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Original Sin or Original Sinfulness?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2024
Abstract
In the first of four articles, I argue against Augustine's interpretation of Genesis chapter 3 and his account of the origin of the first sin and its consequences. In the remaining three articles, I offer an alternative interpretation of Genesis 3 within the context of Genesis 1–11, attempting to do more justice than Augustine to the data of scripture and, in particular, placing a strong emphasis on the speech of the Lord God at the end of Genesis 3. My argument is supported by reference to Mary Douglas's Purity and Danger. I do not minimise the amount of sin in the world but account for it on the basis of what I call the basic human situation rather than on the basis of a single cataclysmic act. I present my account as grounded in a more accurate understanding of scripture than Augustine's and in a richer and deeper version of salvation history. One conclusion is that the default setting of humanity is not damnation but that Man still stands in need of salvation.
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- Original Articles
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- Copyright
- Copyright © The author 2009. Journal compilation © The Dominican Council 2009
References
1 Portalie, Eugene SJ, A Guide to the Thought of St Augustine (Henry Regnery Company 1960), 184Google Scholar.
2 Henceforth I shall refer to the City of God as CG and include references in brackets in the text, giving first the book number, then the number of the chapter, followed by the page reference; page references are from The Harvard University Press/William Heinemann edition of 1988, Vol 4, translated by Philip Levine. Other works by Augustine will be referred to by their Latin title in footnotes.
3 Scott, T. Kermit, Augustine: His Thought in Context (Paulist Press 1995), 226–7Google Scholar.
4 The Pelagians believed that Adam would have died as a consequence of being human but Augustine that Man would have been immortal had Adam not sinned.
5 De peccato originali, 47.
6 Barr, James, The Garden of Eden and the Hope of Immortality (SCM Press 1992)Google Scholar. See especially the whole of chapter 2, “The Naturalness of Death, and the path to Immortality.”
7 Ibid., 28.
8 Ibid., 27.
9 I am pleased to discover that these misgivings were also expressed by Joseph Ratzinger as far back as 1968. See the article “What is Original Sin?” by Gabriel Daly, The Tablet for 8 February 1997.
10 With typical precision and pithiness, Augustine's Latin reads: ‘pudenda texerunt, quae prius eadem membra erant, sed pudenda non erant.’ CG 13:13; 178.
11 Also De peccato originali, 33–4; 36.
12 bid., 37.
13 Ibid., 34.
14 Ratzinger, Joseph, In the Beginning: a Catholic Understanding of Creation and Fall (Eerdmans 1995), 72Google Scholar.
15 Lancel, Serge, Saint Augustine (SCM Press 1999), 363Google Scholar.
16 De peccato originali, 33–34; 39.
17 See the very late work, Contra Iulianum, V, 17.
18 De peccato originali, 21; De gestis Pelagii.
19 Eugene Portalie, op. cit., 212.
20 McFadyen, Alistair, Bound to Sin (Cambridge University Press 2000), 173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21 The Orthodox Church has never recognised Augustine as a ‘Doctor’ partly because they refuse to subscribe to his position on the inheritance of Adam's guilt. See David L Edwards, Christianity: the First Two Thousand Years (Cassell 1997), 168. Joseph Fitzmyer comments on how Augustine claimed that the doctrine of Original Sin was also part of the Greek patristic tradition but failed to cite any clear passage from that tradition to uphold his claim. See Fitzmyer, Joseph, Romans: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, The Anchor Bible (Geoffrey Chapman 1993), 409CrossRefGoogle Scholar.
22 On the subject of grace, Jansenius attempted to raise Augustine's authority above that of Councils or Pope or any other theologian. See Eugene Portalie, op cit, 322.
23 Haag, Herbert, Is Original Sin in the Scriptures? (Sheed and Ward 1969), 19Google Scholar.
24 James Barr, op. cit., ix.