2006-06-29 23:43:07 · 33 answers · asked by h_russom 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
the sin that Adam did which passed upon all men -- disobeying God by eating of the fruit of the tree he was told not to eat from.
2006-06-29 23:45:03 · answer #1 · answered by WVMagpie 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
"Original sin may be taken to mean: (1) the sin that Adam committed; (2) a consequence of this first sin, the hereditary stain with which we are born on account of our origin or descent from Adam.
"From the earliest times the latter sense of the word was more common, as may be seen by St. Augustine's statement: "the deliberate sin of the first man is the cause of original sin" (De nupt. et concup., II, xxvi, 43). It is the hereditary stain that is dealt with here. As to the sin of Adam we have not to examine the circumstances in which it was committed nor make the exegesis of the third chapter of Genesis."
That is the definition. If you look at the link you will see that some do not agree with it.
A cynic would say that it was invented by the Catholic Church so that Jesus would have something to atone for by dying on the cross.
2006-06-29 23:47:41 · answer #2 · answered by Owlwings 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How dare ANYONE say that a person is born with the hereditary stain of sin. Babies come into the world pure and free of any stigma. Even if the story of adam & eve was true, a baby born today could in no way be held responsible for that, it is a stupid concept designed to ensure that people are kept 'in their place and are consequently drawn to the church as 'sinners'
2006-06-29 23:56:14 · answer #3 · answered by Nemesis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Original sin is the sins of adam and eve. However some religions belive that we also "pay for" the sins of our ancecstors, generally going back about 7 generations.
2006-06-29 23:54:34 · answer #4 · answered by evil_kandykid 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Original Sin:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/features/original_sin/
2006-07-01 12:09:50 · answer #5 · answered by djbennett999 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd like it to mean a sin so imaginative, no-one has ever done it before! So then you could have original sin competitions (obviously with the stipulation that no-one gets hurt!)
Eg; having an orgy with naked, bagpiping bricklayers and ballerinas with badgers on their heads, with a trained chimp filming it all. That's gotta be a original sin!!
2006-06-30 00:32:58 · answer #6 · answered by Jazzhands 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Original sin is the sin we are born with, passed down from Adam and Eve.
2006-06-29 23:46:33 · answer #7 · answered by The anti-emo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is the natural tendency for a person to doubt, to ask why, and rebel.
Some people consider sin to be any act or thought which serves to benefit the self at the expense of others.
Another generic definition might be "anything that increases the distance between God, His people, and ourselves".
2006-06-30 00:39:28 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
According to the Bible we are all born sinful, that is original sin though how a newborn baby can be considered sinful is beyond me.
2006-06-29 23:50:55 · answer #9 · answered by greebo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a Christian, I believe that Adam, refers to all men, Eve to all women.
Though women supposedly lured men to eat of the forbidden fruit, I also know that men wrote the bible, so I keep an open mind. Recording things after the event, by word of mouth and handed down information, it gets somewhat distorted, though the element of truth is always in there.
I guess Genisis, is what you'd call the first news publication!
Just like todays spin doctors, and the editors of our news, they likely leant toward their own agenda politically, and were sparing with the truth. So 'Adam' shifted blame to 'Eve' for all his actions.
I'm speaking as an observant mother of a tribe of six here:-)
The 'tree' could be a metaphor for something else, and that something else, could possibly have contained knowledge of good and evil, an awakening of the mind and an emergence of intellect. Ability to see another side of things, and the ability to discern between the two, thus removing the 'innocence' that went before.
Maybe God thought this was far too soon for us, maybe he had his reasons for wanting us to wait a while.
But if we were never meant to 'eat that fruit', the 'tree' would not have been planted for us to find.
Maybe it was all about patience, and God was testing us in obedience, much like we as parents tell a small child, "don't" for their own safety. Yet we know very soon they will learn the things we would rather they didn't yet. Because we want to savour their innocence a little longer.
"Don't" can be a useless instruction with some kids.
Just like us, if God was a new parent, if we were his first creation in human form, His first 'children', He likely made many mistakes, and came on too heavy out of fear for us and over-protection for us. Just as we often do with our first child.
Trust me on this, I've been there. And we do get better with each child, then beat ourselves up, wishing we'd been wiser at the start, with number one!
Unlike God, we can't destroy and remould our creation, if we see them start to kill each other. And boy, that must have hurt for Him to do. but seriously, if you saw your child killing and destroying other lives, wouldn't you prefer to end the life of the child you carried, rather than wait for someone else to die, and someone else to kill him/her? So you could save humanity more pain?
If we start to think about the pain God carries in His heart, for the way we hurt each other, then accept He afforded us free will, and a promise not to end us all again, maybe we could stop blaming our creator for everything we do!
And maybe we could marvel, at the miracle of life existing on a volatile ball of fire.
Original sin? I don't think that it exists, I think it was an excuse to shift the blame and not face responsibility and keep faith with our Father.
I also speak as an retired journalist:-)
2006-06-30 00:17:41 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Original sin is the fact the we let the Cheeky Girls get to Number 1 with Cheeky Girls.
2006-06-29 23:49:40 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