Christian theology

===Original sin===
{{Main|Original sin}}
Thus, the moment Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree—which God had commanded them not to do—sinful death was born; ''it was an act of disobedience, thinking they could become like gods, that was the sin''. Since Adam was the head of the human race, he is held responsible for the evil that took place, for which reason the [[fall of man]] is referred to as the "[[sin of Adam]]". This sin caused Adam and his descendants to lose unrestricted access to God Himself. The years of life were limited. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" ({{bibleverse||Romans|5:12|KJV}}). In Christian theology, the [[death of Jesus]] on the [[Christian cross|cross]] is the [[Atonement in Christianity|atonement]] to the sin of Adam. "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." ({{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|15:22|KJV}}). As a result of that act of Christ, all who put their trust in [[Solus Christus|Christ alone]] now have unrestricted access to God through prayer and in presence.

Original sin, which Eastern Christians usually refer to as [[ancestral sin]],<ref>The term "[[ancestral sin]]" is also used, as in [[Greek language|Greek]] προπατορικὴ ἁμαρτία (e.g. [http://www.parembasis.gr/2003/03_10_16.htm Πόλεμος και φτώχεια– η ορθόδοξη άποψη], {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721082731/http://www.parembasis.gr/2003/03_10_16.htm |date=21 July 2011 }} [http://www.monipetraki.gr/sarakosti.html Η νηστεία της Σαρακοστής] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160617130930/http://www.monipetraki.gr/sarakosti.html |date=17 June 2016 }}, [http://www.oodegr.com/oode/protestant/luther_antimonaxismos1.htm Πώς στράφηκε ο Λούθηρος κατά του Μοναχισμού– του Γεωργίου Φλωρόφσκυ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215084126/http://www.oodegr.com/oode/protestant/luther_antimonaxismos1.htm |date=15 February 2017 }}) or προπατορικὸ ἁμάρτημα (e.g. [http://www.apostoliki-diakonia.gr/GR_MAIN/catehism/theologia_zoi/themata.asp?contents=selides_katixisis/contents_TaIeraMistiria.asp&main=kat010&file=4.4.1.htm Απαντήσεις σε ερωτήματα δογματικά– Ανδρέα Θεοδώρου, εκδ. Αποστολικής Διακονίας, 1997, σελ. 156–161] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921182150/http://www.apostoliki-diakonia.gr/GR_MAIN/catehism/theologia_zoi/themata.asp?contents=selides_katixisis%2Fcontents_TaIeraMistiria.asp&main=kat010&file=4.4.1.htm |date=21 September 2020 }}, [http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b26.e.i_despotikes_eortes.01.htm Θεοτόκος και προπατορικό αμάρτημα] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100427075227/http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b26.e.i_despotikes_eortes.01.htm |date=27 April 2010 }})</ref> is, according to a doctrine proposed in Christian theology, humanity's state of [[sin]] resulting from the [[fall of man]].<ref name="ODCC-OS">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-19-280290-3 |title=Original Sin}}</ref> This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred to as a "sin nature," to something as drastic as [[total depravity]] or automatic guilt by all humans through collective guilt.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Brodd | first = Jeffrey | title = World Religions | publisher = Saint Mary's Press | year = 2003 | location = Winona, MN | isbn = 978-0-88489-725-5 }}</ref>

Those who uphold the doctrine look to the teaching of [[Paul the Apostle]] in {{bibleverse||Romans|5:12–21}} and {{bibleverse|1|Corinthians|15:22}} for its [[Bible|scriptural]] base,<ref name="ODCC-Doctrine" /> and see it as perhaps implied in Old Testament passages such as {{bibleverse||Psalm|51:5}} and {{bibleverse||Psalm|58:3}}.

