Difference between revisions of "Talk:Original sin"

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(Ryan CLose's deletion)
(Ryan Close's deletion)
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I rolled back the recent revision because the argument was not clear with regard to "only Adam was personally responsible for his own sin" in Catholic teaching. It seems like an attempt to reassert a polemic, but is not well-enough rooted in actual RC teaching. — [[User:FrJohn|<b>FrJohn</b>]] ([http://www.orthodoxwiki.org/User_talk:FrJohn&action=edit&section=new talk])
 
I rolled back the recent revision because the argument was not clear with regard to "only Adam was personally responsible for his own sin" in Catholic teaching. It seems like an attempt to reassert a polemic, but is not well-enough rooted in actual RC teaching. — [[User:FrJohn|<b>FrJohn</b>]] ([http://www.orthodoxwiki.org/User_talk:FrJohn&action=edit&section=new talk])
  
== Ryan CLose's deletion ==
+
== Ryan Close's deletion ==
 
I am not in favor of these changes. Ryan seems to conflate what is in the current Catechism of the Catholic Church with what it has taught historically. I am not at all convinced that the article has historical error. --[[User:Fr Lev|Fr Lev]] ([[User talk:Fr Lev|talk]]) 15:59, March 30, 2018 (UTC)
 
I am not in favor of these changes. Ryan seems to conflate what is in the current Catechism of the Catholic Church with what it has taught historically. I am not at all convinced that the article has historical error. --[[User:Fr Lev|Fr Lev]] ([[User talk:Fr Lev|talk]]) 15:59, March 30, 2018 (UTC)
  
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--[[User:Fr Lev|Fr Lev]] ([[User talk:Fr Lev|talk]]) 16:13, March 30, 2018 (UTC)
 
--[[User:Fr Lev|Fr Lev]] ([[User talk:Fr Lev|talk]]) 16:13, March 30, 2018 (UTC)
  
From the Vatican's own translation of the decrees of the Council of Trent:
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From the Council of Trent V:
 
"5. If any one denies, that, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is conferred in baptism, '''the guilt of original sin is remitted'''; or even asserts that the whole of that which has the true and proper nature of sin is not taken away; but says that it is only rased, or not imputed; let him be anathema." I would ask that the slander against St John Maximovitch one removed. --[[User:Fr Lev|Fr Lev]] ([[User talk:Fr Lev|talk]]) 16:33, March 30, 2018 (UTC)
 
"5. If any one denies, that, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is conferred in baptism, '''the guilt of original sin is remitted'''; or even asserts that the whole of that which has the true and proper nature of sin is not taken away; but says that it is only rased, or not imputed; let him be anathema." I would ask that the slander against St John Maximovitch one removed. --[[User:Fr Lev|Fr Lev]] ([[User talk:Fr Lev|talk]]) 16:33, March 30, 2018 (UTC)

Revision as of 16:43, March 30, 2018

Name change proposal

I propose that we change the name of this article to "Controversy over the doctrine of original sin" and then create a new article on original sin. An article about original sin does not need to tell the reader all the things that original sin is not and be constantly in a defensive attitude. Just plainly state what the doctrine is, some of the theological justification behind it, quote and and reference tertiary sources. If I knew nothing about Christianity, after reading this article I would come away believing that original sin is considered a heretical doctrine by Orthodox Churches and is being covered by orthodoxxwiki as it covers other heresies such as Arianism or Palegianism. Look at the first sentence describing the doctrine, it contains the word "not" to inform the reader what the doctrine is not. And what the doctrine is "not" is a red hearing, as I have stated elsewhere. No one, except some extreme Calvinists, believes that original sin is defined as "inherited guilt." As it is, this article is so deeply flawed, it should probably be deleted and be replaced by one by a competent scholar. It fails to meet even the basic definition of an encyclopedia article and instead comes across as the ramblings and ravings of a conspiracy theorist.

Then there is the problem with the last section, which is basically a series of extended quotes from a Vatican document on the Limbo of the Infants that the previous editor claims sheds light on historical development concerning original sin. Do I even need to say that orthodoxwiki is not a storehouse for quotes from the Vatican website. And the conclusions that the editor leaves at the end of the quotes constitute original research and speculation.

