Original Sin?

Recently someone said to me that she was uncomfortable with the idea of original sin. Now there's a phrase you don't hear much in everyday conversation. Seminary students and church pastors may throw it at each other, and if you attend a Christian worship service you might hear it mentioned once in a while. In general, original sin is meaningless pair of words to most people in North American cultures.

Without getting into detail, original sin is a way of explaining or describing why we are the way we are. Some people of faith believe that human beings are evil, inherently. Just because we are born homo sapien, we are creatures who seek constantly that which is self-serving to us and destructive to others. If that's the case, how do you explain selfless people such as Mother Teresa of Calcutta? Other faithful people claim that human beings are inherently good, even reflecting the image of God. All we need to do to overcome evil and destruction is just to be better people. If that's the case, why do our best efforts at Utopian existence always collapse into conflict and devastation?

For me, neither of the previous explanations suffice. The upcoming metaphor breaks down quickly, but the overall concept helps me. We are like creatures who are created good, but who have some kind of deficiency within us, which we have brought upon ourselves, which we do not have the power to overcome. For example, just by being born human we are susceptible, among other things, to polio. No amount of good deeds, good behavior, good intentions, or good feelings will overcome this inability. Without outside intervention, polio could get us. We need someone with power and skills beyond us to get us the vaccine. Similarly, just by being born human we are susceptible, inevitably, to all that would separate us from the One who made us, who loves us, and who have a plan for our lives. We cannot overcome that gap on our own. No amount of good deeds, good behavior, good intentions, and good feelings will do. It will take an intervention from beyond.

That's one weak attempt at describing original sin. In my next post (probably Tuesday) I will show you a simple exercise that will do a better job of demonstrating it. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.