Friday, January 18, 2013

Eastern Orthodox Doctrine of Sin


On Wednesday I introduced a brief overview of how Eastern Orthodoxy has historically differed from western evangelicalism in its view of God the Father. The historical division between the East and the West led to differences in the doctrine of sin as well. According to Orthodoxy, the impact of the fall of man was to detour God’s purposes for creation, and somehow Jesus corrected that. Orthodoxy now tends to take a more holistic approach in its doctrine of man.
The Eastern view of the human body comes into play within this historical development. For the Orthodox, the physical body “is a visible form that uniquely matches the invisible divine glory (although God has no body)” (James Payton, Light from the Christian East, 107- Kindle Edition Here). Although Orthodoxy differentiates between the image of God in man, which is a gift, and the likeness of God, which is a calling empowered by the Holy Spirit, the fall of man had some unique issues. Payton says we are “inescapably surrounded” (112) by these dying circumstances, and therefore we are influenced to sin. Orthodoxy denies that our human nature is depraved, something that radically differs from the historical development of John Calvin's teaching about man's total depravity.
The East also developed a new slant in terms of imputation of sin. Because Orthodoxy does not believe that anyone pays for any sin but their own, Adam’s sin is seen as just that, Adam’s sin. According to Orthodoxy, “no one can be guilty of another’s sin” (111). Sinfulness is not imputed in Orthodox harmatology, but all creation has inherited death as a consequence. Because of this, we have inherited physical corruption and everything that goes with it. However, “none of us bears or suffers from a depraved, corrupt or sinful human nature, according to Orthodoxy” (114). Thus, it is natural for humans by default to do good, but because of our external circumstances, we are influenced to do bad. Whereas the West tends to portray sin as breaking the rules, the East views it as a “violation of a personal relationship with God” (119).
So, is it either/or? Is it both/and? What effect does an understanding of sin have on truth? on salvation?

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