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Reflection on the Doctrine of Original Sin in Romans 5 We Have The Reflection on the Doctrine of Original Sin in Romans 5 We have the privilege to reflect on the fifth chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans on this 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Not including the four Gospels, this letter of Paul’s—his opus magnum—probably is the most important text in the New Testament. Romans 5 has been one of the most crucial passages in the history of our Western (Latin) theological traditions. Sometimes it is said that the Catholic Church uses the sacred scriptures to define Catholic doctrines. In reality, it is quite RARE that the Church ever did that. Romans 5:12-14 is one of those rare instances: “Through one man [Adam] sin entered the world, and thus death came to all, in as much as all sinned.” In line with the patristic traditions, especially those of North Africa, the Council of Trent (16th century) has referred to this passage to formulate the doctrine of the transmission of original sin in its Decretum de Peccato Originali… To the best of my knowledge, only a few other scriptural texts have been used to support Catholic doctrines. For example, one can think of John 6 as whole when speaking of the Real Presence of the Eucharist. One more example has to do with the doctrine of papal infallibility in the dogmatic constitution Pastor Aeternus of the First Vatican Council (1869-70) and its link to Luke 22:32, with Jesus saying to Peter: “Simon I have prayed that your faith may not fail, and when you have turned back you must strengthen the faith of your brothers.” Peter’s “brothers” refers to the bishops; and it is Peter (the Pope) who must strengthen their faith—thus, he is endowed with this gift of infallibility… How about the teaching on contraception? In the past, the Church has referred to the story of Onan (Genesis 38) to oppose any form of “onanism.” Onan, the son of Judah, married his older brother’s wife when the latter died. Whenever he had relations with her, Onan would “withdraw” and wasted his seeds on the ground. Of course the Lord God was not pleased with Onan’s actions. In our Catholic traditions, “onanism,” especially contraception, has always been considered an “intrinsic evil.” The famous encyclical by Pope Pius XI Casti Connubii (1930) uses that Onan story to combat contraception. The even more famous encyclical Humanae Vitae (1968) by Paul VI once again reaffirms the evil of contraception. HOWEVER, Humanae Vitae does not refer to Onan at all in its teaching against contraception. That was due to a renewal in biblical interpretation/ scholarship after Vatican II: Onan did not want to have children with his brother’s wife NOT because he was against procreation, but because he knew that the children would not be his, but his brother’s. In any case, the point here is that the Church does not use that story anymore as a biblical basis for the teaching against contraception. With the lengthy discussion above, I hope the readers of my columns can understand what it means when I say that it is quite rare that the Church uses scriptural texts in regards to doctrines. Anyway, coming back to Romans 5: actually there is nothing mentioned about “original sin” in this passage. We must be careful NOT to read too much into the biblical text. The concept peccatum originale really had its origin, not from St. Paul, but from St. Augustine and his North African traditions. Augustine held that the sin of Adam, which he called “original sin,” was imputed to all of Adam’s descendents: thus, we were all born with it. That discussion took place in the context of the debates between Augustine and the Pelagians, who were more optimistic about human nature. In line with Augustine, the North African bishops held a few local councils that had lasting effects in the Western theological traditions. Today as we reflect on this very important teaching in our Catholic faith, we call to mind once again the universality of the sin of the old man Adam. However, we also call to mind the grace given by Christ, the new man. This grace is infinitely greater than the old sin. Augustine calls this original sin the felix culpa, or the “happy fault.” That is why Paul the Apostle is able to say: “where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more.” .
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