David Bentley Hart on 'Original sin' Part 1

“Original sin” is - apparently - one of the bedrock doctrines of Christianity. But what exactly does it mean? This is how I began this discussion with David. Our main focus was Romans 5 and in particular verse 12 - the main ‘proof text’ for the doctrine of original sin. But before we got down into the details of that verse - we started with the big picture. What does ‘original sin’ mean? And in particular in what ways has it veered off into a rather dark and guilt-ridden picture of the human condition?

This discussion is so important that I decided to split the discussion in two. This one is the first half and covers the big picture. The next one will dive down into the radically different translation that David has offered of this verse - a translation that shifts the game significantly.

Frankly most Christians have no real ‘theory’ of sin and instead just rely on murky ideas that make them susceptible to manipulation and fears. This talk really clears the ground of this murkiness. David lays out two competing ideas of ‘original sin’ - and we discuss how the 'dark’ view prevailed to become the dominant - but wrong - view.

A couple of points that we mention in this discussion that you might want to look up. At one point we mention some of our favourite Thomas Hardy poems but we both struggled to remember their titles. One was ‘The Man He Killed’ and the other was the group of poignant poems Hardy wrote in memory of his dead wife Emma. They are called simply ‘Poems 1912-1913; Veteris Vestigia flammae’ or vestiges of an old flame. She died suddenly and they were slightly estranged when she died - so he had had no opportunity to say goodbye - hence he said goodbye in these heart wrenching poems. We also reference the esteemed Greek classical dictionary by Liddell and Scott - but I got confused for a moment with the epic histories of the First and Second World Wars by Sir Basil Liddel Hart…. and finally we both confessed our admiration for George Eliot’s Middlemarch - surely a candidate for greatest English language novel of all time - and in particular the agonising scene where the idealist young doctor, Lydgate, sells his soul and votes for the dark forces of commerce that he has spent his life contesting. All part of our discussion of the ‘system of sin and death’ in which we are all encumbered.

As you will find in this talk, David and I focus on ‘death’ as the great enemy of humanity not just ‘sin’. Hardy’s poems on the death of his wife, capture the emptiness of death and how it robs us of relationship. If you have never read them, try this poignant opening verse from ‘The Going’…

“Why did you give no hint that nightThat quickly after the morrow’s dawn,And calmly, as if indifferent quite,You would close your term here, up and be goneWhere I could not followWith wing of swallowTo gain one glimpse of you ever anon!”

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 In a few days time, we'll post the second half of this interview. We'll dive down into the text of Romans five, verse 12 in particular.

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