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Firstly, I want to start with a disclaimer. This is a short piece. But this topic could easily be the subject of a long essay or even a book, so I’ll just concentrate on what I think are some key points. Western culture is often seen as arising with the ancient Greeks, with Socrates, Plato and the others who gave us philosophy, geometry and democracy. Move forward and we reach the end of paganism and the beginning of organised religion. Christianity gave us original sin. This concept didn’t come from Jesus, although some Christians believe it originated in the Garden...

There are two very important questions we all should be asking: 1. Why are things the way they are in this world? 2. How do we fix it? The world is wearing themselves out trying to figure out the second question, but they don't care too much to ask themselves the first question. But we'll never know the answer to the second question until we can find the answer to the first question.

This is a delicate question, as it exposes one of the fundamental differences between the Christian outlook and the Jewish one. As far as I understand the Christian concept, it runs something like this: Ever since the expulsion of the first man and woman from Eden, the world has been “fallen” and all subsequent human beings have been born inherently sinful, guilty from the moment of birth as a result of the first man’s disobedience of G-d’s commandment not to eat of the ‘Etz haDa‘ath Tov vaRa -- usually translated “the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” The...

A sexually explicit video of a high school girl in La Porte, Indiana was posted this past week on Facebook Live and other social media. Authorities suspect the underage girl was coerced into making the video in response to a “sextortion” threat. This is but the latest shocking example of social media’s role in coarsening our culture. It no longer is enough for the unredeemed to commit unspeakable acts; they also feel compelled – demonically so – to memorialize their grave sins against God on Facebook Live, YouTube, Periscope, LiveMe.com and other such online platforms. That includes Derek Medina, a...

Why is Original Sin Called the “Sin of Adam”? Msgr. Charles Pope • July 21, 2016 • Original sin is that first sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, committed when they ate the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 3:1-7). And while it clearly involved both of them, Scripture and Tradition refer to it formally as the “Sin of Adam” or “Adam’s Sin,” not the “Sin of Adam and Eve.” It is also described as coming to us “through one man,” not “through a man and a woman.”...

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What is at the Core of Original Sin? Msgr. Charles Pope • September 3, 2015 • Sometimes Original Sin gets simplified into the eating of an apple. But the core of the apple is not the “core” I speak of in the title. Actually an apple is not mentioned. It is fruit surely but what fruit we do not know. But what’s the big deal about eating an apple or piece of fruit? OK, maybe they shouldn’t have eaten it. But really, did an apple lead to all the pain and grief we experience today?As you may have guessed, No,...

[ Last | Latest Posts | Latest Articles | Self Search | Add Bookmark | Post | Abuse | Help! ] Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. Original Sin Culture/Society Editorial Keywords: CULTURE, LIBERALISM, POLITICS, DECEPTIONS, POWER, CORRUPTION Source: The Laissez Faire City Times Published: Dec. 28, 1998 Author: ACE Posted on 08/19/2001 11:27:40 PDT by Coyote Original Sin by ACE Few things...

Shortly after the Reformation began, in the first few years after Martin Luther posted the Ninety-Five Theses on the church door at Wittenberg, he issued some short booklets on a variety of subjects. One of the most provocative was titled The Babylonian Captivity of the Church. In this book Luther was looking back to that period of Old Testament history when Jerusalem was destroyed by the invading armies of Babylon and the elite of the people were carried off into captivity. Luther in the sixteenth century took the image of the historic Babylonian captivity and reapplied it to his era...

December 8th is the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.It celebrates an important point of Catholic teaching, and in most years it is a holy day of obligation.Here are 8 things you need to know about the teaching and the way we celebrate it. 1. Who does the Immaculate Conception refer to? There’s a popular idea that it refers to Jesus’ conception by the Virgin Mary.It doesn’t.Instead, it refers to the special way in which the Virgin Mary herself was conceived.This conception was not virginal. (That is, she had a human father as well as a human mother.) But it was special...

