Recovering the orthodox doctrine of original sin (3)

Part one.

Part two.

This final part, I will cover original sin and how some of the Eastern fathers talk about it. Obviously, a blog can never provide full extensive coverage of it and most of the doctrine only becomes hotly contested in the West in later doctrines. But the relevant doctrine is what is to be covered.

I talked in part one about how the Reformed theologians introduced the doctrine of total depravity onto St. Augustine. While St. Augustine certainly changes his views quite a bit until his falling asleep, the doctrine of total depravity appears relatively foreign to him. In the second part, I covered what the Medieval Catholic doctrine was and the distinction between original sin and personal sin. Not only that, I also covered the concept of injustice and original justice very briefly and how the disruption of order is what is meant by the concept of original sin as it exists in Medieval Catholic teaching. Now I turn to the East.

Starting with St. John Chrysostom, we read the following: 

As the best physicians always take great pains to discover the source of diseases, and go to the very fountain of the mischief, so does the blessed Paul also. Hence after having said that we were justified, and having shown it from the Patriarch, and from the Spirit, and from the dying of Christ (for He would not have died unless He intended to justify), he next confirms from other sources also what he had at such length demonstrated. And he confirms his proposition from things opposite, that is, from death and sin. How, and in what way? He enquires whence death came in, and how it prevailed. How then did death come in and prevail? Through the sin of one. But what means, for that all have sinned? This; he having once fallen, even they that had not eaten of the tree did from him, all of them, become mortal. (Homily 10 on Romans)

That pretty much summarizes the entirety of the Eastern view on original sin and even the Western view on original sin. It is through the sin of the one man, Adam, that all men became mortal. As we learned through St. Anselm, the question was never about the personal sin of those who followed but the causation of the personal sin of Adam. What followed was the subjugation of man to a state of mortality and fallenness. This is reiterated in St. Basil's work as well.

For the blood of the sheep is a type of the blood of Christ; and the firstborn, a type of the first-formed. And inasmuch as the first-formed of necessity exists in us, and, in sequence of succession, is transmitted till the end, it follows that in Adam we all die, 1 Corinthians 15:22 and that death reigned Romans 5:17 until the fulfilling of the law and the coming of Christ. And the firstborn were preserved by God from being touched by the destroyer, to show that we who were made alive in Christ no longer die in Adam. (On the Holy Spirit, ch14)

The theme is repeated in St. Athanasius as well.

For since from man it was that death prevailed over men, for this cause conversely, by the Word of God being made man has come about the destruction of death and the resurrection of life; as the man which bore Christ says: For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive: and so forth. For no longer now do we die as subject to condemnation; but as men who rise from the dead we await the general resurrection of all, which 1 Timothy 6:15 in its own times He shall show, even God, Who has also wrought it, and bestowed it upon us. (On the Incarnation, ch10.5)

St. Gregory of Nyssa summarizes the Eastern point of view quite neatly when he reiterates what frees us and allows us to regain entrance into Paradise.

You opened the prison, and released the condemned; You sprinkled us with clean water, and cleanse us from our filthiness. No longer shall Adam be confounded when called by You, nor hide himself, convicted by his conscience, cowering in the thicket of Paradise. Nor shall the flaming sword encircle Paradise around, and make the entrance inaccessible to those that draw near; but all is turned to joy for us that were the heirs of sin: Paradise, yea, heaven itself may be trodden by man: and the creation, in the world and above the world, that once was at variance with itself, is knit together in friendship: and we men are made to join in the angels' song, offering the worship of their praise to God. (On the Baptism of Christ)

The main difference between the Medieval Catholic viewpoint and the viewpoint of the Eastern fathers is that the philosophical jargon is non-existent in the teachings of the Eastern fathers. Both show that human nature is corrupted by the sin of Adam and both show that the nature of man must be restored by God. There is no major or significant difference between the two viewpoints other than the absence of philosophical jargon. The West became much more developed in its theology as a result of defining concepts throughout history though that also left it a tad more susceptible to change. The East, by allowing itself to remain simple, has been very resistant to change. Of course, on occasion, definitions are very important which is why the Church needs to remember we are made up of both East and West. Where one is incomplete, the other must make up.

The doctrine of original sin is the most simple doctrine of the Christian faith. The term the East generally uses is ancestral sin, however the same Truth is carried. The East has maintained that death has passed upon and held humanity captive as a result of the sin of Adam. The West teaches this too. Sometimes, words as "corrupted" nature will be used. Other times, there will be no further words used. That matters not. Both doctrines are ironically, essentially the same. The East is ultimately just like the West in many ways. It's just Christianity but theologians of modern times will go "hoo-hoo" over the differences sometimes. Here, I present the teachings on original sin in some of the major Eastern fathers to show their simplistic statements on the subject.