Autor: Ormerod, Neil

Buch: Creation, Grace, and Redemption

Titel: Creation, Grace, and Redemption

Stichwort: Erbsünde - Theologie heute; Ätiologie, 4 Grundaussagen (von Anfang an, Ursprung nicht in Gott, Ausweitung, Erlösung); Exegeten vs. Augustinus: Rom 5:12; Rahner

Kurzinhalt: ... the story of the fall in Genesis 3 is an etiological myth for the origins of sin and suffering in what we believe to be a good creation. It expresses in mythological terms four important truths: 1. Sin has been part of the human story ...

Textausschnitt: CONTEMPORARY REFLECTION ON ORIGINAL SIN

77a Today most biblical scholars would argue that the literary form of the material in Genesis 2-3 is myth. This is not to say that it is untrue, but this identifies the literary form through which the biblical truth is conveyed. There are clear mythological elements in the story-the tree of life, the tree of knowledge, the serpent, the angel guarding the way back to Eden-that need to be read according to the canons of myth, not legendary or historical narrative. In particular, the story of the fall in Genesis 3 is an etiological myth for the origins of sin and suffering in what we believe to be a good creation. It expresses in mythological terms four important truths:
1. Sin has been part of the human story "from the beginning," however that beginning might be measured. There is no time in human history when we have not suffered from the problem of evil. (Fs)

2. The origin of sin lies not in God or in some cosmic struggle between good and evil, but in human actions and decision. Seeking to shift the blame onto someone or something else is in fact part of the problem of sin itself. (Fs)
3. Once sin enters into the human story its effects spread and grow leaving no one untouched by its consequences. "From the beginning" no one can claim exemption or claim to be untouched by sin. (Fs)
4. Despite the fact of human sinfulness, God has not abandoned human beings to their fate. Rather, God continues to care for them and work for their good (Gen 3:21)

77b The Genesis account of itself does not necessarily imply any inherited sin or guilt, but it does suggest that the consequences of sin extend well beyond the individual who sins. No precise content can be assigned to the nature of any primal sin, though Rene Girard has pointed to persistent and widespread mythological accounts of a primal murder, as is narrated in Genesis 4, the story of Cain and Abel.1

77c Similarly, Scripture scholars find little merit in Augustine's interpretation of Romans 5:12 as providing a basis for any notion of inherited sin or guilt. Rather than positing a primal sin in Adam, in whom we all sin through some mysterious human solidarity, they tend to see a fairly factual statement that we all sin, and because we have all sinned, death has spread to all (on the connection between sin and death, see chapter 8). Further, they emphasize the christological context of Paul's argument, which highlights not the sin of Adam but the overwhelming gift of grace brought about by the obedience of Jesus Christ.2

78a Similarly, systematic theologians have sought to understand the doctrine of original sin in new ways that are not tied to a premodern worldview. We shall consider three approaches before presenting a further refinement on this difficult topic. (Fs)

Dutch theologian Alfred Vanneste has suggested that we should think of original sin simply in terms of the universality of actual sin.3 The universality of sin is simply a brute fact that finds no extra explanation in terms of a prior condition or inclination to sin in the person. We need to look for nothing deeper in our understanding of the traditional teaching. Such a position eliminates any specific notion of original sin per se, and it seems difficult to reconcile with church teachings that distinguish original sin from actual sin, particularly those that refer to the baptism of infants. (Fs)

78b Karl Rahner, on the other hand, has suggested that we should think of original sin as an existential, that is, a permanent element, of human consciousness, an empirical given that constitutes our concrete human existence. Using his distinction between the transcendental and the historical, Rahner sees original sin in terms of the deprivation of sanctifying grace which was meant to be mediated historically by the "first man," Adam, taken here as representative of the first human beings. This failure in the historical mediation of grace results in a sinful situation, or "sin of the world,"into which all human persons are born. This is the way in which original sin is propagated to all human beings. As an existential, original sin should be identified not in terms of a human history of sinfulness but in terms of the impact of that history on human consciousness. Moreover, it is not the only such existential for Rahner, for there is also the supernatural existential, which orients us dynamically to God. The history of humanity is, then, the struggle and conflict between these two existentials.4

78c A fruitful approach, adopted by British theologian Sebastian Moore, has been to explore the impact of the history of sinfulness of human consciousness through the categories of modern psychology.5 This is the approach I shall be following in the section below. (Fs)