Is this all Orthodoxy has to offer? When people want to know what Orthodox Christian believe and how we present ourselves to the world, if they come here they will get some of the most poorly written and rambling content which contains less information than confusion, nitpicking, falsehood, and incompetence. Just give a simple explication of the facts in an encyclopedic style.

--Ryan Close (talk) 15:10, March 30, 2018 (UTC)

Terms

Hello, "Original Sin" has its origins in Augustine who bases his theology on a bad latin translation of Romans 5:12 and who the Catholic church have based a lot of their theology; the great fathers of the church in Augustine's time would call this the "Ancestoral Sin" and of course there are major theological differences between the two.

This OW article does not really differentiate this point within the first paragraph - which allows for a misconception that the term "Original Sin" is an Orthodox term when it clearly is not ...

For someone simple, like myself, this article does not clearly differentiate its Orthodox basis from its non-Orthodox basis ... I hope somoene who is fluent in writing could create a new article called "Ancestoral Sin" to which a clearly Orthodox definition is provided and this article is re-worded to clearly state the Catholic definition and that the term is not Orthodox.

I hope a simple split like this could save a lot of us "simpler" readers the confusion and the necessasity to debate the difference between the body of ONE article? :-)

Vasiliki 01:52, November 28, 2008 (UTC)

Dear Vasiliki, despite your claims to simplicity, you seem to want to complicate the simple biblical and patristic doctrine of original sin with totally new term like "ancestral sin". You want the article to "differentiate" a fine point of doctrine that happens to be your hobby horse. Just leave the Orthodox Faith alone. We don't need to "fix" it by renovating everything to match the insane rantings of Fr John Romanedies.
Behold the Orthodox Christian doctrine of original sin:
For behold I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother conceive me. (Psalm 50:7)
Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned."
[Jesus did] away with that disobedience of man which had taken place at the beginning by the occasion of a tree...rectifying that disobedience which had occurred by reason of a tree...the disobedience which had been incurred towards our Maker…[for] it was by these things that we disobeyed God, and did not give credit to His word...indeed we had offended [God] in the first Adam, when he did not perform His commandment. … For we were debtors to none other but to Him whose commandment we had transgressed at the beginning.” (Saint Irenaeus. Against Heresies. Book 5 Chapter 16 Paragraph 3)
When Adam had transgressed, his sin reached unto all men, so [that], when the Lord had become man and had overthrown the Serpent, [His] great strength…[could] extend through all men, so that each of us may say, “For we are not ignorant of his devices.” (Saint Athanasius. Against the Arians. Book I Chapter 51)
Little given, much gotten; by the donation of food the original sin is discharged. Just as Adam transmitted the sin by his wicked eating, we destroy that treacherous food when we cure the need and hunger. (Saint Basil of Caesarea. Eulogies & Sermons, Famine & Drought 8:7)
Our forefather Adam was cast out [of Paradise] for disobedience, and exchanged a Paradise bringing forth wondrous fruits of its own accord for the ground which bringeth forth thorns. What then? some one will say. We have been beguiled and are lost. Is there then no salvation left? We have fallen: Is it not possible to rise again? We have been blinded: May we not recover our sight? We have become crippled: Can we never walk upright? In a word, we are dead: May we not rise again? He that woke Lazarus who was four days dead and already stank, shall He not, O man, much more easily raise thee who art alive? He who shed His precious blood for us, shall Himself deliver us from sin. (Saint Cyril of Jerusalem. Catechetical Lectures 2:4-5)
We were all without exception...partakers of the same Adam, and were led astray by the serpent and slain by sin, and are saved by the heavenly Adam and brought back by the tree of shame to the tree of life from whence we had fallen. (Saint Gregory Nazianzen. Against the Arians 33:9)
Let the word of Christ persuade you of this, also, as He says that no one can enter into the kingdom of heaven unless he is born again of water and the Spirit. Through Him the stains of the first birth are cleansed away, through which we are conceived in iniquity and in sins have our mothers brought us forth. (Saint Gregory Nazianzen. Oratio in natalem Christi.)
When Adam sinned that great sin, and condemned all the human race in common, he paid the penalties in grief. (Saint John Chrysostom. Letter to Olympia)
It is clear that it is not the sin which comes from transgression of the law, but that sin which comes from the disobedience of Adam, which has defiled all. (Saint John ChrysostomHomily on Romans 10)

