A Neurophysiological Perspective on Original Sin

A NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON ORIGINAL SIN G. RICHARD JANSEN* For most people, there is no more blessed and anticipated event than the birth of their baby. The word "innocence" is not attached to a baby for light and trivial reasons, and it is doubtful that anyone looking at a newborn child can comprehend the idea that a baby may be tainted with original sin derived from the sin ofAdam. It is a difficult, even repugnant, concept, yet it endures and, as will be discussed, has merit in helping us understand human behavior, especially the nature of evil. First we need to review where the doctrine of original sin comes from, seek an understanding from neurophysiology, and then consider what it means to us today. In considering original sin, at first we have a semantic problem: it means and has meant different things to different people at different times. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, original sin means either the sin that Adam committed, or the consequences of Adam's sin which all mankind has inherited through our descent from Adam—or, in a broader sense, through our descent from the first man in whom God placed a soul [I]. This is the most common understanding of what is meant by original sin. Although he derived it from earlier lines of thought, St. Augustine is generally credited with formulating the doctrine of original sin as it has been understood by the Christian world for almost 1,600 years. The many books still being written about St. Augustine, Bishop of LIippo, are testimony to his powerful intellect and the vitality of his insights and ideas [2-4] . It is well known that he moved from being a rather dissolute youth and young man to being one of the strongest voices in the development and defense of Christendom in all of history. In theology he moved from Manichaeism to Neoplatonism, and finally to Christianity. It was Augustine 's concern with the nature of good and evil that had originally attracted him to Manichaeism, a belief system that postulated two separate * Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Colorado State University, Fort Collins , CO 80523.© 1999 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0031-5982/99/4202-1094$01.00 262 G. RichardJansen ¦ A Neurophysiological Perspective on Original Sin cosmic kingdoms, one of light or goodness, and the other of darkness or evil [5] . Augustine became a convert to Christianity in 386, was ordained a priest in 391, and was made Bishop of Hippo in AD 395. In a recent book entitled St. Augustine's Dilemma, Dennis Cresswell chronicles Augustine's pilgrimage from Neoplatonism to Christianity, and from salvation by freely choosing a good and virtuous life to predestination and original sin with an emphasis on salvation by faith through the grace ofGod [2] . The neoplatonic concept, which much influenced Augustine as he formulated his Christian views, was of a world derived from "the One" in an orderly and downward progression of forms. The goal of individual souls is to pursue goodness and to ascend back up this progression to a union with "the One," or God [2]. In De Civitate Dei (The City of God,) Augustine defines original sin as the open disobedience by Adam of God's will by eating the forbidden fruit [6] . The immediate penalty, as stated in Genesis, was death for Adam and Eve and all their descendants. In Augustine's view this evil act was preceded by an evil will derived from pride, a craving for "undue exultation." In his words, "the corruption of the body which weighs down the soul, is not the cause of the first sin but its punishment. And it was not the corruptible flesh that made the soul sinful; it was the sinful soul that made the flesh corruptible." Augustine quotes from Paul: "The acts of a sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft , hatred, discord, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of heaven" (Gal. 5:19-21). This is a list of undesirable and for the most part unacceptable behaviors...