Original sin

==Denominational views==
[[File:B Escorial 18.jpg|upright=0.6|thumb|right|Illuminated parchment, Spain, {{circa|950–955 AD}}, depicting the Fall of Man, cause of original sin]]

===Roman Catholicism===
The ''[[Catechism of the Catholic Church]]'' says:

{{Blockquote|By his sin Adam, as the first man, lost the [[original holiness]] he had received from God, not only for himself but for all humans.

Adam and Eve transmitted to their descendants human nature wounded by their own first sin and hence deprived of original holiness and justice; this deprivation is called "original sin".

As a result of original sin, human nature is weakened in its powers, subject to ignorance, suffering and the domination of death, and inclined to sin (this inclination is called "concupiscence").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1C.HTM |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText |website=Vatican.va |access-date=24 January 2017}}</ref>}}

[[Anselm of Canterbury]] wrote: "The sin of Adam was one thing but the sin of children at their birth is quite another, the former was the cause, the latter is the effect."<ref>De conceptu virginali, xxvi</ref> In a child original sin is distinct from the fault of Adam, it is one of its effects. The effects of Adam's sin according to the Catholic Encyclopedia are:

# Death and suffering: "One man has transmitted to the whole human race not only the death of the body, which is the punishment of sin, but even sin itself, which is the death of the soul."
# Concupiscence or inclination to sin: baptism erases original sin but the inclination to sin remains.
# The absence of sanctifying grace in the new-born child is also an effect of the first sin, for Adam, having received holiness and justice from God, lost it not only for himself but also for humanity. Baptism confers original sanctifying grace, lost through the Adam's sin, thus eliminating original sin and any personal sin.{{sfn|Harent|1911}}

The Catholic Church teaches that every human person born on earth is made in the image of God.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1B.HTM |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church – IntraText |website=Vatican.va |access-date=24 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ignatius.com/Products/MIG-P/man-the-image-of-god.aspx |title=Man, The Image of God Paperback – Christoph Cardinal Schoenborn : Ignatius Press |website=Ignatius.com |access-date=24 January 2017 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231629/http://www.ignatius.com/Products/MIG-P/man-the-image-of-god.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> Within man "is both the powerful surge toward the good because we are made in the image of God, and the darker impulses toward evil because of the effects of Original Sin".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/morality/ |title=Morality |website=Usccb.org |date=14 August 2015 |access-date=24 January 2017}}</ref> Furthermore, it explicitly denies that guilt is inherited from anyone, maintaining that instead humanity inherits its own fallen nature. In this it differs from the Calvinist position that each person actually inherits Adam's guilt, and teaches instead that "original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's descendants{{nbsp}}[...] but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man".<ref name="vatican.va"/>

The Catholic Church has always held baptism to be for the remission of sins including the original sin, and, as mentioned in ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', 403,<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1C.HTM ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', 403]</ref> infants too have traditionally been baptized, though not held guilty of any actual personal sin. The sin that through baptism is remitted for them could only be original sin. Baptism confers original sanctifying grace that erases original sin and any actual personal sin. The first comprehensive theological explanation of this practice of baptizing infants, guilty of no actual personal sin, was given by Augustine of Hippo, not all of whose ideas on original sin have been adopted by the Catholic Church – the church has condemned the interpretation of some of his ideas by certain leaders{{who|reason=Which ideas and which leaders?|date=November 2022}} of the [[Protestant Reformation]].

The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' explains that in "yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a ''personal sin'', but this sin affected ''the human nature'' that they would then transmit in a ''fallen state.''{{nbsp}}[...] Original sin is called "sin" only in an analogical sense: it is a sin 'contracted' and not 'committed' – a state and not an act" (''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', 404).<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1C.HTM ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', 404]</ref> This "state of deprivation of the original holiness and justice{{nbsp}}[...] transmitted to the descendants of Adam along with human nature" (''Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church'', 76)<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/compendium_ccc/documents/archive_2005_compendium-ccc_en.html#The%20Profession%20of%20the%20Christian%20Faith ''Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church'', 76]</ref> involves no personal responsibility or personal guilt on their part (cf. ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', 405). Personal responsibility and guilt were Adam's, who because of his sin, was unable to pass on to his descendants a human nature with the holiness with which it would otherwise have been endowed, in this way implicating them in his sin. The doctrine of original sin thus does not impute the sin of the father to his children, but merely states that they inherit from him a "human nature deprived of original holiness and justice", which is "transmitted by propagation to all mankind".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Catechism of the Catholic Church - IntraText, 404|url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1C.HTM|website=www.vatican.va|access-date=2020-05-06}}</ref>

