Quote:
Originally Posted by awareness
This is not my original response ... but the gist is a reasonable likeness ...
That's a pretty bleak view ICA, of humanity.
So the minute we're born we're fallen? None of us disobeyed and ate the evil fruit, but we're still evil because thousands of years ago the first couple infracted God's commandments, and ate evil fruit?
So does the EO see this as a mutation of human DNA ... that's being passed down thru genetics to us today? Is that how we come by being fallen?
So since this is coming from the 15:45 thread, will the resurrection undo this genetic mutation? Does the life-giving spirit undo it?
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Maybe it’s bleak but if it’s reality, then that’s why Jesus came to the earth. This is one of the differences between Christianity and other religions. Christians believe that mankind was created specifically to have a relationship with God, but sin separates all men from Him. We are incapable of standing up to a holy and righteous God because our human condition is in a fallen state and in need of a Savior. Only Jesus can save us from sin because only He bridged the huge chasm that was created as a result of the fall.
Other religions just say that we are not fallen but weak or they don’t even recognize the reality of the “sin” defect in every human being. Followers of other religions don’t know anything about a loving God and his Son Jesus Christ who died for us so that all who choose to accept His forgiveness for their sins may be forgiven and have a personal relationship with Jesus throughout their life and spend eternity with God when they die. No one of other religions doesn't give believers that privilege. They only get the hope that their god will be pleased with them and the hope that a better place awaits them when they die.
Anyway, I believe the EO view of humanity is less bleak than that one in the RCC or in some Protestant churches. The Eastern Orthodox Church accepts the concept of the fall but rejects the idea that the guilt of original sin is passed down through generations. It bases its teaching in part on Ezekiel 18:20 that says a son is not guilty of the sins of his father. The Church teaches that, in addition to their conscience and tendency to do good, men and women are born with a tendency to sin due to the fallen condition of the world. It follows Maximus the Confessor and others in characterizing the change in human nature as the introduction of a "deliberative will" in opposition to the "natural will" created by God which tends toward the good. Thus, according to St Paul in his epistle to the Romans, non-Christians can still act according to their conscience.
Orthodoxy believes that, while everyone bears the consequences of the first sin (that is, death), only Adam and Eve are guilty of that sin. Adam's sin isn't comprehended only as disobedience to God's commandment, but as a change in man's hierarchy of values from theocentricism to anthropocentrism, driven by the object of his lust, outside of God, in this case the tree which was seen to be "good for food", and something "to be desired".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_man
In my next post I'll try to tell more about the EO concept of the Original Sin.
As for genetics, the EOC is not really interested in modern science, since science adjusts its view based on what's observed. Our prime aim is salvation. The rest are details. The resurrection will change our bodies completely. It will not be a natural (Adam's) body but a spiritual body (Christ's). Can a spiritual body or a life-giving spirit have DNA? Personally, I don't think so.