In today’s Gospel, Jesus, the Light of the World, brings light to a man born blind. If you are prepared to accept it, you are the man born blind, for all of us were born blind and in darkness. It was our baptism alone, and the faith it gave, which has rendered us able to see, and, by stages, to come more fully into the light. The man in today’s Gospel shows forth the stages of the Christian walk, out of darkness, and into the beautiful light of Christ. Let’s take a moment and observe these stages evident in this...

IRELAND: Anglican Canon Taken to Task over Doctrine of Original Sin "Clergy have an obligation to hold and teach those things they've taken an oath to do" A leading Anglican cleric in the Church of Ireland who questioned the Doctrine of Original Sin has gotten a push back by fellow Irish clergymen who say he has an obligation to uphold the church's teaching on the subject and cannot plead "further enlightenment" when the church's Constitution and 39 Articles forbid it. In his column Rehabilitating Eve in the March 7 issue of the Church of Ireland Gazette, the Rev. Stephen Neill...

Conservative student group Turning Point USA caused a stir last week by posting pages online from a textbook used at the University of South Carolina. The book calls Ronald Reagan “sexist” and says conservatives “take a basically pessimistic view of human nature” — one in which “people are conceived of as being corrupt.” Several avowed conservatives balked not just at the negative portrayal of Reagan but also at the idea that the conservative persuasion contains a measure of pessimism. On this point, the textbook is right and they are wrong. Russell Kirk was the man credited by William F. Buckley...

In yesterday’s blog post, I sought to explore the details Original Sin and to convey that there are subtleties and stages to the sin that have something to teach us. The sin was more than eating a piece of fruit, there were things that led up to it, both externally and internally, which the text reveals.In yesterday’s post I also mentioned that it was worth exploring how the sacred text speaks of the Sin of Adam, and differentiates it to some extent from the sin that Eve commits. In fact, Original Sin, biblically, is properly denoted as the sin of...

Many understandings of Original Sin, the sin committed by Adam and Eve tend to describe the sin as the eating of a forbidden fruit. While this description is not inaccurate, it is incomplete and many rightly wonder as to how and why all this trouble came from the mere eating of a piece of fruit.It may be helpful therefore to consider the Sin of Adam more richly. While the eating of the fruit is the external act, like any human act, it proceeds from the heart and admits of some complexity or stages.Perhaps a quote from the Book of James...

What is it that really holds us in bondage? What is it that is truly the source of our problem, our sins, our selfishness, our anger, our lust and pride? Original Sin? Yes but where does the wound of sin really set up shop in us and stay open for business? What does it tap into for its strength? Scripture has an interesting answer to this question: Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free...

There’s an odd backwards moral reasoning to which our modern age seems particularly susceptible. Surely you’ve heard it: Y does X. Y is a basically good person. Therefore, X must be okay. You hear it from all sides of the cultural divide. “Joe and Fred are married. They’re good people. How can you say that that kind of relationship is wrong?” “Cindy does that. She’s a good person. So how can that be racist?” Think back a bit, and you’ll see that a huge number of the casually-made moral arguments one hears these days boil down to this. There are...

As Christians continue to process the ramifications of the Supreme Court’s supreme arrogance on the same sex mirage issue, one of the things we must continue to remember to do is review the basics. This of course will include constantly reviewing what the Scriptures explicitly teach on the matter of same sex sexual activity, but it is also important for us to go a layer beneath all that. We also need to keep reviewing what the Bible teaches about the nature of man’s nature, and the nature of man’s choices. A hidden driver in a lot of what is going...

This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth: And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred...

REMEMBERING SANDY HOOK Twas' 11 days before Christmas, around 9:38 when 20 beautiful children stormed through heaven's gate. Their smiles were contagious, their laughter filled the air. They could hardly believe all the beauty they saw there. They were filled with such joy, they didn't know what to say. They remembered nothing of what had happened earlier that day. "Where are we?" asked a little girl, as quiet as a mouse. "This is heaven." declared a small boy. "We're spending Christmas at God's house." When what to their wondering eyes did appear, but Jesus, their Savior, the children gathered near....