In the theology of the [[Catholic Church]], original sin is the absence of original holiness and justice into which humans are born, distinct from the [[actual sin]]s that a person commits. The absence of sanctifying grace or holiness in the new-born child is an effect of the first sin, for Adam, having received holiness and justice from God, lost it not only for himself but also for humanity.{{sfn|Harent|1911}} This teaching explicitly states that "original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's descendants".<ref name="vatican.va" /> In other words, human beings do not bear any "original guilt" from Adam's particular sin, which is his alone. The prevailing view, also held in Eastern Orthodoxy, is that human beings bear no guilt for the sin of Adam. The Catholic Church teaches: "By our first parents' sin, the devil has acquired a certain domination over man, even though man remains free."<ref>[https://www.vatican.va/archive/catechism/p1s2c1p7.htm#III Item 407] in section 1.2.1.7.</ref>

The Catholic doctrine of the [[Immaculate Conception]] of [[Mary, the mother of Jesus|Mary]] is that Mary was conceived free from original sin: "the most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin".<ref>Pius IX, ''Ineffabilis Deus'' (1854) quoted in ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', 491 [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p122a3p2.htm#490]</ref> The doctrine sees her as an exception to the general rule that human beings are not immune from the reality of original sin.

As Mary was conceived without original sin, this statement opens to the fourth Marian dogma of the [[Assumption of Mary#catholic teaching|Assumption of Mary to Heaven]] in body and soul, according to the unchangeable dogmatic definition publicly proclaimed by Pope [[Pius XII]]. The Assumption to Heaven, with no corruption of the body, was made possible by Mary's being born without the original sin, while, according to [[Aquinas]], other persons need to wait for the [[universal resurrection|final resurrection of the flesh]] in order to get the sanctification of the whole human being.<ref>Saint [[Thomas Aquinas]], ''Summa Theologiae'', III, q. 27. a. 2 referenced in {{cite book | author = Norberto Del Prado | url = https://archive.org/details/divusthomasetbul00norb/page/n19 | title = Divus Thomas et bulla dogmatica "Ineffabilis Deus" | page = xv | language = la | year = 1919 | via = [[Internet Archive|archive.org]] | archive-url = https://archive.today/20181205210752/https://archive.org/stream/divusthomasetbul00norb/divusthomasetbul00norb_djvu.txt | archive-date = 5 December 2018 | url-status = live}}, with ''[[Imprimatur#Catholic Church|imprimatur]]'' di Friar Leonardus Lehu, Vic. Magistri Generalis, O.P.</ref>

====Post-conciliar developments====
Soon after the [[Second Vatican Council]], biblical theologian [[Herbert Haag]] raised the question: "Is original sin in Scripture?".{{sfn|Haag|1966}} According to his exegesis, Genesis 2:25<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|2:25}}</ref> would indicate that Adam and Eve were created from the beginning naked of the [[divine grace]], an originary grace that, then, they would never have had and even less would have lost due to the subsequent events narrated. On the other hand, while supporting a continuity in the Bible about the absence of [[preternatural]] gifts ({{lang-la|dona praeternaturalia}}){{sfn|Haag|1966|pp=11, 49–50}} with regard to the [[Serpents in the Bible#Eden|ophitic event]], Haag never makes any reference to the discontinuity of the loss of access to the [[Tree of life (biblical)|tree of life]]. Genesis 2:17<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|2:17}}</ref> states that, if one ate the fruit of the [[tree of the knowledge of good and evil]], one would surely die, and the adverb indicates that, by avoiding this type of choice, one would have the possibility but not the certainty of accessing to the other tree. Therefore, in 1970 Latin American biblical scholar [[Carlos Mesters]] wondered if "Eden [is] golden age or goad to action", [[wikt:protology|protology]] or [[eschatology]], nostalgia for an idealized past or hope for something that has yet to happen as it is claimed by [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]] 2:7<ref>{{bibleverse|Revelation|2:7}}</ref> and Revelation 22:2.<ref>{{bibleverse|Revelation|22:2}}</ref>{{sfn|Mesters|1970|pp=}}

