Introduction
One of the primary purposes of religion is to achieve salvation and create equal conditions for all people in relation to God. However, as many canons exist, more questions about the holiness of human beliefs emerge. The conception of conceived and born in sin provokes multiple discussions, and people are ready to support and argue this idea. On the one hand, there is an opportunity to change human destiny and accomplish the desired forgiveness and peace. People can improve their families’ past and use their knowledge to live right. On the other hand, human depravity is hard to avoid because people are born in sin, making something evil their part. Since the first day of existence, an individual has been challenged by sin’s inevitability. The hospital chaplain experience enhances an understanding of the concept of being conceived and born in sin as a helpful basis for the human condition and a strong relationship between society and religion.
Original Sin Doctrine: A Spiritual Background
The idea that people are conceived, born, and live in sin is not new in Christianity. In the Bible, the story of Adam and Eve is known to many readers of different ages. The couple exposed themselves to the most terrible decision – they disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:7-10). Their punishment was the expulsion from the Garden of Eden and the inability to return. In Scripture, it is said, “for just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners” (Romans 5: 19). This eating of forbidden fruit is known as the original sin that “brought about the fall – tragic physical, social, and spiritual consequences for the entire human race” (Stump and Meister, 2019, p. 1). As a result, one sin provoked that each human decision made unconsciously or unfaithfully proved the sinfulness of a man and the holiness of God (Stump and Meister, 2019, p. 2). People could no longer co-exist in peace, which led to jealousy, betrayal, and fratricide. The meaning of this event remains significant for Christians because people have learned that there is always Satan that tempts and misleads.
This dogma underwent multiple changes with time, and stories were associated with other attitudes and understandings. However, the root problem remains the necessity to discuss the intention of a human to demonstrate independence and freedom even if all actions contradict the Creator’s plan. The image of God is the core of the Christian doctrine, but its promotion is never simple, even in defining the terms “image” and “likeliness” (Crisp, 2015, p. 217). Moreover, focusing on the concept of the image of God as a feature of the human condition, Crisp considers that people cannot bear the perfect image due to the original sin (Crisp, 2015, p. 225). In his sermons, John Wesley used Adam’s disobedience to show the essence of human nature and the cause of man’s wickedness (The sermons of John Wesley, no date, para 4). Mortal sin is not a single decision, action, or thought but a long-lasting process consisting of several steps different people take.
Philosophies Emerged after Scripture
The Bible served as the primary background for other movements and ideas that were developed around the theme of being conceived and born in sin. Many people offered their interpretations, critiques, and improvements to this doctrine during the following centuries. In the third century, Saint Augustine coined the term “original sin” and underlined its transmission to all Adam’s descendants (cited in Evans, 2021, p. 1). This idea is close to the words of David that he was “sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51: 5). Before this philosophy became the primary view, some Latin and Greek philosophers introduced their opinions about Adam’s disobedience. For example, Pelagius believed that original sin was not passed down to the next generations (cited in Evans, 2021, p. 5). Semi-Pelagian monks (Cassian) accepted the idea of the universality of sin, but they believed that humans could get salvation by going to God (cited in Muller, 2018, p. 10). Therefore, the doctrine of original sin has been discussed for a long time.
Still, the fact that sin made by Adam and Eve considerably shaped all individuals is never neglected in all religions. For instance, Hofman considers the Catholic doctrine of original sin a very significant part of theology, understanding of which can also contribute to exploring monogenism and polygenism (Hofman, 2020, p. 97). Today, people live under their own beliefs about this concept, which proves the development of other approaches within the same Scripture’s message. Some of them must be mentioned to demonstrate how the idea of being conceived and born in sin becomes a helpful tool in understanding the human condition from the hospital chaplain’s point of view.
