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"Behold, I was brought forth
in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalms
51:5)
Many people today deny the reality of original sin. Modern thinkers
claim that evolution disproves it. Some object to the idea of inheriting
sin from our parents, while others simply deny sin itself. Some Christians
claim that the Bible never teaches it and so on. However G.K. Chesterton
while still an Anglican wrote in his book, Othrodoxy, that original sin is
the most obvious of all Christian doctrines.
According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the doctrine of
original sin is in some sense the reverse side of the doctrine of
Redemption. In Genesis 2-3, God created man in His Image and established
our first parents - Adam and Eve - in His friendship. This friendship
included Sanctifying grace - the gift of holiness and eternal life. Adam,
however, freely chose to live apart from God by trusting instead in the
knowledge of good and evil - wanting to be like gods. Adam rejected God
through disobedience and lost this friendship for himself and us. This
loss is original sin.
"Now the serpent was more subtil than any
beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the
woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst
of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye
touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not
surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your
eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband
with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and
they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and
made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking
in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the
garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art
thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid,
because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that
thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee
that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou
gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the
LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the
woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God
said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed
above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly
shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I
will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the
woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in
sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy
husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because
thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the
tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it:
cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all
the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to
thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face
shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it
wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And
Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all
living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of
skins, and clothed them. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is
become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth
his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.
Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till
the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he
placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword
which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."
(Genesis 3)
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