We don't need a new doctrine, we don't need to fix Orthodoxy, we don't need "differentiate" or over complicate it. This is the truth revealed by God in Divine Revelation, preserved by the Church, preached by the Apostles and Hierarchs, and died for by the martyrs. If you prefer the "religion" of Fr Romanedies that he made up concerning religion as a neurological disease, balancing your blood and spinal fluid, and how he rejected the Bible as the revealed Word of God but only witness to revelation, then fine. But don't try to change the Faith once delivered to the Saints.

Ryan Close (talk)

Original Guilt?

The current Orthodoxwiki article on Original Sin says, "Orthodox Christians have usually understood Roman Catholicism as professing St. Augustine's teaching that everyone bears not only the consequence, but also the guilt, of Adam's sin. This teaching appears to have been confirmed by multiple councils, the first of them being the Council of Orange in 529." Just as a matter of fact, the cannons of the council, in the english translation on line, do not even contain the word guilt. So there is that. The Council of Orange is an Orthodox council and it defends the Christian Faith undefiled against heresy. Christians would do good to carefully read and meditate on the contents of this council and the Scripture the holy fathers reference before presuming to stand in judgement of our saints and holy hierarchs.

If you have been been around Orthodoxy for a while you have heard something like this: Orthodoxy doesn't believe in Original Sin, We believe in Ancestral Sin. This position is usually a simplified version of Fr John Romanides’ book "The Ancestral Sin." These theories usually contain some of the following features:

Orthodoxy doesn’t believe in inherited guilt like the West does.
Orthodoxy teaches that only the effects of the first sin were inherited (death not sin).
There was an important translation issue from the Greek into early Latin texts of Romans 5:12.
St Augustine was misled by the above translation issue to invent a notion of inherited sin, including inherited guilt. https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/orthodoxyandheterodoxy/2013/08/22/original-sin-and-orthodoxy-reflections-on-carthage/

Lets just look at the first. I agree that Orthodoxy doesn't believe in inherited guilt. I don't believe the last four words: "like the West does." Whether Saint Augustine taught this, I don't know, but the Augustinian doctrine was never taught by the Roman Catholic Church with the full authority of either the Extraordinary or the Ordinary Magisterium. Full Stop. There was always a distinction between original sin as a "state of being" and "actual sin" being the sins each person actually commits themselves. For example, the Catechism of the Council of Trent said, “They are to be taught, in the first place, that such is the admirable efficacy of this Sacrament that it remits original sin and actual guilt, however unthinkable its enormity may seem.” This demonstrates a Western distinction between "original sin" and "actual guilt" at a time when Rome was allegedly teaching "inherited guilt" doctrine.

And if you read the Catechism of the Catholic Church it is clear that they still make this distinction very clearly:

By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state. It is a sin which will be transmitted by propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of a human nature deprived of original holiness and justice. And that is why original sin is called "sin" only in an analogical sense: it is a sin "contracted" and not "committed" - a state and not an act. . . Although it is proper to each individual, original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin - an inclination to evil that is called concupiscence".

This error that falsely accuses the Roman Catholic Church of teaching the doctrine of "inherited guilt" is so widespread it is easy to feel despair over the damage it has done to Holy Orthodoxy. First of all, nothing good comes of spreading factually false claims, especially when they are so easy to debunk. Secondly, the integrity of Orthodoxy is maligned and broken when it becomes evident that Orthodox Christians accept rumors and conspiracy theories so uncritically. Third, the wholesale renovation of the Faith Once Delivered to the Saints in the name of anti-Western polemic and uncritical obsession with celebrity priests like Fr John Romanedies is creating a new religion that looks very different from the Orthodox Catholic Christian Faith of Our Fathers that has been preserved in the Church for 2000 years by the witness of the Holy Hierarchs and the Blood of the Martyrs!

