The Original Sin of the Progenitors of Mankind from the Standpoint of Law and Common Sense

Abstract

Since the emergence of Christianity, the church (both Catholic and Orthodox) has permanently inspired parishioners and laypeople that the progenitors of mankind committed a grave sin in Eden (they disobeyed God’s instructions not to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil), which all representatives of the human race inherited. Therefore, every person bears the seal of this original sin from the moment of birth, which is why everyone needs to regularly attend church and turn with a penitent prayer to the Almighty, begging forgiveness before the Creator for this (as well as for others) sin. For these purposes, the Fathers and teachers of the church have even developed special prayers. Adam and Eve undoubtedly violated God’s prohibition. But can this disobedience of theirs be qualified as the original sin, the black seal of which lies on all mankind? This, as well as other complex spiritual and moral issues arising from the paradigms established in Christianity on the problem raised, constitutes the subject of the research in this article. In it, the author made an attempt through the prism of the appeals of the Old and New Testaments, natural and positive law to find intelligible answers to the questions posed through a logical and semantic analysis of the relevant provisions of the Bible.