Autor: Ormerod, Neil

Buch: Creation, Grace, and Redemption

Titel: Creation, Grace, and Redemption

Stichwort: Erbsünde - universale Opferrolle; Beispiele: Thomas (Familienschande);

Kurzinhalt: The heart of the doctrine of original sin is arguably a statement about the universal victimhood of humankind. It is saying that in one way or another we are all the victims of another's (i.e., Adam's) sin.

Textausschnitt: ORIGINAL SIN AS OUR UNIVERSAL VICTIMHOOD

79a As we have already seen, there are many elements of the doctrine of original sin that have become part of our dogmatic tradition: debates about monogenism versus evolution, propagation versus imitation, notions of original justice, concupiscence, and so on. All these have their place; however, they can tend to obscure the key tension of the doctrine. The doctrine attempts to take a path between a position that understands the human condition as substantially affected by evil, trapped in an ontologically determined fate, a position we could label as Manichean, and a moral individualism that sees us each as the sole creator of our own drama, a position we could label as Pelagian.1

79b In order to mediate between these two unacceptable alternatives I want to focus on the basic elements of the story, the narrative of original sin. At its most basic level, I would state it thus:

1. Adam sinned (however we may understand this). From the beginning of human history sin has been part of our condition. (Fs)

2. Because of Adam's sin, we all suffer (however this suffering may be conceived). Sin has its consequences, not just for the one who sins but for all those around. (Fs)

About such a simple restatement there would perhaps be little debate. The question is, what conclusions do we and should we draw? I would like to argue that the simplest and most obvious conclusion would be as follows:
3. We are all the victims of Adam's sin. (Fs)

79c The heart of the doctrine of original sin is arguably a statement about the universal victimhood of humankind. It is saying that in one way or another we are all the victims of another's (i.e., Adam's) sin. (Fs)

79d I think that simply to state it in these terms is an important shift. The doctrine of original sin says that, prior to sinning, we are first and foremost sinned against. To be sinned against is to be a victim of another's sin. To be sinned against, especially in early childhood, is to enter into a condition of human brokenness, an interior shattering or distortion of consciousness that muddies our search for direction in the movement of life. To be sinned against in this way, to be thus broken, is the prior state that inclines us all to personal sins of our own. It is the weakness that undermines us; it creates what Sebastian Moore calls our inner "wobble," a weakened sense of our own worth, which inclines us, with a statistical inevitability, to sin.2

80a Vatican I enjoined theologians to find analogies for the mysteries of faith (DS 3016). On original sin Thomas Aquinas proposed an analogy of the family shame for a criminal forebear (ST I-II q. 18, a. 1). Such shame is real and has a real impact on the lives of those who come after. I would propose another analogy, one drawn more from contemporary literature and experience. The simplest analogy to the above interpretation of original sin is the situation of an abused child. The abused child is, first and foremost, sinned against. He or she is the victim of the parent's cruelty, however that may be expressed, physically, sexually, or emotionally. The consequences in the life of the child are frequently-unless there is some loving intervention by an "enlightened witness" (according to therapist Alice Miller)3-a life of sin, a repeated compulsion of violence toward, and abuse of, others and/or oneself, or some other of the myriad symptoms of a damaged sense of self-worth.4 Such sin is propagated from parent to child, to the seventh generation, and even beyond. (Fs)