Conceptions Before Augustine
When Adam and Eve were described as the first sinners, their disobedience got different interpretations. Although Scripture claimed that “just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, death came to all people,” not all theologians paid attention to this idea (Romans 5: 12). For instance, a Greek philosopher, Justin Martyr, totally ignored “the original sin as an explanation for the occurrence of evil” (Pătraşcu, 2018, p. 177). Such Latin thinkers as Tertullian tried to find more evidence in Scripture to prove human sins from birth. Tertullian believed that original sin had immense power on human existence and used the Bible to investigate the souls and intentions of the first sinners (Tornau, 2019, para. 29). St Cyprian considered it necessary to baptize the infants, who “had in no way sinned, except that being born after Adam, they had contracted contagion of the old death” (cited in Pătraşcu, 2018, p. 179). Therefore, there were several quite the opposite opinions about the first sin.
A man was God’s creation; therefore, God implied and approved childbirth. However, the conditions under which a man could have a child were sinful, which means that God makes sins possible in human life. Although “God created mankind” and “made them in the likeness of God,” Adam was able to have a son “in his own likeness, in his own image” (Genesis 5: 1, 3). The contradictions between these two statements continued bothering people for many centuries. On the one hand, all people were created by God’s will, including those whom God “foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Romans 8:29). On the other hand, God created sinless people that could bear His image. After sin, the perfect image became unachievable for humans (Crisp, 2015, p. 225). Thus, the initial understanding of the original sin was ambiguous and not clear.
It is hardly possible to explore the doctrine of the original sin without paying attention to the figure of Jesus Crist and his sacrifice. According to Saint Paul’s discussion, Jesus’s death was not a sin or a mistake but an obligatory stage in social growth when a sacrifice makes people free from their sins (Paul, 2018, p. 2030). In the second century, Justin Martyr, a Greek philosopher, made another attempt to reconsider the role of Jesus, his sacrifice, and the damage of God’s image in human life (Pătraşcu, 2018, p. 182). Jesus Crist’s sacrifice was made out of love for people and for the sake of cleansing them from sins.
Since earlier people more strived to address spiritual laws and lead a more meticulous and God-pleasing life, they were more ruthless to their mistakes and sins. People understood that death was not just a natural event but the only possible means to pay for a birth sin. “Adam is regarded as either the biological or the spiritual father of the human race”: his soul was sinful, as well as the souls of his children could not avoid sin (Dickin, 2019, p. 243). Thus, the interpretation of conceived and born in sin was not perfect because some representatives of this faith accepted the possibility of being born free from sin but being biased toward sinning by their heritage.
Latin Fathers addressed original guilt not in relation to sex or reproduction but to the decision to disobey God’s will. They believed that sin is a part of human life, but they did not have a plan on how to get rid of their sins (Muller, 2018, p. 10). Therefore, the following stage of religious studies, which included Augustine’s teaching, would help understand the human condition after being conceived and born in sin.
The Theory of Original Sin by Augustine
Several centuries after people learned about Adam’s and Eve’s stories, their temptations, and inherent sinfulness for humanity, the theory of original sin was developed. Its author, Saint Augustine, was one of the most known Christian philosophers, whose influence on people could be noticed even today (Tornau, 2019, para.1). One of his works, “On the Free Choice of the Will,” discussed human free will and the importance of moral responsibility. He believed that free will was an obligatory requirement for humanity to distinguish between good and evil, saint and sinful (Augustine, 2010, p. 16). The thinker “philosophizes on the harmony (however contradictory) between “predestination” and “liberty” and between “fatality” and “free will” (Pătraşcu, 2018, p. 179). God’s love was given from the very first days in Heaven, but people found it was not enough to be satisfied (Augustine, 2010, p. 204). They were obsessed with making independent decisions without even noticing how they supported the penetration of original sin into their lives.
Augustine was interested in how original sin could be transmitted between generations and used the concept of sexual concupiscence. God’s grace that makes “a human who previously had an evil will have a good will” is hope for a better life, and sexual thoughts prevented from following it (Augustine, 2010, p. 167). Changes in the human soul were not physical action but spiritual transformations of many people. Augustine believed that “human nature was itself damaged in original sin, leaving all human beings with an irreconcilable opposition of spirit and flesh” (Augustine, 2010, p. 15). In Christian beliefs, Adam and Eve were not sinful from their birth, and they happily lived before they ate the fruit. Thus, Augustine mentioned that sexual concupiscence was not a sin in the paradise created by God (Augustine, 2010, p. 23). Evans (2021, p. 2) considers that disobedience is the essence of sin and agrees with Augustine that broken rules created the environment in which all his children inherited Adam’s guilt. Such change explained why all sexual intentions, volitions, and lust were allowed by God but became bad qualities after disobedience.
