Sunday, October 18, 2009

Sin - Original and Mortal

Original Sin consisted of more, much more, than merely eating the fruit. And that Original Sin of Adam and Eve is the original sin of the individual as well, that is, the preference of self over God, wanting to be a god and able to choose your own morality, your own concept of truth, of right and wrong, really is echoed in, and the origin of, every other individual sin that we commit.

On the other hand, there is the danger of going to the other extreme in the matter of “mortal sin.” All too often it seems that what constitutes a mortal sin is defined in narrower and narrower terms, giving one the impression that it is in only the most extreme of cases, the most serious of serious and grave of grave acts, deeds, etc., such as murder, etc. In so relegating mortal sin to the most extreme of cases, we forget that the most mortal sin of all (death for all mankind) really was not, on the surface, all that serious at all, but consisted of the seemingly innocuous act of eating a piece of fruit. We need to keep that in mind when we try to “justify” so many of our own sins as being “merely” venial sins because we subjectively believe them to not be all that serious.

In any event, it is good that, together with the revelation of God’s Name, the revelation of the Logos in the Gospel of John, and the revelation of God in and about the human body in the Creation accounts, that the fullness of the truth of the Fall is being discovered (or rediscovered) in the modern Church.

(cross-posted at "What is Original Sin?" at the Archdiocese of Washington Blog)
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1 comment:

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