An Apologetical Explanation of

Original Sin

What is Original Sin, and how does it affect us?

As sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned…. Yet death reigned from Adam and Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the fre gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many…. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous. (Rom 5:12-19)

The serpent… said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. (Gn 3:1-6)

Original Sin is part of the human condition by which we are conceived in a fallen state, i.e., without sanctifying grace. It is our inheritance resulting from the sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve.

God created man and woman in a state of holiness and justice and in complete friendship with him. God also gave them freedom to choose good or evil, warning them that evil brings dire consequences. By choosing sin, Adam and Eve preferred their own desires over God, distrusting him and ultimately going against their own good. This Original Sin deprived them of the original justice and holiness they had enjoyed. (Cf. CCC 398)

Their transgression had consequences for all humanity–including suffering, death, and a loss of God’s friendship. Original Sin infects each person at conception, rendering us vulnerable to sin by clouding our judgment and weakening our will. As a result, we are inclined toward disordered appetites, enslaved to our passions, and in need of God’s grace to combat evil. The Sacrament of Baptism forgives the guilt associated with our actual sins as well as Original Sin, but our tendency toward sin, or concupiscence, remains.

The only human person exempted by God from this affliction is the Blessed Virgin Mary; Jesus Christ, himself a divine Person, was not conceived according to human generation, i.e., has no biological human father.

The Catechism addresses this question in paragraphs 397 and 404.

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