Original sin

===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}}