Original Sin (1) Origin

Augustine of Hippo developed the doctrine of Original Sin in the fourth century AD with his claim that when Adam and Eve’s sinned, all humans sinned with them. Participation in original sin means that all humans:

• share in the guilt and shame of Adam and Eve;
• have completely lost their original righteousness;
• have a nature that is utterly corrupted;
• are incapable of doing good;
• are utterly disabled and opposed to all good.
• cannot please God in any way.
• lack spiritual discernment.

While not doubting the seriousness of human sin and its impact on human life, I have several problems with this doctrine.

Bad Translation of Romans
Augustine relied on a Latin translation of Paul’s letter to the Romans. He used Romans 5:12 to develop his doctrine of original sin, but the Latin translation was defective and misleading. His misconception has travelled through into most modern English translations. A literal translation of the Greek text follows

Therefore, just as through one man,
the Sin entered into the cosmos,
and the Death through the Sin,
so also Death spread to all humanity,
whereupon all sinned.

The first part of this verse is quite clear. One man called Adam opened the way for sin to penetrate the world. And his sin opened the way for death to enter the world.

The second half is trickier because it says that Death got hold of all humanity, and that caused all humans to sin. The problem is that this is the wrong way around for traditional teaching. So most English translations change the last line into “because all sinned”. Translators prefer this reading because it makes sin the cause of death, which fits with their theology, but it is a distortion of Paul’s words, and it does not explain how or why all people sinned. It just states that they did, whereas Paul is doing something deeper.

Paul says that after the first man sinned, Death spread to all humanity. This becomes clearer if we understand that in this part of Paul’s letter, Sin, Death and Wrath are strong spiritual powers (called world dominators). Chapters five to seven of his letter are easier to follow if we understand this reality. Adam and Eve were deceived by a tricky spirit called Satan the accuser. Although, they submitted to his authority and came into his captivity, he was quickly pushed aside by a more powerful world dominator called Death.

Paul says that Death controlled the world from Adam to Moses. He even reigned over those who did not sin like Adam (Rom 5:14). This is interesting because Death had control in many places where there has been no sin, ie Death got there before Sin, although he often worked with him. Death usually got there first.

Paul explains that Death gained control over all humans and opened the way for his mate called Sin to attack them and get control of them. This is how Sin got at all people. So the pattern in Romans 5:12 is correct. Death got control of all humanity, and following that, Sin spread his control to them all. Death gained control over them and he allowed Sin to attack everyone, and as a result of his pressure, everyone has sinned.

Paul confirms this view in 1 Corinthians 15:56.

The sting of the Death is the Sin, and the power of the Sin is the law.

Death is not the sting of sin. Sin is the sting of death. It is Death that initiates the sting. Sin is the consequence of the sting.

If we understand that Sin and Death are powerful spiritual beings, this verse makes more sense. Sin gained his power from the law. Once God had given the law that specified crimes (and punishments), Sin used the law as a basis to accuse people and demand that God punish them. This massively increased his power on earth.

Prior to the giving of the Law, Death was the dominant spiritual power on earth. He worked with Destruction to terrible stuff on earth in the season between the fall to the flood. He also empowered Sin to work on earth as his sting. It was another way of saying that Sin was his sidekick.