Summary: The Orthodox Church does not believe in "inherited guilt", but neither does the Roman Catholic Church, and it never has. We should not use anti-western hysteria drive us into rejection of the One True Faith.

--Ryan Close (talk) 15:11, March 30, 2018 (UTC)

difference

Affirm that there is a difference between the orthodox conception of orthodox sin and the roman catholic one, wrongly understood as the men would inherit the Adam's guilty, is a form of modernism heresy. There is no difference, as Roman Catholic Catecism confirm:

" 400 The harmony in which they had found themselves, thanks to original justice, is now destroyed: the control of the soul's spiritual faculties over the body is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination.282 Harmony with creation is broken: visible creation has become alien and hostile to man.283 Because of man, creation is now subject "to its bondage to decay".284 Finally, the consequence explicitly foretold for this disobedience will come true: man will "return to the ground",285 for out of it he was taken. Death makes its entrance into human history. (...)

By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state.294 It is a sin which will be transmitted by propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of a human nature deprived of original holiness and justice. And that is why original sin is called "sin" only in an analogical sense: it is a sin "contracted" and not "committed" - a state and not an act.

405 Although it is proper to each individual,295 original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin - an inclination to evil that is called concupiscence". Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ's grace, erases original sin and turns a man back towards God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle."

Having been exposed that, the wrong affirmation of the article was deleted.

--Philippe Gebara 15:56, February 13, 2007 (PST)Philippe Gebara

It would seem better instead to correct, rather than to delete. As the article stands now, the paragraph regarding the definition of RC doctrine comes out of nowhere. In any event, many Orthodox scholars are of the opinion that the RC and Protestant teachings differ from the Orthodox one, and since original sin is such a widely known theological concept among English-speakers, it would seem appropriate to include such information in the article rather than simply deleting it. Perhaps some of the many links included might be used as a basis for a correction and expansion of the article. As such, I've reverted the deletion and added the expert tag. —Fr. Andrew talk contribs 07:24, February 14, 2007 (PST)


Dear Father Andrew, but I corrected... deleting and posting the Catholic Cathecism's passage! By the way, do you want to know more about the Roman Catholic Church than the Cathecism of the Catholic Church itself? It is more than clear that RC original sin's view is wrong in the article. Thank you! --Philippe Gebara 13:22, May 8, 2007 (PDT)Philippe Gebara

I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to step in here. Actually, I agree with Philippe -- it's better to delete misleading information like this than have it linger, though I agree with Fr. Andrew that this really needs to be expanded. This article, BTW, was recently linked on Yahoo Answers. — FrJohn (talk) 17:42, September 16, 2007 (PDT)

Rollback

I rolled back the recent revision because the argument was not clear with regard to "only Adam was personally responsible for his own sin" in Catholic teaching. It seems like an attempt to reassert a polemic, but is not well-enough rooted in actual RC teaching. — FrJohn (talk)

Ryan Close's deletion

I am not in favor of these changes. Ryan seems to conflate what is in the current Catechism of the Catholic Church with what it has taught historically. I am not at all convinced that the article has historical error. --Fr Lev (talk) 15:59, March 30, 2018 (UTC)

From the Baltimore Catechism: Q. 265. What is the sin called which we inherit from our first parents? A. The sin which we inherit from our first parents is called original sin. Q. 266. Why is this sin called original? A. This sin is called original because it comes down to us from our first parents, and we are brought into the world with its guilt on our soul. Q. 267. Does this corruption of our nature remain in us after original sin is forgiven? A. This corruption of our nature and other punishments remain in us after original sin is forgiven. --Fr Lev (talk) 16:13, March 30, 2018 (UTC)

From the Council of Trent V: "5. If any one denies, that, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is conferred in baptism, the guilt of original sin is remitted; or even asserts that the whole of that which has the true and proper nature of sin is not taken away; but says that it is only rased, or not imputed; let him be anathema." I would ask that the slander against St John Maximovitch one removed. --Fr Lev (talk) 16:33, March 30, 2018 (UTC)