Original sin. This Calvinist and Augustinian doctrine supports the idea that Adam and Eve, as humanity’s original parents, passed on their disobedience and sin of pride to the rest of us. Thus, we are all condemned, and God must invade this earth as the God-Human in order to save us from ourselves.
Many Christians adhere to that construct. The church has supported this belief without much discussion, a heretic here and there notwithstanding. As a Christian minister and a Presbyterian, I have preached and taught and tried to convince many hundreds of that fact. It’s even in my statement of faith. Moreover, when I look around me and see all the wars and bombings and cruelty and torture and xenophobia and homophobia and misogyny and poverty and racism and all the other evils prevalent now and forever in our societies, the doctrine becomes not only a theological abstract statement but an existential reality.
Then comes grandchildren. And that is where Augustine, Calvin, the church and I part company.
Their faces are angelic, or at least they resemble the depictions of angels by the Renaissance masters. They cry when hungry, in pain, or wet. They depend completely on the mother, father and even uncles, aunts and the wide-eyed fumbling grandparents. Left to fend for themselves they would die in no time.
Yes, some would say: “Aha!” (no pun intended here) – “You see? They are already selfish and can only think of their wants!”
To that I say, “Forget about it!” (in my worst Brooklyn accent).
God is good. Everything God created is good. I have believed this for a long time, making my faith statement suspect when it comes to original sin. (Don’t tell the presbytery!)
In babies I can see this ultimate goodness from the ultimate good God. Newborns are clean, totally good and unspoiled yet by the environment. They ooze nothing but love and kindness and good feelings and good smells (even when grandma claims they need a bath). They cannot do evil at this stage in their lives. They cannot know evil, period! They just can’t. They are still too close to God, the God of goodness and perfection and justice and peace. A baby is closer to God now than they will ever be again. In my perhaps still infantile or phenomenological cosmology, the baby just came from heaven, where God lives.
Augustine and Calvin, you never had grandchildren that I know of. Perhaps that is why you came up with your doctrine. Shame on you! I dare you look at our grandchildren and say that sin is in them! I dare you!
Come, pick them up. Feel their skin. Smell them. Hear their sounds. Feed them like mothers do (well, you can’t actually). Maybe, only maybe, you may change your minds.
God is good, all the time. The baby knows God. The baby is good. There is no original sin.
The syllogism works.
Tony Aja is the pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and moderator of the Hispanic/Latinx National Presbyterian Caucus.
