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I meant to ping you on post 7,783. No doubt the Catholic position on original sin has been dealt with many times on this thread, but a repetition would be helpful. Sometimes you have to hear something many times before you are able to listen to it.

Very well. I hope this "tractette" will be of help. As you can see, some items regarding original sin have already been declared dogmatic, but others have not.

Original sin is that transgression of Adam against the command of God. Through sin, he lost sanctifying grace and provoked the anger of God. As a result, our first parents become subject to death and to the dominion of the devil. According to Gen 3:16, God imposed suffering and death as a punishment for sin. This is NOT a doctrine of St. Augustine, although he, as in many of his writings, is the master synthesizer of Catholic faith.

Original sin was directly denied by the Pelagians who taught three things:

1. Sin of Adam is transmitted to posterity not by inheritance but by imitation.

2. Death, suffering and concupiscence are not punishment for sin, but a natural condition of man.

3. The baptism of children is administered, not for the remission of sins, but as a sign of acceptance by the Church to enable men to reach the Kingdom of Heaven.

St. Augustine combated this Pelagian heresy by citing many earlier Church Fathers. It was condemned at the Synods of Mileve 416, Carthage, 418, Orange 529, and in later times at Trent, 1546.

Now, vs. the Pelagians:

1. “Adam’s sin is transmitted to his posterity, not by imitation, but by descent” (de Fide). Adam’s sin was not merely for himself alone. He not only transmitted to his posterity sin and death, but also the GUILT of SIN. Sin dwells in every human being and is removed by the merits of the Redemption of Jesus Christ, which normally is bestowed by the Sacrament of Baptism.

2. The classic proof is found at Romans 5:12 ”Therefore, in the manner which sin entered into the world by one man, and because of sin, death; and so death passed upon all men in the one in whom all sinned”. Death is distinguished from sin and is represented by the consequences of sin. Concupiscence is not meant, because sin, according to v 18, is removed by the grace of Christ’s Redemption, while evil desires (concupiscence) remains as experience shows.

The proof from Tradition: St. Augustine vs. the Pelagian Bishop Julian of Eclanum said “It is not I who have invented original sin, which the Catholic faith holds from of old, but you, who deny it, you are without doubt a new heretic”. In “Against Julianum, he quotes St. Irenaeus, St. Cyprian, Reticius of Autun, Olympius, St. Hilary, St. Ambrose, Innocent I, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, St. John Crysostom, St. Basil, and St. Jerome as witnesses of Catholic teaching. Many assertions of the Greek Fathers who insist on personal responsibility for sin are to be understood as being in opposition to Gnostic-Manichaean dualism and to Origenistic pre-existentialism (the former which St. Augustine also combated).

3. Irrefutable proof of the conviction of the primitive Church as to the reality of original sin is the old Christian practice of baptizing children “for the remission of sins” – St. Cyprian.

The above has been declared dogma by the Catholic Church at Trent, but also by her continuous tradition. However, there remains some discussion that has not been positively and dogmatically declared…

1. “Original sin consists of the deprivation of grace caused by the free act of sin committed by the head of the race.” This is not “de fide”, but “sentential communis” – or “common teaching”, a teaching generally accepted by theologians but NOT dogmatic.

2. The positive solution on the nature of original sin was noted at the Council of Trent – the death of the soul by the absence of grace (not being present) and supernatural life. In Baptism, this sanctifying grace, the requirement for the supernatural life, is infused into the baptized. It follows from this that original sin is a condition of being deprived of grace. This flows from the Pauline contrast between the sin proceeding from Adam and justice proceeding from Christ :

“For as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” Rom 5:19

Certainly, there is room for discussion with our Orthodox brothers, since the Council of Trent did not close the door to ALL nuances on the subject of original sin. As our previous discussions have shown, (on the definitions of Energy and uncreated grace), there is certainly room for analyzing our respective traditions on what exactly IS sanctifying grace.

Source is "Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma", Dr. Ott and The Sources of Catholic Dogma", Denzinger

Regards