Some warn against taking Genesis 3 too literally. They take into account that "God had the church in mind before the foundation of the world" (as in [[Epistle to the Ephesians|Ephesians]] 1:4)<ref>{{bibleverse|Ephesians|1:4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Holy Spirit and the Trinity (Part 1) (Sermon)|url=https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Audio.Details/ID/463/Holy-Spirit-Trinity-Part-1.htm|website=www.bibletools.org|access-date=2020-05-06}}</ref> as also in [[Second Epistle to Timothy|2 Timothy]] 1:9:<ref>{{bibleverse|2 Timothy|1:9}}</ref> "...his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus ''before'' the world began."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Before the World Began|url=https://www.icr.org/article/before-world-began/|publisher=[[Institute for Creation Research]] |access-date=2020-05-06}}</ref> In his 1986 book ''{{'}}In the Beginning...{{'}}'', [[Pope Benedict XVI]] referred to the term "original sin" as "misleading and unprecise".{{sfn|Ratzinger|1986|p=72}} Benedict does not require a literal interpretation of Genesis, or of the origin of evil, but writes: "How was this possible, how did it happen? This remains obscure.{{nbsp}}[...] Evil remains mysterious. It has been presented in great images, as does chapter 3 of Genesis, with the vision of two trees, of the serpent, of sinful man."<ref>{{Cite web|title=General Audience of 3 December 2008: Saint Paul (15). The Apostle's teaching on the relation between Adam and Christ {{!}} BENEDICT XVI|url=http://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2008/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20081203.html |website=[[vatican.va]] |access-date=2020-05-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Pope ponders original sin, speaks about modern desire for change|url=http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope_ponders_original_sin_speaks_about_modern_desire_for_change|publisher=[[Catholic News Agency]] |access-date=2020-05-06}}</ref>

===Lutheranism===
The [[Lutheran Church]]es teach that original sin "is a root and fountain-head of all actual sins."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bookofconcord.org/sd-originalsin.php|title=The Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord|year=1580|work=[[Book of Concord]]|language=en|access-date=25 October 2018}}</ref>

===Eastern Christianity===
{{main|Eastern Orthodox view of sin}}
The [[Eastern Orthodox]] and [[Byzantine Rite]] [[Eastern Catholic Churches]]' version of original sin is the view that sin originates with the Devil, "for the devil sins from the beginning (1 John iii. 8)".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Longer Catechism of The Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church • Pravoslavieto.com |url=http://www.pravoslavieto.com/docs/eng/Orthodox_Catechism_of_Philaret.htm |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=www.pravoslavieto.com |at=question 157}}</ref> The Eastern Church never subscribed to [[Augustine of Hippo]]'s notions of original sin and hereditary guilt. The church does not interpret "original sin" as having anything to do with transmitted guilt but with transmitted mortality. Because Adam sinned, all humanity shares not in his guilt but in the same punishment.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.antiochianarch.org.au/Orthodox-view-on-Immaculate-Conception.aspx |title = "Orthodox view on Immaculate Conception", Antiochian Christian Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand , and the Philippines |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419083644/http://www.antiochianarch.org.au/Orthodox-view-on-Immaculate-Conception.aspx |archive-date=19 April 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Eastern Churches accept the teachings of [[John Cassian]], as do Catholic Churches Eastern and Western,{{sfn|Elton|1963|p=136}} in rejecting the doctrine of total depravity, by teaching that human nature is "fallen", that is, depraved, but not totally. Augustine Casiday states that Cassian "baldly asserts that God's grace, not human free will, is responsible for 'everything [that] pertains to salvation' – even faith".{{sfn|Casiday|2006|p=103}} Cassian points out that people still have moral freedom and one has the option to choose to follow God. Colm Luibhéid says that according to Cassian, there are cases where the soul makes the first little turn,<ref name="Cassian1985" /> while Augustine Casiday says that, in Cassian's view, any sparks of goodwill that may exist, not directly caused by God, are totally inadequate and only direct divine intervention ensures spiritual progress.{{sfn|Moss|2009|p=4}} Lauren Pristas says that "for Cassian, salvation is, from beginning to end, the effect of God's grace".<ref name="Pristas"/>

