Replies

Am I correct in thinking that by a person's view of sin determining his belief about his relationship with God, you are referring to your rejection of original sin?

The Orthodox do not reject the original sin -- the sin committed by our ancestral parents. The Orthodox do not believe we inherit the sin of theirs, nor that we are responsible for their sin.

We are simply born with the consequences of their sin. Imagine a woman who is an alcoholic and drinks while she is pregnant. Her sin will poison the baby. The child, will be born brain-damaged from the effects of alcohol, yet the child is not guilty of having done any drinking of his or her own. Where is the guilt in that child?

St. Augustine and all of Western Christianity realize the damage done to our nature by our ancestral parents' sin -- but you attach shame and guilt to each human being born for their doing. That twisted logic is what the Orthodox Church rejects! We see ourselves as damaged and sick and in need of healing; not as some dirt that we should be ashamed of, for our damage is not of our own doing.

We are simply born with the consequences of their sin. Imagine a woman who is an alcoholic and drinks while she is pregnant. Her sin will poison the baby. The child, will be born brain-damaged from the effects of alcohol, yet the child is not guilty of having done any drinking of his or her own. Where is the guilt in that child?

Thanks -- that was puzzling me when you had stated that The Orthodox do not believe we inherit the sin of theirs, nor that we are responsible for their sin.

The Orthodox do not reject the original sin -- the sin committed by our ancestral parents. The Orthodox do not believe we inherit the sin of theirs, nor that we are responsible for their sin.

I know that you know that Adam sinned, I was referring to the inherited part.

We are simply born with the consequences of their sin. Imagine a woman who is an alcoholic and drinks while she is pregnant. Her sin will poison the baby. The child, will be born brain-damaged from the effects of alcohol, yet the child is not guilty of having done any drinking of his or her own. Where is the guilt in that child?

I'm not sure I understand the distinction. I don't think that I did anything wrong when I was born with the original sin. I didn't "earn" my sinful nature of my own accord. Adam did it first, and now I am subject to the consequences. If that were the end of the story I would think that is totally unfair. Thank God it isn't.

We've all heard of "crack babies" who are literally addicted to cocaine at birth. They inherited the addiction through no individual fault of their own. Yet, it is real and they will suffer the consequences. That's the bad news. The good news is they can be healed

you attach shame and guilt to each human being born for their doing

Did I or anyone respond to this?

There may be some popular sentiment like you describe, but the teaching is that original sin is not personal sin and is washed away at baptism. A baptized Christian does not bear the sin of Adam in any sense, although, just like the Orthodox believe, he struggles with the inherited consequences of that sin.