#hamartiology

[iustuspeccator]

Pelagianism on the dash in 2025...it's been a heresy for 1607 years for a reason. humans cannot free themselves from sin nor perfect themselves, God justifies us and this frees us to turn from sin. We can't do it alone

We are born into original sin in the sense that even if you could somehow be sinless yourself, you are still caught in the web of human sin. you can't even buy clothes at the store without participating in someone's exploitation. Sin is inescapable except through God.

[entanglingbriars]

You've mentioned in the past that Eastern Christianity and some forms of Western Christianity (namely, Mormonism) reject original sin. That's one of those technically-true-but-misleading statements.

All forms of Christianity accept what non-theologians are usually talking about when they say "original sin": that humans are all mortal and sinful due to Adam's sin. What they reject is the specific Augustinian articulation of original sin (that fallen humans can do nothing but sin without grace, that all humans are personally guilty of Adam's sin, and that said guilt is sexually transmitted), which I suspect only traditional Western theologians, Calvinists and some particularly sex-hating Catholics believe today.

(

See, I think it's the other way around. I think originally you were right, the rejection was specifically the Augustinian articulation. But the Catholic Church, as far as I can tell, hasn't articulated the doctrine that way (particularly the transmission via sex) in ages. If that's the case, Eastern Orthodox Christians (among others) should say "We're so glad that the Church has rejected the dumb parts of the doctrine and now we're in agreement with them."

But they don't. The continue to say they reject original sin, which to me suggests the rejection is less about the Augustinian articulation and more about marking themselves as different from mainstream Western Christian thought.

Tagging @apenitentialprayer

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

In pursuit of that which is not love, in pursuit of selfishness, in pursuit of indifference or hate, one walks away from God, away from Life, and thus towards Death. 

[theexodvs]

Broke: Men make up most workplace fatalities because women don't want the dangerous jobs.

Woke: Patriarchy keeps women out of the more dangerous jobs and/or keeps men in.

Bespoke: Men make up most workplace fatalities because

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

Freedom comes at the price of slavery: slavery to decay or to right relationships, but you will be a slave nonetheless. To seize freedom is to seize your own enslavement; to willingly surrender yourself, out of love, to service is to open yourself up to true freedom. It is better to be a slave of the poorest tenant farmer than ruler over all the kings of the dead. If you will humble yourself and lay prostrate before the Throne of God, he will lift up your head and crown you in glory.

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

Evil is a pressure that shapes us to itself

Sophokles, Elektra

[theexodvs]

Anyone who insists that the Tanakh/Old Testament does not teach that humans are born sinful has clearly never read Psalm 51.

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

I find it interesting that me and one of my favorite theologians both absolutely hate hamartiology. We think it’s ugly and it kills. But for her that means not discussing it and for me that means discussing it constantly