Bible & Christianity › Creation & the patriarchs › Creation of the world (Genesis 1–2)
Sin and original sin
Genesis 3; 'original sin' defined by Augustine c. AD 400· Teaching or doctrine· Church, doctrine & the world
Faith & scriptureHeld by believers on faith and scripture; history can neither confirm nor rule it out.
Sin is wrongdoing against God; 'original sin' is the teaching that the Fall damaged every human born since Adam.
See it on the Bible & Christianity map →What it is
The Hebrew Bible's main word for sin, chata, means 'to miss the mark'. Genesis shows it spreading at once: Cain murders his brother Abel (Genesis 4). Paul wrote that 'sin came into the world through one man' (Romans 5:12). Around AD 400 Augustine of Hippo argued that everyone inherits Adam's guilt and cannot be good without God's grace. Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants differ on how deep the damage goes.
Why it matters
It defines the problem Christianity says Christ solves: if all have sinned, all need salvation. It also shaped infant baptism and Western ideas of human nature.
Faith and history
The doctrine's history is traceable in texts: Genesis 3, Romans 5, then Augustine's writings against Pelagius, upheld by the Council of Carthage in 418. Judaism reads Genesis without inherited guilt.
Questions and debates
Orthodox Christians speak of 'ancestral sin', inherited mortality rather than guilt; Calvinists teach 'total depravity'. Exactly how sin passes down is still debated.
Connections (4)
▸Adam and Eve and the Fall introduced Sin and original sinFaith & scripture
The connection
By eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve break the one rule God gave. Genesis shows the consequences spreading: blame, shame, expulsion, then Cain's murder of Abel. Paul later reads this as the entry point of sin and death into all humanity (Romans 5:12).
When and where
Genesis 3, in Eden; developed by Paul around AD 57 and by Augustine in North Africa around AD 400.
How do we know?
The link is textual and theological. Genesis 3 never actually uses the word 'sin'; it first appears in Genesis 4:7, with Cain.
Questions and debates
Judaism reads Eden as a tale of human choice, not inherited guilt. Christian traditions disagree on whether Adam's guilt, or only his mortality, passes to everyone.
▸Sin and original sin is the reason Genesis gives for Noah's Ark and the FloodFaith & scripture
The connection
Genesis 6:5 says God saw that 'every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually' and regretted making humans. Violence filled the earth, so the Flood is presented as judgment and a fresh start, sparing only righteous Noah.
When and where
Genesis 6:1–13, ten generations after Adam by the family tree in Genesis 5.
How do we know?
The cause is stated in the text. By contrast, the older Babylonian Atrahasis epic says the gods sent the flood because humans were too noisy.
Questions and debates
The strange story just before, of 'sons of God' marrying human women (Genesis 6:1–4), may be part of the reason; who they were is debated.
▸Sin and original sin is the problem answered by Salvation through ChristFaith & scripture
The connection
Genesis 3 tells how Adam and Eve's disobedience brought death and broke humanity's bond with God. Paul pairs Adam and Christ directly: 'as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive' (1 Corinthians 15:22; Romans 5:12–19). Salvation is Christianity's answer to the problem sin creates.
When and where
Paul's letters to Corinth (about AD 54) and Rome (about AD 57); Augustine developed it around AD 400 into the doctrine of original sin.
How do we know?
The link is made explicitly in the New Testament. As theology it is a faith claim; history can only trace how the idea developed.
Questions and debates
Churches differ on what is inherited: Catholics and Protestants, following Augustine, speak of inherited guilt or corruption; Orthodox stress inherited mortality instead. Jewish readers of Genesis see no 'original sin'.
▸Augustine of Hippo (Confessions, City of God) shaped the doctrine of Sin and original sinHistorical record
The connection
Augustine coined the phrase 'original sin' (around 396) and argued that Adam's sin passed both guilt and a damaged will to every descendant through birth. He leaned on the Latin text of Romans 5:12, 'in whom all sinned'. His view, sharpened against the monk Pelagius, became standard teaching in the Western church.
When and where
Hippo, North Africa, about 396–430; the Council of Carthage (418) condemned Pelagius, and the Council of Orange (529) endorsed a moderate form of Augustine's view.
Historical evidence
Augustine's own writings, especially To Simplician (c. 396) and his works against Pelagius, show the doctrine taking shape; the council records confirm its adoption.
Questions and debates
The Greek of Romans 5:12 likely means 'because all sinned', not 'in whom'. Eastern Orthodox speak of inherited mortality ('ancestral sin') rather than inherited guilt.