Do you believe in original sin?

[Ave Maria]

Hi everyone. Do the Eastern Orthodox believe in original sin? If so, how or in what way do you believe in it?

 

[MariaRegina]

Is this Holly? If so, I responded to your post under Ave Maria in OBOB. Please call your priest and speak with him.

Yes, Orthodox Christians usually refer to the first sin of Adam as the Original Sin, but refer to the effect on us as the Ancestral Curse.

 

[Ave Maria]

Is this Holly? If so, I responded to your post under Ave Maria in OBOB. Please call your priest and speak with him.

Yes, Orthodox Christians usually refer to the first sin of Adam as the Original Sin, but refer to the effect on us as the Ancestral Curse.

Yes, this is Holly. Also, do you believe that people inherit original sin or not?

 

[MariaRegina]

According to the Orthodox catechisms that I have read, we do not inherit Original Sin as that was the sin of Adam. We do suffer the consequences of Adam's great fall, but we call that the Ancestral Curse.

 

[Ave Maria]

According to the Orthodox catechisms that I have read, we do not inherit Original Sin as that was the sin of Adam. We do suffer the consequences of Adam's great fall, but we call that the Ancestral Curse.

Ah ok. Thanks Maria.

 

[MariaRegina]

You are welcome.

 

[Gnostophorrion]

I echo what MariaRegina has said in reply to the specific question(s). The Eastern Orthodox context ~ properly understood - does not accept the Augustinian idea (which has its basis in Catholicism) of "original sin".

. .

 

[Alizera]

I echo what MariaRegina has said in reply to the specific question(s). The Eastern Orthodox context ~ properly understood - does not accept the Augustinian idea (which has its basis in Catholicism) of "original sin".

. .

Could you explain the differences between the two?

 

[E.C.]

Could you explain the differences between the two?

We inherit the effects of Adam's Sin; things like death, sinning in general, etc; but we do not inherit the guilt.

Roman Catholics and subsequently 99.9% of Western Christianity believes we inherit the guilt from Adam's sin.

 

[Tzaousios]

We inherit the effects of Adam's Sin; things like death, sinning in general, etc; but we do not inherit the guilt.

Roman Catholics and subsequently 99.9% of Western Christianity believes we inherit the guilt from Adam's sin.

I have had some Orthodox members at CF refuse to say that Adam's curse includes any real, deleterious effect on human nature. They give the impression that either they do not understand the theological and patristic position of the Orthodox Church on the matter or want to define themselves as absolutely the opposite of "Western Christianity." The distinction is then often lost in the melee.

I have said something to the effect that despite not inheriting original guilt, or "total depravity" as certain Protestants call it the effects of sin, in the Orthodox conception of the what happened to humans after the fall, both Scripture and the Greek patristic tradition recognize that human nature was thoroughly vitiated by Adam and Eve's fall. Logically, this extends to the entire human person, including the faculty of the will.

 

[Mary of Bethany]

And to the whole of creation as well.

One very important result of the Fall, according to the Fathers, is the darkening of our nous, & the scattering of our thoughts, so that we have lost our ability to see Christ (except among the Saints, who have been illumined after much struggle) and our thoughts are scattered and fractured among many distractions, instead of being in constant thought of God.

Mary

 

[Michael G]

Hi everyone. Do the Eastern Orthodox believe in original sin? If so, how or in what way do you believe in it?

Orthodox Christians do not believe in the concept of Original Sin, the way it is taught by the Western Church. We believe that Adam sinned and because of his sin mankind lost it's state of Grace with God. We do NOT believe that each child born inherits the mark of such sin on their soul from their parents, the way the non-Orthodox Churches have taught. We are born into a fallen state, but are not ourselves guilty of Adam's sin, nor do we in any way need to repent of it.

 

[Michael G]

I echo what MariaRegina has said in reply to the specific question(s). The Eastern Orthodox context ~ properly understood - does not accept the Augustinian idea (which has its basis in Catholicism) of "original sin".

. .

To say Augustine is based in Catholicism is wrong. To say the Catholic's view of sin is based on an errant reading of Augustine is correct. Augustine was not Roman Catholic. He is an Orthodox saint. Yes the Roman view of sin developed from their reading of Augustine, but the way you phrase it makes it sound as if Augustine was not Orthodox, and that he clearly was.

 

[MariaRegina]

I have had some Orthodox members at CF refuse to say that Adam's curse includes any real, deleterious effect on human nature. They give the impression that either they do not understand the theological and patristic position of the Orthodox Church on the matter or want to define themselves as absolutely the opposite of "Western Christianity." The distinction is then often lost in the melee.

I have said something to the effect that despite not inheriting original guilt, or "total depravity" as certain Protestants call it the effects of sin, in the Orthodox conception of the what happened to humans after the fall, both Scripture and the Greek patristic tradition recognize that human nature was thoroughly vitiated by Adam and Eve's fall. Logically, this extends to the entire human person, including the faculty of the will.

And to the whole of creation as well.

One very important result of the Fall, according to the Fathers, is the darkening of our nous, & the scattering of our thoughts, so that we have lost our ability to see Christ (except among the Saints, who have been illumined after much struggle) and our thoughts are scattered and fractured among many distractions, instead of being in constant thought of God.

Mary

Mary, that is a great response to Tzaousios, and it is so true. The darkening of the nous and worldly distractions makes repentance hard for us, and so we all struggle to live in the presence of God. When we fail to live in that All-Holy Presence, then we miss the mark, and fall into sin.