Eastern Christianity accepts the doctrine of [[ancestral sin]]: "Original sin is hereditary. It did not remain only Adam and Eve's. As life passes from them to all of their descendants, so does original sin."<ref>{{cite web|author=Stavros Moschos |url=http://biserica.org/Publicatii/Catechism/catorsin.htm |title=Original Sin And Its Consequences |website=Biserica.org |access-date=24 January 2017}}</ref> "As from an infected source there naturally flows an infected stream, so from a father infected with sin, and consequently mortal, there naturally proceeds a posterity infected like him with sin, and like him mortal."<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.pravoslavieto.com/docs/eng/orthodox_catechism_of_philaret.htm| title = ''The Longer Catechism of The Orthodox, Catholic, Eastern Church'', 168}}</ref>

The [[Orthodox Church in America]] makes clear the distinction between "fallen nature" and "fallen man" and this is affirmed in the early teaching of the church whose role it is to act as the catalyst that leads to true or inner redemption. Every human person born on this earth bears the image of God undistorted within themselves.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/do-not-resent-do-not-react-keep-inner-stillness |title=Do Not Resent, Do Not React, Keep Inner Stillness &#124; Glory to God for All Things |website=Fatherstephen.wordpress.com |date=4 January 2010 |access-date=24 January 2017}}</ref> In the Eastern Christian understanding, it is explicitly denied that humanity inherited guilt or a fallen nature from anyone; rather, humanity inherits sin's consequences and a fallen environment: "while humanity does bear the consequences of the original, or first, sin, humanity does not bear the personal guilt associated with this sin. Adam and Eve are guilty of their willful action; we bear the consequences, chief of which is death."<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.oca.org/questions/teaching/st.-augustine-original-sin| title = St. Augustine & Original Sin}}</ref>

The view of Eastern Christianity varies on whether Mary is free of all actual sin or [[concupiscence]]. Some Patristic sources imply that she was cleansed from sin at the [[Annunciation]], while the liturgical references are unanimous that she is all-holy from the time of her conception.<ref>Mother Mary and [[Timothy Ware|Ware, Kallistos]], "The Festal Menaion", p. 47. St. Tikhon's Seminary Press, 1998.</ref>{{sfn|Cleenewerck|2008|p=410}}

===Anglicanism===
The original formularies of the [[Church of England]] also continue in the Reformation understanding of original sin. In the [[Thirty-Nine Articles]], Article IX "Of Original or Birth-sin" states:

{{blockquote|Original Sin standeth not in the following of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk); but it is the fault and corruption of the Nature of every man, that naturally is ingendered of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation. And this infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regenerated; whereby the lust of the flesh, called in the Greek, {{lang|grc|Φρονεμα σαρκος}}, which some do expound the wisdom, some sensuality, some the affection, some the desire, of the flesh, is not subject to the Law of God. And although there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptized, yet the Apostle doth confess, that concupiscence and lust hath of itself the nature of sin.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anglicansonline.org/basics/thirty-nine_articles.html |title=The Thirty-Nine Articles |publisher=Anglicans Online |date=1 December 2015 |access-date=24 January 2017}}</ref>}}

However, more recent doctrinal statements (e.g. the 1938 report ''Doctrine in the Church of England'') permit a greater variety of understandings of this doctrine. The 1938 report summarizes:
{{blockquote|Man is by nature capable of communion with God, and only through such communion can he become what he was created to be. "Original sin" stands for the fact that from a time apparently prior to any responsible act of choice man is lacking in this communion, and if left to his own resources and to the influence of his natural environment cannot attain to his destiny as a child of God.<ref>''Doctrine in the Church of England'', 1938, London: SPCK; p. 64</ref>}}

===Methodism===
The [[Methodist Church]] upholds Article VII in the [[Articles of Religion (Methodist)|Articles of Religion]] in the ''[[Book of Discipline (United Methodist)|Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church]]'':

