Antiquities" 13:8, it is written, "[God said:] 'That man transgressed my ways and was persuaded by his wife; and she was deceived by the serpent. And death was ordained for the generations of men.'" The scholarly consensus regarding this work is that it was written in the mid first century to the mid second century. Taking the latest date for sake of argument, that is still about 200 years before St. Augustine. 

Of course, this is not surprising as Original Sin is taught broadly in Romans 5, and specifically in 5:19. These passages were brought to my attention by the book "Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary" by Dr. Brant Pitre. Good book. Go buy it.