Original Sin

Original sin is the state of privation of sanctifying grace into which every man comes into the world. The newborn receives it in heritage from his birth: it is the consequence, transmitted to all humanity, of the fault of the origins.

The fault of the origins

In the beginning, God had raised man above his own nature, filling him with sanctifying grace and the preternatural gifts: this is original justice, the state of holiness and harmony in which he was created. By turning away from God to follow his own will, Adam lost this gift for himself and for all his descendants. This first refusal is the fault of the origins, recounted in the book of Genesis.

Transmitted to all humanity

What one man lost, all lost with him, for all humanity holds its nature from him: “By one man sin entered the world, and through sin death, and death passed upon all men.” Romans 5:12 This state reaches man from his conception: “Behold, I was born in guilt, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:7

Its effects

The loss of original justice leaves man with a wounded nature. His passions escape the governance of reason: this is concupiscence, the inclination to evil. Suffering and death enter his condition. And above all, he is born deprived of sanctifying grace: this is the heart of original sin, from which all the rest follows. This concupiscence remains even after forgiveness, as a weakness to be fought, without being itself a sin.

Erased by Christ

Christ, the new Adam, came to restore what the first had lost: “As by the disobedience of one many were made sinners, by the obedience of one many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:19 Baptism erases original sin and restores sanctifying grace to the soul. The preternatural gifts, however, remain lost: concupiscence, suffering and death remain in the life of the baptised, now taken up in the grace of Christ. Two beings, however, never knew original sin: Christ, by his nature as the Son of God made man, and Mary, preserved by a unique privilege in view of the merits of her Son. The new Adam and the new Eve repair what the first couple had lost.