What Does Eastern Orthodoxy Say About Original Sin?

[1054]

Thank you for that. I wasn't sure it would be helpful but decided to err on the side of basic. 

 

Time for some nutshells:

 

Orthodox believe that Adam and Eve fell from innocence when they chose to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. 'When you eat thereof you shall surely die.' And yep, sin and death were introduced into creation. Adam and Eve had to leave the garden and they began to live life as we now experience it, separation from God, the tendency toward sin, having to work, sickness, and eventual death. They also had babies and the babies grew up in this same experience, and so on until Christ.  

 

Roman Catholics, according to both my (Orthodox) catechesis and my RC friends in casual conversation and when directly asked, believe those same three first sentences. But then it takes a swerve off the Orthodox understanding. Adam and Eve, having now deliberately separated themselves from God, are somehow marked or 'stained' by their transgression. Humanity itself is in a state of something called sin. When they leave the garden, therefore, and begin having babies out in the world, their babies are necessarily also marked by sin. How is the sin transmitted? Through sex; therefore anyone who participates in sex is in collusion with sin, and from there the whole thing takes on a life of its own with the help of people like St. Augustine and you have the whole of Western civilisation affected by this one seemingly trivial difference.

 

There are more related thoughts, especially on how these views affect how we go about our sacramental life in the Church, and what we believe salvation looks like, but I'd be interested to hear others' thoughts on this first.

I was under the impression that the idea that sin was transmitted through sex was first brought in (or at least widespread) by Saint Augustine.  Whether or not it has ever been an official teaching of the Catholic Church I do not know.  Without doubt it has greatly influenced Western thought.  It may be worth noting that with time Saint Augustine softened many of his views. 

Years ago I read Father Seraphim Rose's work, "The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox Church".  Father Seraphim had a great love for Saint Augustine and I remember being hugely impressed by this book.  It seems it might be high time for me to revisit it...