Despite Augustine’s approach and an evolutionary explanation of Adam’s sin, many communities faced difficulties understanding original sin and its impact through time. It was hard to learn why one sin led to sinful generations and deprived people of a chance to live without sins (Pătraşcu, 2018, p. 173). The position of Augustine is that all humans are sinful and take their first step to death, which is another terrible sin that is impossible to avoid (Augustine, 2010, p. 131). In other words, “the inherited corruption of the soul leaves an uncontrollable inclination to sin” (Evans, 2021, p. 2). At the same time, Augustine wanted to give people some hope that sin could be redeemed, and baptism at an early age was a common practice in his era, and it is today.
Cassian’s Approach
The statement of Augustine created multiple discussions and controversies among the representatives of different churches. Some people, for instance, such theologians as Aquinas, were ready to accept original sin as a spiritual inevitability. Others, primarily Semi-Pelagians – thinkers with “soteriology distinct from Pelagianism but viewed as perilously close to a Pelagian approach to salvation” – thought about ways of improving their lives and finding God’s support (Muller, 2018, p. 9). John Cassian, the most well-known member of the Semi-Pelagian movement, was one of such monks who believed that if a man strived for redemption and God’s approval, this outcome was possible. He united different aspects of Scripture and defined controversies that could be applied against Augustine’s arguments (Colombo, 2021, p. 72).
In Cassian’s (1894, p. 61, 352) understanding, human nature is sinful, but never totally; there is always some space for redemption. Sin was a spiritual transformation, while death was a physical change. However, being “a spiritual substance,” sin cannot be related to physical aspects of human life (Cassian, 1894 p. 67). Therefore, a transition should replace physical outcomes (death) with spiritual beliefs (soul in Heaven or Hell).
This approach suggests that the worth of Hell and Heaven was revealed, and people realized that their current decisions and achievements did not determine their present but contributed to their future with or without God. The human soul is neither good nor evil: “it should not be held that God has made man such that he can never will or be capable of what is good” (Cassian, 1894, p. 208). Individuals have their free wills and a chance to use them, either right or wrong. According to Cassian (1894, p. 208), after the fall, a human discovered evil, but initially, God created man “upright;” therefore, they are still capable of doing good acts. If everything is done right, it is possible to obtain God’s grace. Thus, Cassian disagreed with David, who thought that “his sin was always before him” (Psalm 51: 3, 6). This doctrine claims that divine intervention was possible to offer salvation and options for people.
Instead of using the already offered ideas and statements, Cassian showed how to interpret Scripture and disagree with one of the most prominent philosophers of the 300s. His position and “ascetic techniques of truth-telling” were not right or wrong, as it was just another way to demonstrate how ambiguous and unpredictable human beliefs could be (Colombo, 2021, p. 72). People could not neglect the fact that sins happen in their lives, but it is an independent decision of everyone and a question of faith if salvation and forgiveness are possible through the years. Therefore, it would be wrong to discard Cassian’s opinion since people can believe it is possible to atone for original sin and qualify for salvation.
Catholic Church about Original Sin and the Image of Mary and Christ
People need a solid background to learn that their sins may be erased and God approves their free will. The representatives of the Catholic Church described the peculiarities of baptism as evidence of Christ’s grace on Earth (Evans, 2021, p. 4). They do not exclude the power of original sin and its presence in humans from their birth. However, the Catechism of the Catholic Church claims: “it is in Christ, the divine image, disfigured in man by the first sin, has been restored to its original beauty” (cited in Crisp, 2015, p. 219). Adam was the first man who sinned and lost God’s grace and immortality, challenging not only himself but other humans. As a result, all of Adam’s and Eve’s descendants were deprived of holiness and immortal powers (Pătraşcu, 2018, p. 173). In addition, Adam continued his falling by creating other humans according to his image, “defaced” due to his sinful nature (Crisp, 2015, p. 225). The feeling of guilt is transmitted to all people and explains the fallen nature, suffering, and death.
