STA.

TERESA COLLEGE
BAUAN BATANGAS
COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 102

LESSON 4B: CHURCH TEACHING ON ORIGINAL SIN

Introduction
CCC 402: All men are complicated in Adam’s sin, as St. Paul affirms: “By
one man’s disobedience many (that is, all men) were made
sinners”… “sin came into the world through one man and death
through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men
sinned:. The Apostle contrasts the universality of sin and death
with the universality of salvation in Christ. “Then as one man’s
trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s act of
righteousness leads to acquitted and life for all men.”

CCC 403: Following St. Paul,the Church has always taught that the
overwhelming misery which oppresses men and their inclination
toward evil and death cannot be understood apart from their
connection with Adam’s sin and the fact that he has transmitted
to us a sin with which we are all born afflicted, a sin which is the
“death of the soul.” Because of this certainty of faith, the Church
baptizes for the remission of sins even tiny infants who have
not committed personal sin.

Student Learning Objectives (SLO)

 Elaborate clearly the Church teachings on original sin
 Realize deeply God’s plan of salvation

Content
CHURCH TEACHING ON ORIGINAL SIN
> From such biblical sources the Church teaches that “Adam, the first
man, by transgressing God’s commandment in paradise, at once

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lost the holiness and justice in which he had been constituted, and
drew upon himself…. death.” The holiness and justice received from
God was lost not only for him but also for his descendants. ( CCC
404 )
CCC cf 404: ….By yiekding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a
“personal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would
then transmit in a fallen state. It is a sin which will be transmitted by
propagation to all mankind, that is, by the transmission of a human
nature deprived of original holiness and justice. And that is why
original sin is called “sin” only in an analogical sense: it is a sin
“contracted” and not “committed”--- a state and not an act.

> We Filipinos today, as members of the race of Adam, do not inherit

his “personal sin”, but rather the sinful condition started by his
“originating sin”. It is a condition in which each of us is personally
involved. What we inherit, the “kasalanang mana”, is the state of
sinfulness in which we are all born.

> This universal sinfulness is confirmed by the clear Gospel

proclamation that all are redeemed by Christ. Put briefly, it is a
dogma of our Christian Faith that we all need to be redeemed.

1. Original sin today is described today as “sin of the world” (Jn 1:29;
CCC408). This means the “polluted atmosphere” into which we all are
born. it’s the social dimension of original sin: the ‘sinful structures” of
injustice, oppression and exploitation that PCP II emphasizes today in its
thrust for social renewal and transformation. (cf. PCP II 261 – 71)

2. There is the personal interior dimension of original sin, the “heart of

darkness within us”: which is “in all men, proper to each “. We
experience this aspect of original sin especially in one of the effects that
remains even after Baptism, called “concupiscence.”

3. There ia the ratification of original sin by our personal thoughts, words

and deeds. Our sins constitute a real part of the “sin of the world” for
others, just as their personal sins are part of the “sin of the world” for us.

> For ourselves, our concupiscence manifests itself in certain sources or

roots of our traditionally called the ‘seven capital sins” from which
many sins spring. These sins plague not only individual sinner, but also

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have a corporate dimension. They thrive in various ways among social
groups, institutions and various social structures.

SEVEN CAPITAL SINS:

1. PRIDE – exalting oneself beyond what is due and true.
2. LUST – disordered desire for, or inordinate enjoyment of sexual
pleasure.
3. ANGER – destructive aggressiveness
4. GLUTTONY – excessive indulgence in food or drink.
5. ENVY – begrudging others their talents, success, and wishing them evil.
6. COVETOUSNESS – desiring what belongs to others, leading into
dishonesty, stealing, and injustice.
7. SLOTH – laziness and escape from exerting the effort.

> These “capital sins” can be compared to the “works of the flesh”
which St. Paul enumerates: “lewd conduct, impurity, licentiousness,
idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, bickering, jealousy, outbursts of rage,
selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and
the like. (Gal 5:19 – 21)

Assessment and Evaluation

Journal Writing: Ano ang malimit pumapatay o nagtutulak sa akin
upang gumawa ng kasalanan? Bakit?

References
Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education. (1997).
Catechism for Filipino Catholics. Manila: CBCP. (p.106 - 108)
Bible
Catechism of the Catholic Church
Word and Life Publications
CBCP/ECCCE
Copyright 1994
p. 114 – 115

Prepared: Checked: Approved:

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COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

Balita, Joseph D. ______________________ Dr. Randy M. Baja

Instructor Department Head Dean

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