Patrick Visconti | Loyola Marymount University (original) (raw)

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Papers by Patrick Visconti

Contemporary Christians, and non-Christians alike, have an issue with the doctrine of original si... more Contemporary Christians, and non-Christians alike, have an issue with the doctrine of original sin, and as Duffy points out in his essay Our Hearts of Darkness: Original Sin Revisited, " there is reason to feel uneasy with the term " original sin " " .1 To recapture the doctrine of Original Sin is to better understand both its origins and its current standing. Anyone living today, in a world filled wit catastrophe and tragedy, may find the doctrine of original sin to be both obvious and essential. Fr. Tom Rausch S.J. PhD believes there is today an overly optimistic view of humanity, and that an understanding of original sin has seemingly fallen away. This is a problematic, for original sin is perhaps the 'why' of Christianity. Original sin was formulated as a sort of Christology, and soteriology, and as an understanding of original sin has deteriorated, there has also been a lack of motive on the part those who grew up with a faith to care about their faith. Without a proper understanding of original sin Christianity, and religion as a whole, has been reduced to wish sending and help seeking. Life is confortable, especially for those living in the developed world, where technology has advanced to the point where wondering or questioning unrestrictedly is no longer necessary, one merely has to 'Google' something, or ask Siri for the answer. Understanding sinfulness, and by sinfulness is meant having missed the mark, is essential to future evangelization, for without a recapturing, or reinterpreting, perhaps even just a rewording, of this doctrine, Christ and the cross are merely one more life philosophy competing in a very pluralistic society. The intent of this paper is to thoroughly explore the history of the doctrine of original sin, to pay attention to the social movements which have fueled new interpretations and understandings of original sin, to summarize several contemporary understandings of original sin, and to finally attempt to say something regarding the nature of language and its connection, perhaps, to the genesis of sin in mankind.

Contemporary Christians, and non-Christians alike, have an issue with the doctrine of original si... more Contemporary Christians, and non-Christians alike, have an issue with the doctrine of original sin, and as Duffy points out in his essay Our Hearts of Darkness: Original Sin Revisited, " there is reason to feel uneasy with the term " original sin " " .1 To recapture the doctrine of Original Sin is to better understand both its origins and its current standing. Anyone living today, in a world filled wit catastrophe and tragedy, may find the doctrine of original sin to be both obvious and essential. Fr. Tom Rausch S.J. PhD believes there is today an overly optimistic view of humanity, and that an understanding of original sin has seemingly fallen away. This is a problematic, for original sin is perhaps the 'why' of Christianity. Original sin was formulated as a sort of Christology, and soteriology, and as an understanding of original sin has deteriorated, there has also been a lack of motive on the part those who grew up with a faith to care about their faith. Without a proper understanding of original sin Christianity, and religion as a whole, has been reduced to wish sending and help seeking. Life is confortable, especially for those living in the developed world, where technology has advanced to the point where wondering or questioning unrestrictedly is no longer necessary, one merely has to 'Google' something, or ask Siri for the answer. Understanding sinfulness, and by sinfulness is meant having missed the mark, is essential to future evangelization, for without a recapturing, or reinterpreting, perhaps even just a rewording, of this doctrine, Christ and the cross are merely one more life philosophy competing in a very pluralistic society. The intent of this paper is to thoroughly explore the history of the doctrine of original sin, to pay attention to the social movements which have fueled new interpretations and understandings of original sin, to summarize several contemporary understandings of original sin, and to finally attempt to say something regarding the nature of language and its connection, perhaps, to the genesis of sin in mankind.