In this case of sin inevitability, the Catholic Church must protect its members and create a plan according to which salvation and protection are possible. Believers need a savior, and Jesus Christ becomes a well-known example born without original sin. Christ’s mother, Mary, was a virgin, and God blessed the woman with a child to be conceived without sin and sexual desire. This child was “the fulfillment of promises and prophecies included in what Christians now call the Old Testament” (Pătraşcu, 2018, p. 170). Joseph was supposed to marry Mary, but getting to learn that she was pregnant, he could not believe that this child was “from the Holy Spirit” and “will save all people” (Mathew 1: 20-21). Joseph realized his and his wife’s mission only after the angel came to the man in his sleep and explained everything. It was the way of how Jesus was born in Mary and Joseph’s family, avoiding original sin. A holy person was born, no sin was made, and no grace was lost.
The story of Jesus plays a vital role in understanding Adam’s sin through the prism of the Catholic Church. In addition, another religious rite was introduced to help people confess their sins and erase the impact of Adam’s disobedience. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, baptism – a process that takes away original sin – has one of the central places (Pătraşcu, 2018, p. 170). In the Jordan River, John baptized people with “water for repentance,” but John said Jesus would baptize “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Mathew 3:11). The Spirit of God came to Earth and said that Jesus was his beloved son, with whom he was pleased. Baptism became a symbol of regenerating for a new Christian life and God’s service (Pătraşcu, 2018, p. 169). Therefore, it turned out to be an obligatory Catholic process.
In this way, the Catholic Church recognized original sin and the practice of how to ask for forgiveness and find out God’s grace. The Catechism of the Catholic Church was built where “by virtue of his soul and his spiritual powers of intellect and will, man is endowed with freedom” (cited in Crisp, 2015, p. 219). God remains the symbol of power and omnipotence, while human beings possess the physical body that is weak and damaged and an immaterial substance, soul, that is immortal and divine.
Modern Attitudes Toward Human Sin
Today, the opinion about original sin and its impact on human activities is not stable. Some people have enough reasons to deny its reality and use evolution for disproval. The interpretation of the Bible may be developed in a variety of ways. The traditional Christian approach includes restoring God’s image “obtains through the redemptive work of Christ,” and baptism through the Holy Spirit supports regeneration (Crisp, 2015, p. 226). Parents try to baptize their children at an early age and protect them from outside evil, damage, and vices (Pătraşcu, 2018, p. 170). However, the reasons and conditions under which people take this step vary from those the Church and the Bible describe.
The meaning of baptism among ordinary people is slightly distorted to date. It is considered a way to protect children, a symbol of “the coming into the world of a new member,” “a sacralization of its existence” (Pătraşcu, 2018, p. 170). However, understanding Christ, the Church, and the Holy Spirit is necessary for human revelation and salvation (Soskice, 2008, p. 36). The representatives of the Church need to underline that baptism is not for the child’s salvation from Hell but to wash off original sin and recognize the threat of disobedience using Adam’s example.
At the same time, one should remember that it is wrong to identify the concept of original sin in the Catholic context only. Although Judaism and Islam, for instance, reject the idea of original sin transmitted to all people, other religions, like Christianity, need a Savior, which makes an original sin a critical matter (Addai-Mensah, 2020, p. 108). Some theologians do not find much proof about Adam and Eve as sinners: Locker considers that sin was older than Adam and Eve since the first sinner was Satan (Addai-Mensah, 2020, p. 107). Still, in most cases, original sin is used to excuse the suffering and pain that innocent babies or faithful believers experience. God must be interpreted as love and reciprocity of the human condition and differences (Soskice, 2008, p.57). Unfortunately, human mistakes happen to be, and the task is to prevent them and understand why something terrible occurs. Lack of reasons and substantial evidence to prove human mistakes make original sin sufficient for religious beliefs and studies.
