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I have seen enough of Orthodoxy to know that the answers you are going to get are going to be complex if you dig deep enough and do actual reading of theologians.
Some Orthodox talk about the darkening of the mind and weakness of the will caused by Adam's sin. But I think because Orthodox tend to talk in therapeutic terms and the natural optimism most human beings have, there's a tendency to talk instead of corruption or fallenness as something that comes only externally. Which if you aren't careful, sounds not dissimilar to what Pelagius said, that we merely follow Adam's bad example, and that salvation is merely following Christ's example.
So I think Augustine was onto something. It's also noteworthy that as dark as Augustine's pessimism sounds, he was more compassionate and realistic about the human condition in some ways. For Augustine, there's a profound inter-being in this respect in his theology of sin that binds humanity together in one common predicament. So Augustine would rebuke a woman that wanted to take on a vow of celibacy within marriage, for instance, pointing out that she would be responsible for her husband's unfaithfulness.
I do know free-will soteriologies tend to have the most implications for Christian ethics- they can be moralistic, judgmental, even legalistic, especially in the hands of someone without serious ascetical experience of an introspective nature (and fasting does not really count here in this respect, I mean something more like mindfulness, especially of a self-critical nature). The theology of Charles Finney and other evangelicals that deny original sin or corruption in human nature are good examples.
Some Orthodox talk about the darkening of the mind and weakness of the will caused by Adam's sin. But I think because Orthodox tend to talk in therapeutic terms and the natural optimism most human beings have, there's a tendency to talk instead of corruption or fallenness as something that comes only externally. Which if you aren't careful, sounds not dissimilar to what Pelagius said, that we merely follow Adam's bad example, and that salvation is merely following Christ's example.
So I think Augustine was onto something. It's also noteworthy that as dark as Augustine's pessimism sounds, he was more compassionate and realistic about the human condition in some ways. For Augustine, there's a profound inter-being in this respect in his theology of sin that binds humanity together in one common predicament. So Augustine would rebuke a woman that wanted to take on a vow of celibacy within marriage, for instance, pointing out that she would be responsible for her husband's unfaithfulness.
I do know free-will soteriologies tend to have the most implications for Christian ethics- they can be moralistic, judgmental, even legalistic, especially in the hands of someone without serious ascetical experience of an introspective nature (and fasting does not really count here in this respect, I mean something more like mindfulness, especially of a self-critical nature). The theology of Charles Finney and other evangelicals that deny original sin or corruption in human nature are good examples.
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