Replies

Concerning original sin: please show me, aside from Catholic Tradition, why you believe in that? Two scriptures come into mind against the idea.

Ezekiel 18:19-20 (19) “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity?’ When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has observed all My statutes and done them, he shall surely live. 20“The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

Romans 7:8-9 (8) But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died;

The Ezekiel passage is pretty clear. I shows that none are guilty for what another has done. I do not bear guilt from Adam. I am still under the same sentence of human dying that He was because it lasted for all of time. But I will be resurrected and God will take care of that seeming little inequity. As to the Romans passage, it says that Paul was alive at one time APART from the law. In context it means that he was alive spiritually before Law came (seemingly morality in this case). When the law came Paul died spiritually./ If the death he was referring to was spiritual (which it had to be because he certainly wasn't talking about his physical death), then the life he had before was spiritual as well. Since all sin brings about death, and you cannot be said to be spiritually alive if you have even one sin outside of Christ. It means that Paul COULD NOT have received and been guilty of another's sin since he was alive APART from the Law AND apart from Christ. All infants are innocent and free from the taint of ANY sin, as was Paul.

If you believe the scriptures (which seem to be quite clear to me), then how could you say that if tradition teaches original sin that there is no contradiction?

I do not want to get into a Biblical debate with you or to dispute your view regarding 'original sin'.

As a Catholic I believe that my 'original sin' sometimes called the 'inclination to sin'' (passed on to all humans through the fall of Adam & Eve) was cleansed by Baptism and I was brought to a 'new life' in Christ Jesus.

Mary was exempted from this 'original sin' because she was chosen to carry the Son of God. We refer to that gift she received as her 'Immaculate Conception'.

Jesus is our Savior and the promised Redeemer who saves us from sin and death through his Sacrifice on the Cross in which he died for all our sins.

More from Romans.

Rom. 5:12 - sin came into the world through one man, Adam, and death came through this sin.

Rom. 5:14 - death reigned from Adam to Moses, born from Adam's original sin.

Rom. 5:16 - the judgment following one single trespass brought condemnation for all.

Rom. 5:19 - by one man's disobedience many were made sinners.