[[File:Sandro Botticelli 050.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Augustine of Hippo]] wrote that original sin is transmitted by concupiscence and enfeebles freedom of the will without destroying it.<ref name="ODCC-Doctrine" />]]
The [[Apostolic Father]]s and the [[Apologist]]s mostly dealt with topics other than original sin.<ref name="ODCC-Doctrine" /> The doctrine of original sin was first developed in 2nd-century Bishop of Lyon [[Irenaeus]]'s struggle against [[Gnosticism]].<ref name="ODCC-Doctrine" /> The Greek Fathers emphasized the cosmic dimension of the fall, namely that since Adam human beings are born into a fallen world, but held fast to belief that man, though fallen, is free.<ref name="ODCC-Doctrine" /> It was in the West that precise definition of the doctrine arose.<ref name="ODCC-Doctrine" />
[[Augustine of Hippo]] taught that original sin was both an act of foolishness (''insipientia'') and of pride and disobedience to the God of Adam and Eve. He thought it was a most subtle job to discern what came first: self-centeredness or failure in seeing truth.<ref>Augustine wrote to [[Julian of Eclanum]]: ''Sed si disputatione subtilissima et elimatissima opus est, ut sciamus utrum primos homines insipientia superbos, an insipientes superbia fecerit''. (''Contra Julianum'', V, 4.18; PL 44, 795)</ref> The sin would not have taken place, if satan hadn't sown into their senses ''"the root of evil"'' (''radix Mali'').<ref>''Nisi radicem mali humanus tunc reciperet sensus'' ("Contra Julianum", I, 9.42; PL 44, 670)</ref> The sin of Adam and Eve wounded their nature, affecting human intelligence and will, as well as affections and desires, including sexual desire. The consequences of the fall were transmitted to their descendants in the form of ''concupiscence'', which is a [[Metaphysics|metaphysical]] term, and not a [[Psychology|psychological]] one. [[Thomas Aquinas]] explained Augustine's doctrine pointing out that the ''libido'' (''concupiscence''), which makes the original sin pass from parents to children, is not a ''libido actualis'', i.e. sexual lust, but ''libido habitualis'', i.e. a wound of the whole of human nature.<ref>''Libido quae transmittit peccatum originale in prolem, non-est libido actualis, quia dato quod virtute divina concederetur alicui quod nullam inordinatam libidinem in actu generationis sentiret, adhuc transmitteret in prolem originale peccatum. Sed libido illa est intelligenda habitualiter, secundum quod appetitus sensitivus non-continetur sub ratione vinculo originalis iustitiae. Et talis libido in omnibus est aequalis'' (STh Iª-IIae q. 82 a. 4 ad 3).</ref> Augustine insisted that concupiscence was not ''a being'' but ''bad quality'', the privation of good or a wound.<ref>''Non substantialiter manere concupiscentiam, sicut corpus aliquod aut spiritum; sed esse affectionem quamdam malae qualitatis, sicut est languor''. (''De nuptiis et concupiscentia'', I, 25. 28; PL 44, 430; cf. ''Contra Julianum'', VI, 18.53; PL 44, 854; ibid. VI, 19.58; PL 44, 857; ibid., II, 10.33; PL 44, 697; ''Contra Secundinum Manichaeum'', 15; PL 42, 590.</ref> The bishop of Hippo admitted that sexual concupiscence (''libido'') might have been present in the perfect human nature in the paradise, and that only later it had become disobedient to human will as a result of the first couple's disobedience to God's will in the original sin.<ref>Augustine wrote to [[Julian of Eclanum]]: ''Quis enim negat futurum fuisse concubitum, etiamsi peccatum non-praecessisset? Sed futurus fuerat, sicut aliis membris, ita etiam genitalibus voluntate motis, non-libidine concitatis; aut certe etiam ipsa libidine– ut non-vos de illa nimium contristemus– non-qualis nunc est, sed ad nutum voluntarium serviente'' (Contra Julianum, IV. 11. 57; PL 44, 766). See also his late work: ''Contra secundam Iuliani responsionem imperfectum opus'', II, 42; PL 45,1160; ibid. II, 45; PL 45,1161; ibid., VI, 22; PL 45, 1550–1551. Cf.{{Cite book|title=Le mariage chrétien dans l'oeuvre de Saint Augustin. Une théologie baptismale de la vie conjugale |last= Schmitt|first=É. |year= 1983|series = Études Augustiniennes | location= Paris|page= 104}}</ref> The original sin have made humanity a ''massa damnata''<ref name="ODCC-Doctrine" /> (mass of perdition, condemned crowd). In Augustine's view (termed "Realism"), all of humanity was really present in Adam when he sinned, and therefore all have sinned. Original sin, according to Augustine, consists of the guilt of Adam which all humans inherit. As sinners, humans are utterly depraved in nature, lack the freedom to do good, and cannot respond to the will of God without [[Grace (Christianity)|divine grace]]. Grace is [[irresistible grace|irresistible]], results in conversion, and leads to [[perseverance of the saints|perseverance]].<ref name="Gonzalez">{{Cite book|author=Justo L. Gonzalez |title=A History of Christian Thought: Volume 2 (From Augustine to the eve of the Reformation) |publisher=Abingdon Press |date=1970–1975}}</ref>

Augustine's formulation of original sin was popular among Protestant reformers, such as [[Martin Luther]] and [[John Calvin]], and also, within Roman Catholicism, in the [[Jansenism|Jansenist]] movement, but this movement was declared heretical by the Catholic Church.<ref>{{Cite Catholic Encyclopedia|title=Jansenius and Jansenism|last=Forget|first=Jacques|volume=8|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08285a.htm|accessdate=2010-08-08}}</ref> There are wide-ranging disagreements among Christian groups as to the exact understanding of the doctrine about a state of sinfulness or absence of holiness affecting all humans, even children, with some Christian groups denying it altogether.

The notion of original sin as interpreted by [[Augustine of Hippo]] was affirmed by the [[Protestant Reformation|Protestant Reformer]] John Calvin. [[John Calvin|Calvin]] believed that humans inherit Adamic guilt and are in a state of sin from the moment of conception. This inherently sinful nature (the basis for the [[Calvinism|Calvinistic]] doctrine of "[[total depravity]]") results in a complete alienation from God and the total inability of humans to achieve reconciliation with God based on their own abilities. Not only do individuals inherit a sinful nature due to Adam's fall, but since he was the federal head and representative of the human race, all whom he represented inherit the guilt of his sin by imputation.

;New Testament
The scriptural basis for the doctrine is found in two New Testament books by [[Paul the Apostle]], [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%205:12-21&version=NIV Romans 5:12–21] and [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2015:22&version=NIV 1 Corinthians 15:22], in which he identifies Adam as the one man through whom death came into the world.<ref name="ODCC-Doctrine" />
<ref>''Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned''—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.—[[Epistle to the Romans|Romans]] 5:12–14, [[English Standard Version|ESV]] "Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For ''as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous''. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."—Rom. 5:18–21, ESV</ref>