134 THEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS 



the beginnings of our consideration of this doctrine from 

 the influence of a very common misconception, it is de- 

 sirable to notice at the outset that the word "sin" in 

 i the phrase "original sin" does not signify either actual 

 * sin or personal guilt, but is employed in a secondary 

 i sense to describe an inherited defect of nature.^ 

 Our formularies contain no separate description of 

 Adam's fall; but that he did fall, and that he incurred 

 a loss of grace and the fault and corruption of nature 

 with which his descendants are said to be born, is 

 made sufficiently clear in the ninth of our Articles of 

 Religion. That article contains the chief AngHcan 

 definition of original or birth-sin. "Original sin," it 



1 Dr. Tennnant insists that the word sin should not be used except 

 for acts of the will, contrary to the individual's conscience and his 

 knowledge of the moral law or the will of God. Pref. to 2d ed. of 

 Origin of Sin, pp. xxiii-xxvii; and note B, pp. 163-176, on "The 

 Ambiguous Use of the Term 'Sin' and Its Derivatives in Theology." 

 We sympathize with his wish that the words in question were free 

 from ambiguity in theology, and that the secondary use could be 

 eliminated from technical definitions of doctrine. But we cannot 

 undo the usage of ages, and our efforts should be directed to ascer- 

 taining the actual meaning of the phrase "original sin" in catholic 

 doctrine. The meaning which I have given is the only one that is 

 borne out by catholic consent. If many writers have imported more 

 meaning, such developments do not determine the correct defini- 

 tion of catholic doctrine on the subject. The question is not the fit- 

 ness of the terminology that has been employed, but the truth of the 

 catholic doctrine thereby signified. By failing to distinguish between 

 catholic doctrine and Augustinian developments. Dr. Tennant has 

 robbed his arguments of much of their relevance. Arguments which 

 have weight as against Augustinian views may be — I think they are 

 — found to be lacking in weight when catholic doctrine alone is 

 considered, purged of provincial accretions. 



