“Original sin is an Augustine Christian doctrine that says that everyone is born sinful. This means that they are born with a built-in urge to do bad things and to disobey God. It is an important doctrine within the Roman Catholic Church.”
Genesis 1:26-31
“26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,<span class="footnote" data-fn="#fen-NIV-26a" data-link="[a]” data-mce-style=”font-size: 0.625em; line-height: normal; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; top: auto; display: inline;” style=”font-size: 0.625em; line-height: normal; position: relative; vertical-align: text-top; top: auto; display: inline;”>[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Genesis 2:7
“7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
God created the universe. He created man. He saw that it was good. St. Augustine and much of modern Christianity that took on his doctrine of original sin would argue that Adam enacted the curse of original. People take that to an extreme that man at the core is sinful and even evil. But I think this conflicts with God breathing his breath into man and seeing his creation as good.
How could something be sinful at the core? To have life I believe we must have the breath or spirit of God which is good. I truly believe that at the core we are good.
I think this is important because the doctrine of original sin can lead people to not trust themselves and their inner knowing or the Holy Spirit. Christians sometimes use this doctrine as a weapon of control, gaslighting, and power. “Don’t believe your intuition, but what the Bible says” which is ultimately that person’s interpretation of the Bible.
Of course we also have the ego which distorts or covers up the Holy Spirit. But that is the journey of growth or surrender to the spirit within. By making conscious the unconscious we expose the lies and protection mechanisms of the ego and dissolve it so that we can live in the oneness of the truth of God and who he created us to be.
The more we lean into this inner work the more confident in our connection to the Spirit and less likely to be swayed or hurt by others who project their own issues onto us. Its a beautiful, messy, and ultimately rewarding journey.