{{blockquote|Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam (as the Pelagians do vainly talk), but it is the corruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is engendered of the offspring of Adam, whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and of his own nature inclined to evil, and that continually.<ref>[http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=1649 The United Methodist Church: The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church – Article V—Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120710233342/http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=1649 |date=10 July 2012 }}</ref>}}

Methodist theology teaches that a believer is made free from original sin when they are [[entire sanctification|entirely sanctified]]:<ref name="CON2017"/>

{{quotation|We believe that entire sanctification is that act of God, subsequent to regeneration, by which believers are made free from original sin, or depravity, and brought into a state of entire devotement to God, and the holy obedience of love made perfect. It is wrought by the baptism with or infilling of the Holy Spirit, and comprehends in one experience the cleansing of the heart from sin and the abiding, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, empowering the believer for life and service. Entire sanctification is provided by the blood of Jesus, is wrought instantaneously by grace through faith, preceded by entire consecration; and to this work and state of grace the Holy Spirit bears witness.<ref name="CON2017">{{cite web|url=http://2017.manual.nazarene.org/section/christian-holiness-and-entire-sanctification/|title=Christian Holiness and Entire Sanctification|work=Church of the Nazarene Manual 2017–2021|publisher=[[Church of the Nazarene]]|language=en|access-date=25 October 2018}}</ref>}}

===Seventh-day Adventism===
[[Seventh-day Adventists]] believe that humans are inherently sinful due to the fall of Adam,<ref name="The SDA Commentary">The SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1131.</ref> but they do not totally accept the [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustinian]]/[[Calvinism|Calvinistic]] understanding of original sin, taught in terms of original guilt, but hold more to what could be termed the "[[total depravity]]" tradition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bibelschule.info/streaming/Woodrow-W.-Whidden---Adventist-Theology---The-Wesleyan-Connection_23617.pdf |title=Adventist Theology: The Wesleyan Connection |author=Woodrow W. Whidden |website=Bibelschule.info |access-date=24 January 2017}}</ref> Seventh-day Adventists have historically preached a doctrine of inherited weakness, but not a doctrine of inherited guilt.<ref>E. G. White, ''Signs of the Times'', 29 August 1892</ref> According to Augustine and Calvin, humanity inherits not only Adam's depraved nature but also the actual guilt of his transgression, and Adventists look more toward the [[Wesleyanism|Wesleyan]] model.<ref name="Pfandl original sin">{{Cite web |author=Gerhard Pfandl |url=https://adventistbiblicalresearch.org/sites/default/files/pdf/sinoriginal-web.pdf |title=Some thoughts on Original Sin |publisher=Biblical Research Institute |access-date=13 January 2013 |archive-date=21 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021173714/https://adventistbiblicalresearch.org/sites/default/files/pdf/sinoriginal-web.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In part, the Adventist position on original sin reads:
{{blockquote|The nature of the penalty for original sin, i.e., Adam's sin, is to be seen as literal, physical, temporal, or actual death – the opposite of life, i.e., the cessation of being. By no stretch of the scriptural facts can death be spiritualised as depravity. God did not punish Adam by making him a sinner. That was Adam's own doing. All die the first death because of Adam's sin regardless of their moral character – children included.<ref name="Pfandl original sin"/>}}

Early Adventist pioneers (such as George Storrs and [[Uriah Smith]]) tended to de-emphasise the morally corrupt nature inherited from Adam, while stressing the importance of actual, personal sins committed by the individual. They thought of the "sinful nature" in terms of physical mortality rather than moral depravity.<ref name="Pfandl original sin"/> Traditionally, Adventists look at sin in terms of willful transgressions, and believe that Christ triumphed over sin.

Though believing in the concept of inherited sin from Adam, there is no dogmatic Adventist position on original sin.

