Innokenty of Alaska “The first man, having been created in the image and likeness of his Creator, had the most vital and close relationship with Him and therefore enjoyed total happiness. God, having created Adam in His image and likeness, endowed him with many of His qualities. The most important of these was immortality. God, […]
Ancestral Sin
Amazing Grace of the Council of Orange
The Council of Orange (529 AD) was an outgrowth of the controversy between Augustine and Pelagius. This controversy had to do with degree to which a human being is responsible for his or her own salvation, and the role of the Grace of God in bringing about salvation. The Pelagians held that human beings are […]
Original Sin
Compiled by Ephrem Hugh Bensusan [source] ORIGINAL SIN IN EASTERN ORTHODOX CONFESSIONS AND CATECHISMS The following is from Our Orthodox Christian Faith: A Handbook of Popular Dogmatics by Athanasios S. Frangopoulos, theologian and teacher. Published by The Brotherhood of Theologians, “O Sotir”, in Athens, Greece, 1984. Chapter 9, The Original Sin: 4.d. Guilt. The original […]
Ancestral VS. Original Sin: A False Dichotomy
by EPHREM HUGH BENSUSAN [Thanks Ephrem ! underlines are mine.– RAS] [source] In the current debate over the Orthodox view of Original Sin, one popular entry is Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for Psychotherapy by the Very Rev. Fr. Antony Hughes, rector of St. Mary’s Antiochian Orthodox Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The […]