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S14 reasoning: Original sin: guilt or corruption

Reasoning steps: Original sin: guilt or corruption

Verdicts: S14 · Original sin: guilt or corruption. Shared notes and post-750 development: original-sin.

S14.1 (was original-sin/O2): Inherited guilt vs. inherited corruption

Step S14.1.1: Scripture

Rom 5:12, 18–19 (κατεστάθησαν ἁμαρτωλοί); Eph 2:3.

Step S14.1.2: Patristic evidence

Guilt-like: cyprian-osn-s1 (“sins of another” remitted to infants), augustine-osn-s1, councils-carthage-orange-osn-s1. Corruption and mortality: athanasius-osn-s1, chrysostom-osn-s1.

Step S14.1.3: Weighing decision

Reading A: inherited guilt is the universal patristic teaching. Reading B: only corruption and mortality are inherited, and guilt is an Augustinian innovation. Reading C: the East stresses corruption and mortality, while a Western line, pre-Augustinian (Cyprian, c. 253), already speaks of remitting another’s sin in infants. C is chosen. Cyprian’s council rules out B’s claim that Augustine invented the idea. Chrysostom’s explicit gloss (“liable to punishment … not from his own self”) rules out A. Note that Chrysostom still says “liable to punishment”, so even the Greek reading has a penal element.

  • Confidence: Medium–high

Step S14.1.4: Source-proximity weighing

See the proximity tiers.

  • Scripture (benchmark): Rom 5:18–19 (‘condemnation for all’; κατεστάθησαν ἁμαρτωλοί); Eph 2:3 (‘by nature children of wrath’): some inherited condemnation, not only mortality. (Scripture confidence: medium-high)
  • Key sources by tier: Cyprian (T3, w 0.6); Chrysostom (T3, w 0.6); Augustine (T3, w 0.6). Proximity factor: 0.6 (mean tier weight of 3 key source(s)).
  • Assessment: The earliest Western witness to an inherited condition remitted in infants is Cyprian (T3). Eph 2:3 and Rom 5:18–19 give the benchmark more support for inherited condemnation than the Eastern ‘mortality only’ reading allows. The modern Orthodox denial of any inherited liability lacks both biblical support and support in Chrysostom. Federal imputation as a formulated scheme is post-750, though Rom 5’s Adam–Christ parallel supports it. Verdict unchanged.

S14.2 (was original-sin/O3): Rom 5:12, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ

Step S14.2.1: Scripture

Greek ἐφ᾽ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον. In NT usage (2 Cor 5:4; Phil 3:12) it most likely means “because” or “inasmuch as”. The Latin in quo (“in whom”) is a possible reading but a less natural one (lexical survey to verify).

Step S14.2.2: Patristic evidence

augustine-osn-s2.

Step S14.2.3: Weighing decision

Reading A: “in whom”, referring to Adam. Reading B: “because all sinned”. B is chosen on the Greek. But Augustine’s doctrine does not rest only on in quo. It also rests on Rom 5:18–19, Eph 2:3, infant baptism and Cyprian. A reading error does not overturn the doctrine.

  • Confidence: Medium–high (lexical); medium (impact)

Step S14.2.4: Source-proximity weighing

See the proximity tiers.

  • Scripture (benchmark): Not scored against Scripture: ἐφ᾽ ᾧ most likely means ‘because’. A lexical point; no tradition’s doctrine stands or falls on it.
  • Key sources by tier: Augustine (T3, w 0.6). Proximity factor: 0.6 (mean tier weight of 1 key source(s)).
  • Assessment: A lexical point. Proximity is irrelevant to Greek grammar. Verdict unchanged.

S14.3 (was original-sin/O4): Free will after the fall; Augustine versus the East

Step S14.3.1: Scripture

John 8:34; Rom 7–8; Deut 30:19.

Step S14.3.2: Patristic evidence

chrysostom-osn-s1, augustine-osn-s1; see also salvation S2.

Step S14.3.3: Weighing decision

Reading: the East keeps a weakened but functioning free will and treats the fall as illness and mortality. Augustine treats it as condemnation plus a vitiated nature that needs grace even to begin to will. This is a real difference of emphasis, not a contradiction on the essentials. Both affirm the fall, the need for grace, and infant baptism.

  • Confidence: Medium

Step S14.3.4: Source-proximity weighing

See the proximity tiers.

  • Scripture (benchmark): Rom 8:7–8 (‘cannot please God’); Eph 2:1 (‘dead’); John 6:44; against that, Deut 30:19. (Scripture confidence: medium)
  • Key sources by tier: Chrysostom (T3, w 0.6); Augustine (T3, w 0.6). Proximity factor: 0.6 (mean tier weight of 2 key source(s)).
  • Assessment: The sources are T3. Scripture’s inability language (Rom 8:7–8; Eph 2:1) is stronger than the ’emphasis only’ verdict suggests, but that verdict reports the fathers. Verdict unchanged.