===Jehovah's Witnesses===
According to the theology of [[Jehovah's Witnesses]], all humans are born sinners, because of inheriting sin, corruption, and death from Adam. They teach that Adam was originally created perfect and sinless, but with free will; that [[the Devil]], who was originally a perfect [[angel]], but later developed feelings of pride and self-importance, seduced [[Eve]] and then, through her, persuaded Adam to disobey God, and to obey the Devil instead, rebelling against God's sovereignty, thereby making themselves sinners, and because of that, transmitting a sinful nature to all of their future offspring.<ref name="proclaimers144">{{cite book|title=Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom|year=1993|publisher=Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society|pages=144–145}}</ref><ref name=WDtBRT32>{{cite book|title=What Does the Bible Really Teach?|year=2005|page=32|publisher=Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society}}</ref> Instead of destroying the Devil right away, as well as destroying the disobedient couple, God decided to test the loyalty of the rest of humankind, and to prove that they cannot be independent of God successfully, but are lost without God's laws and standards, and can never bring peace to the earth, and that Satan was a deceiver, murderer, and liar.<ref name="WT 1973">"The Watchtower 1973, page 724" – "Declaration and resolution", ''The Watchtower'', 1 December 1973, p. 724.</ref>

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that all humans possess "inherited sin" from the "one man" Adam, and teach that verses such as Romans 5:12–22, Psalm 51:5, Job 14:4, and 1 Corinthians 15:22 show that humanity is born corrupt and dies because of inherited sin and imperfection, and that inherited sin is the reason and cause for sickness and suffering, made worse by the Devil's wicked influence. They believe Jesus is the "[[second Adam]]", being the sinless [[Son of God]] and the [[Messiah]], and that he came to undo Adamic sin; and that salvation and everlasting life can only be obtained through faith and obedience to the second Adam.<ref name="proclaimers144"/><ref name=WDtBRT32/><ref name="WT 1973"/><ref>{{cite book| last=Penton|first=M.J.|title=Apocalypse Delayed|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1997|pages=26–29|isbn=9780802079732}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|journal=The Watchtower|date=15 January 2006|page=7|title=Angels—How They Affect Us}}</ref><ref>[http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200000089 ADAM] – ''jw.org.'' Retrieved 10 January 2013.</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|reason=There's 6 citations for this sentence, but there should be just one.|date=October 2022}} They believe that "sin" is "missing the mark" of God's standard of perfection, and that everyone is born a sinner, due to being the offspring of sinner Adam.<ref>[http://www.jw.org/en/publications/books/submission/adams-sin/ Adam's Sin] – The Time for True Submission to God – ''jw.org.'' Retrieved 10 January 2013.</ref>

===The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints===
[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) rejects the doctrine of original sin. The church's second [[Articles of Faith (Latter Day Saints)|Articles of Faith]] reads, "We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression."<ref>{{lds|Articles of Faith|a-of-f|1|2}}</ref> The church's founder [[Joseph Smith]] taught that humans had an essentially godlike nature, and were not only holy in a premortal state, but had the potential to progress eternally to become like God.<ref name="Alexander, p. 64">Alexander, p. 64.</ref> Latter-day Saints take this creed-like statement as a rejection of the doctrine of original sin and any notion of inherited sinfulness.<ref name="Alexander, p. 64"/> Thus, while modern members of the LDS Church will agree that the fall of Adam brought consequences to the world, including the possibility of sin, they generally reject the idea that any culpability is automatically transmitted to Adam and Eve's offspring.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Merrill|first=Byron R.|contribution=Original sin|contribution-url=http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/EoM/id/4025|pages=1052–1053|editor1-last=Ludlow|editor1-first=Daniel H|editor1-link=Daniel H. Ludlow|title=Encyclopedia of Mormonism|title-link=Encyclopedia of Mormonism|location=New York|publisher=[[Macmillan Publishing]]|year=1992|isbn=0-02-879602-0|oclc=24502140}}</ref> Children under the age of eight are regarded as free of all sin and therefore do not require baptism.<ref>[[Book of Moroni|Moroni]] [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/moro/8?lang=eng 8]; [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-20-baptism?lang=eng "Chapter 20: Baptism"], ''[[Gospel Principles]]'', (Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church, 2011) pp. 114–119.</ref> Children who die prior to age eight are believed to be saved in the [[degrees of glory|highest degree of heaven]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Doctrine and Covenants 137 |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/137 |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org |at=verse 10 |language=en}}</ref>

