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The following article is taken directly from an academic paper written by Father Antony Hughes titled, “Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for Psychotherapy”.
The article was written at the request of an editor of "The Journal of Psychology and Christianity", a publication founded by Dutch Reformed Christians. The article is meant as an explication to those who have no previous knowledge of the distinctions between East and West on the subject.
Abstract:
The differences between the doctrine of Ancestral Sin--as understood in the church of the first two centuries and the present-day Orthodox Church--and the doctrine of Original Sin--developed by Augustine and his heirs in the Western Christian traditions--is explored. The impact of these two formulations on pastoral practice is investigated. It is suggested that the doctrine of ancestral sin naturally leads to a focus on human death and Divine compassion as the inheritance from Adam, while the doctrine of original sin shifts the center of attention to human guilt and Divine wrath. It is further posited that the approach of the ancient church points to a more therapeutic than juridical approach to pastoral care and counseling.
Father Antony Hughes, M.Div., is the rector of St. Mary's Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA, which is associated with the Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Church of North America. He has served as the Orthodox Chaplain at Harvard University.
