Idle and Rambling Speculations on Original Sin By Joseph Wood
The biological transmission of original sin has puzzled me, but it seems to have been taken seriously by the medievals. St. Thomas talks about the tranmission of sin and the infection of the powers of the soul. corruption of nature. What does that mean though, merely that because they are descendents of Adam that they are therefore subject to the providential order which he has caused through his sin? According to St. Thomas, no -- it is not merely a privation. So what is the corruption of nature, according to St. Augustine and St. Thomas? I need to read the relevant questions more carefully, but it may be that up to this point I have not been able to understand what St. Thomas has written because I was assuming an erroneous dualistic account of human nature, one that lead me to spiritualize original sin too much.