The LDS Church's [[Book of Moses]] states that the Lord told Adam that "thy children are conceived in sin".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Moses 6 |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/eng/scriptures/pgp/moses/6 |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=www.churchofjesuschrist.org |at=verse 55 |language=en}}</ref> Apostle [[Bruce R. McConkie]] stated that this means that the children were "born into a world of sin".<ref>[[Bruce R. McConkie]] (1985), ''A New Witness for the Articles of Faith'' (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book) p. 101.</ref>

===Swedenborgianism===
In [[Swedenborgianism]], [[exegesis]] of the first 11 chapters of Genesis from ''The First Church'' has a view that Adam is not an individual person. Rather, he is a symbolic representation of the "Most Ancient Church", having a more direct contact with heaven than all other successive churches.{{sfn|Swedenborg|1749–56|p=410}}<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3tQJ9j_1ToC&q=Arcana+Coelestia+john+f+potts&pg=PR3 |title=Arcana Coelestia, Vol. 1 of 8 |author=Emanuel Swedenborg |publisher=Forgotten Books |isbn=9781606201077 |access-date=24 January 2017}}</ref> Swedenborg's view of original sin is referred to as "hereditary evil", which passes from generation to generation.{{sfn|Swedenborg|1749–56|p=96, n. 313: "But as to hereditary evil, the case is this. Everyone who commits actual sin thereby induces on himself a nature, and the evil from it is implanted in his children, and becomes hereditary. It thus descends from every parent, from the father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and their ancestors in succession, and is thus multiplied and augmented in each descending posterity, remaining with each person, and being increased in each by his actual sins, and never being dissipated so as to become harmless except in those who are being regenerated by the Lord. Every attentive observer may see evidence of this truth in the fact that the evil inclinations of parents remain visibly in their children, so that one family, and even an entire race, may be thereby distinguished from every other."}} It cannot be completely abolished by an individual man, but can be tempered when someone reforms their own life,{{sfn|Swedenborg|1749–56|p=229, n.719: "There are evils in man [that] must be dispersed while he is being regenerated, that is, which must be loosened and attempered by goods; for no actual and hereditary evil in man can be so dispersed as to be abolished. It still remains implanted; and can only be so far loosened and attempered by goods from the Lord that it does not injure, and does not appear, which is an arcanum hitherto unknown. Actual evils are those that are loosened and attempered, and not hereditary evils; which also is a thing unknown."}} and are thus held accountable only for their own sins.{{sfn|Swedenborg|1749–56|p=336, n.966: "It is to be observed that in the other life no one undergoes any punishment and torture on account of his hereditary evil, but only on account of the actual evils [that] he himself has committed."}}

===Quakerism===
Most [[Quakers]] (also known as the Religious Society of Friends), including the founder of Quakerism, [[George Fox]], believe in the doctrine of [[inward light]], a doctrine that states that there is "that of God in everyone".<ref>{{cite book |title=Journal of George Fox |editor=John L. Nickals |publisher=Religious Society of Friends |date=1975 |page=774}} light of Christ, xl, xliii, xliv, 12, 14, 16, 29, 33–5, 60, 64, 76, 80, 88, 92, 115, 117, 135, 143–4, 150, 155, 173, 174–6, 188, 191, 205, 225–6, 234–7, 245, 274–5, 283–4, 294–6, 303–5, 309, 312, 317–335, 339–40, 347–8, 361, 471–2, 496–7, 575, 642</ref> This has led to a common belief among many liberal and universalist Quakers affiliated with the [[Friends General Conference]] and [[Britain Yearly Meeting]], based on the ideas of Quaker Rufus Jones among others, that rather than being burdened by original sin, human beings are inherently good, and the doctrine of [[universal reconciliation]], that is, that all people will eventually be saved and reconciled with God.

However, this rejection of the doctrine of original sin or the necessity of salvation is not something that most conservative or evangelical Quakers affiliated with [[Friends United Meeting]] or [[Evangelical Friends Church International]] tend to agree with. Although the more conservative and evangelical Quakers also believe in the doctrine of inward light, they interpret it in a manner consistent with the doctrine of original sin, namely, that people may or may not listen to the voice of God within them and be saved, and people who do not listen will not be saved.