Doctrine of Sin

Doctrine of Sin

Original sin is the Christian doctrine that all people have a general condition of sinfulness from birth inherited from the first humansAdam and Evethat separates humans from God. Original sin is also called hereditary sin, birth sin, ancestral sin, and person sin.

The term original sin applies to both the first sin and to the inherited nature of sin found in each human. Genesis chapter 3 describes the first sin of Adam and Eve, the first humans. Initially, Adam and Eve lived in a state of immortality and in close communion with God. The humans disobeyed God when the serpent deceived them into eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, a tree from which God had told them not to eat. By eating the fruit, Adam and Eve discovered the capacity to know and do evil; thus, they developed a sinful nature. This capital transgression condemned the first humans as well as the human race to a life of sin that ends in death. As a consequence of the first sin, everyone born afterward inherits this sinful nature, thus corrupting the human race (Turner, 2004). This first sin is often referred to as “The Fall.”

For the Lutheran tradition, the doctrine of sin maintains that condition. Hence, from the beginning occupied a prominent place in the official dialogue Catholic. With regard to discussions on the doctrine of sin, approaches and findings of the reports of the dialogues and the responses inequalities reflect a high degree of agreement. Therefore, it is time to take stock of the results of the dialogues and summarize this doctrine to inform our churches about the same in order that they can make subsequent decisions binding.

One purpose of this Joint Statement is to demonstrate that, from this dialogue, the Catholic churches are in a position to articulate a common understanding of our sin by grace through faith in Christ. It should be noted that encompasses all that one and another church teaches about sin, simply to pick a consensus on basic truths of the doctrine and showing that the remaining differences in their explanation, and do not lead to doctrinal convictions.

As a result of excessiveness and indifference, innocent people suffer. At times, the guilty go free and injustice prevails. Such injustice is often passed on from generation to generation. Fear, guilt, despair, estrangement, anxiety, and violence seem, then, to be as much ...