June 24, 2005
Original Sin
Life for many in New York and the rest of the world is reduced to a "dog eat dog" existence. Crime is so rampant that it seems almost comical. With a bit of reflection, everyone in New York knows something is wrong. People should not treat people like they do. There is a sense that somebody ought to do something. But what exactly is the problem? As Christians, we know that the problem is a societal cancer called Original Sin, and everyone has it. Sadly, one of the effects of it is that it so darkens the mind and heart that without the grace of Christ one can't even recognize one's own need for healing. Nonetheless, how does the Church define it?
Original Sin is understood in two senses. First, it is the particular sin of Adam, when in an effort to become like God, he disobeys God by "eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil."(Gen 2:17) Remember, we are all made in the image of God. However, with Adam and Eve, everything was in perfect working order. It's hard for us to imagine being in a state where we know exactly what God's will is; where we could dialogue with him as friends and actually hear his voice. Can you imagine being in absolute control of your emotions and always being able to make perfectly rational, cool headed decisions? This is how Adam and Eve were... until out of pride they disobeyed God. "Scripture portrays the tragic consequences of this first disobedience. Adam and Eve immediately lose the grace of original holiness." (CCC 399) Everything goes out of whack. Their understanding of God gets twisted. They become afraid of Him. Their control over their emotions and reason "is shattered; the union of man and woman becomes subject to tensions, their relations henceforth marked by lust and domination. Harmony with creation is broken; visible creation has become alien and hostile to man."(CCC 400) Finally they must fearfully face their own deaths, where their souls will be unnaturally separated from their bodies. Does this new state of existence they find themselves in sound familiar? It should. It is the state in which we find ourselves. This is the second sense of Original Sin; the inherited condition of disorder that all men have from the moment of their conception. It is the "societal cancer" we find in the world. The "Good News" is that our sense that "someone ought to do something" is not just correct, but it has been accomplished in Jesus Christ.
St. Paul tells us, "as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men." "If it is certain that through one man's fall many died, it is even more certain that divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came."(Rom 5:18 ) The Divine Healer became man to bring therapy and heal the world of ultimate death. The sacraments, prayer, and good works are means by which we avail ourselves of his medicine. Spread the "Good News." Salvation has come!
God made man in his own image, as persons. Genesis 1:27 reads; "God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them." So, from the text we see that part of being a human person is being either male or female. It is important to remember "man and woman are both with one and the same dignity "in the image of God." (CCC 369)
Some of the characteristics of personhood are the capacities for self-knowledge, self possession and self-giving. This last aspect of personhood illumines the wisdom behind God's decision to make man as both male and female.
Fr. John Anthony Boughton, CFR
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