Healthcare and Religion Context
Analyzing the concept of conceived and born in sin allows a better understanding of the human condition in a specific context of modern health care. Millions of people spend enough time in hospitals, dealing with their health problems or supporting family members or friends. Choosing a profession of a generic hospital chaplain at the National Health Trust Hospital helps me observe how people treat original sin. In addition, I can learn how to deal with the consequence that human beings must live with their sinful and broken natures. The original sin that “opens and closes the circle of the human condition” is not just some inherited disease or defect in the human body (Pătraşcu, 2018, p. 176). People should accept sinning as the condemnation of the fault made by ancestors (Evans, 2021, p. 1). True believers know that they cannot change the past, but they could behave appropriately in the present and promote a safe future for generations.
There are many cases in health care and medicine practice when families experience extreme pain when losing babies at a young age or even newborns. People, including doctors with their professional background knowledge, are not always ready to accept the truth and support them. Some medical explanations and facts could be used for situations. However, when a patient is lost, there must be something more spiritual and personal to support and survive such terrible change. Some brokenness inside makes people feel that everything is not the way it should be. Parents bury their children, newborns die without living in the world to its possible extent, and families sometimes must pay high care bills to correct their challenging physical appearance or treat disease. It seems that some unexplainable powers affect human lives, and the idea of original sin becomes evident (Addai-Mensah, 2020, p. 107). A child enters this world without having a chance to do something but being conceived and born in sin is Adam’s heritage that is impossible to avoid.
Using the offered conception, I could improve my work and provide supportive information to patients and their families. I support the women and children wards where some families lose their children regardless of the gestation age. One of the most common questions that I hear is “Why?”. It is hard for people to accept the reality: they “feel rejected by God” and want to know why they deserve something terrible happening to them (Cook, 2021, p. 3). Understanding the human condition through original sin due to which “human beings lose normal life and happiness” is the possible way to give at least some answer (Law, P. et al., 2021, p. 26). People must believe that their responsibility in front of God is great, and they can do something in the future to help others.
Human suffering has many backgrounds and reasons, but sometimes, it is impossible to explain the progress of mental health disorders. People use such words as “destiny,” “genes,” and “family history” to prove that they do nothing wrong to provoke these challenges. In fact, all these causes are rooted in original sin and God’s grace toward people. Cook (2020, p.169) investigates this topic and concludes that the concerns of mental health experts overlap with religion in many ways. Therefore, theologians consider that most problems and diseases are caused by sin.
A theological interpretation of the human condition for patients, families, and hospital staff is an obligatory part of care. Punishment for original sin is a potent cause of why innocent people, primarily children, must feel pain and even die (Pătraşcu, 2018, p. 177). The Christian position that everyone is sinful since birth is hard and unfair when looking at an innocent tiny baby who cannot walk, sit, or talk. However, religious studies and the Bible show that God made multiple attempts to protect humanity and offer the best conditions for living. It was a human decision to disobey, try something else, and allow the temptation to penetrate the human soul. Original sin is insidious and unforgivable, and chaplains in hospitals should be ready to use it as a reasonable basis for understanding the human condition.
Conclusion
People need many things in their life, but care and religion are the most crucial aspects because they promote healing at physical and spiritual levels. When a person cannot understand the human condition from a scientific or biological point of view, it is high time to address the Bible and search for some answers there. The conception of original sin is one of the oldest themes in Christianity. Many people believe that their suffering, disease, and death could be explained as an outcome of Adam’s and Eve’s sin and disobedience. Thus, conceived and born in sin, humans must live and prove that they deserve God’s grace and forgiveness. Baptism, communion, and confession are the steps for a person to recognize personal sins and pay for original sin. When a chaplain visits a patient in the hospital, it is necessary to listen, support, and give explanations, using original sin and heritage as the only fair and unbiased idea.
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