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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Jul 15, 2024 • Article History Table of Contents
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original sin, in Christian doctrine, the condition or state of sin into which each human being is born; also, the origin (i.e., the cause, or source) of this state. Traditionally, the origin has been ascribed to the sin of the first man, Adam, who disobeyed God in eating the forbidden fruit (of knowledge of good and evil) and, in consequence, transmitted his sin and guilt by heredity to his descendants.
The doctrine has its basis in the Bible. Although the human condition (suffering, death, and a universal tendency toward sin) is accounted for by the story of the Fall of Adam in the early chapters of the book of Genesis, the Hebrew Scriptures say nothing about the transmission of hereditary sin to the entire human race. In the Gospels also there are no more than allusions to the notion of the Fall of Man and universal sin. The main scriptural affirmation of the doctrine is found in the writings of St. Paul and particularly in Romans 5:12–19, a difficult passage in which Paul establishes a parallelism between Adam and Christ, stating that whereas sin and death entered the world through Adam, grace and eternal life have come in greater abundance through Christ.
Britannica Quiz Christianity QuizThe doctrine has long been the prerequisite for the Christian understanding of the meaning of Jesus’ Crucifixion and atonement and was especially promulgated by St. Augustine in the West. Despite its importance for understanding Jesus’ sacrifice, and as a motivation behind the practice of infant baptism in some churches, the doctrine of original sin has been minimized since the European Enlightenment. Indeed, the idea that salvation is necessary because of the universal stain of original sin is no longer accepted by a number of Christian sects and interpretations, especially among those Christians who consider the story of Adam and Eve to be less a fact and more a metaphor of the relation of God and humanity.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray.
