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Do Jews Believe in Original Sin?
Maimonides says each person can be righteous like Moses or wicked like Jeroboam, and that God does not decree either at birth. The Catholic Catechism teaches a sin transmitted from Adam that is not a personal fault.
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Maimonides does not teach a sin that every child inherits from Adam as the child’s own fault. In the Mishneh Torah he says free will is granted to all, and that each person is fit to be righteous like Moses or wicked like Jeroboam. (1) The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 404–405 (2), teaches a different sentence: Adam’s sin is transmitted by propagation, it is called sin in an analogical sense, and it is not a personal fault in his descendants. He does not say “Judaism rejects original sin.” The Catechism is the Christian claim beside his paragraphs.
Key Points
- Mishneh Torah, Repentance 5.1, Eliyahu Touger’s translation: “Free will is granted to all men. If one desires to turn himself to the path of good and be righteous, the choice is his.” (1)
- Repentance 5.2 rejects the thesis that God decrees at a person’s creation whether that person will be righteous or wicked. “Each person is fit to be righteous like Moses, our teacher, or wicked, like Jeroboam.” (1)
- Ezekiel 18:20Ezekiel 18:20 · King James Version
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Ezekiel 18:20 · King James VersionOpen source (3) says the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, and the father shall not bear the iniquity of the son. The verse is about not carrying a parent’s guilt. It does not use the later phrase “original sin.” - Catechism 404 (2) says original sin is transmitted by propagation, a human nature deprived of original holiness and justice, a sin “contracted” and not “committed.” Catechism 405 says it does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants, and that baptism erases it while the consequences remain.
- Romans 5:12Romans 5:12 · King James Version
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Romans 5:12 · King James VersionOpen source (5) says sin entered the world by one man, and death by sin, and death passed upon all. Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionHear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionOpen source (6) is the Shema both communities read. What Do Jews Believe? quotes Maimonides on one God.
What Maimonides Says About the Choice
Mishneh Torah, Repentance 5.2, Eliyahu Touger’s translation on Sefaria: (1)
Each person is fit to be righteous like Moses, our teacher, or wicked, like Jeroboam.
Mishneh Torah · Eliyahu Touger
The paragraph before that sentence says a person should not entertain the thesis that, at the time of a man’s creation, God decrees whether he will be righteous or wicked. Touger calls that thesis one held by “the fools among the gentiles and the majority of the undeveloped among Israel.” The next sentences say there is no one who compels him, sentences him, or leads him toward either path. He, on his own initiative, tends to the path he chooses.
Repentance 5.1 opens, “Free will is granted to all men.” The choice to turn to good or to evil is his. (1) Those paragraphs do not name Augustine, and they do not name the Catholic doctrine of original sin. They deny a decree, at birth, that this person will be righteous or wicked.
Ezekiel 18:20Ezekiel 18:20 · King James VersionThe soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Ezekiel 18:20 · King James VersionOpen source (3) is the verse readers put beside that denial: “The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father.” The chapter is about a person not dying for a parent’s wickedness, and a parent not dying for a child’s. Genesis 8:21Genesis 8:21 · King James VersionAnd the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
Genesis 8:21 · King James VersionOpen source (4) says the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth. That sentence is in the Torah. It is not Maimonides’ paragraph, and it is not the Catechism’s definition.
What the Catechism Says About Adam
Although it is proper to each individual, original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants.
Catechism 404 (2) says the transmission is a mystery, and that what revelation teaches is this: Adam received original holiness and justice for all human nature, and by yielding to the tempter he and Eve committed a personal sin that affected the nature they would transmit. It is a sin transmitted by propagation, “a human nature deprived of original holiness and justice.” It is called sin only in an analogical sense: “contracted” and not “committed,” a state and not an act.
Catechism 405 (2) adds that human nature has not been totally corrupted. It is wounded, subject to ignorance, suffering, and death, and inclined to sin, an inclination the paragraph calls concupiscence. Baptism erases original sin and turns a person back toward God. The consequences for nature remain. What Does the Bible Say About Infant Baptism? quotes Catechism 1250 on baptizing infants. Romans 5:12Romans 5:12 · King James VersionWherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Romans 5:12 · King James VersionOpen source (5) is Paul’s sentence that death passed upon all through one man’s sin.
The two texts do not say the same thing. Maimonides refuses a birth-decree of righteousness or wickedness and says the choice remains. The Catechism refuses to call original sin a personal fault, and it still teaches a deprived nature transmitted from Adam, removed as guilt in baptism, with the wound left.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Jews Believe in Adam and Eve?
Genesis is the first book of the Tanakh. Do Jews Believe in the Old Testament? quotes Chabad’s count of the twenty-four books, beginning with Genesis. Genesis 3 (4) is the garden, the command, and the exile. Maimonides, in Repentance 5.1, reads Genesis 3:22 as the point that man can know good and evil and do what he desires. (1) Receiving Genesis is not the same sentence as the Catechism’s original sin.
Do Jews and Christians Believe in the Same God?
Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionHear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionOpen source (6): “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.” What Do Jews Believe? quotes Maimonides on that unity. Christians say the Shema with him. They also confess that the one God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and that Jesus is God. What Is the Difference Between Judaism and Christianity? sets the two confessions side by side. John 1:1John 1:1 · King James VersionIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1 · King James VersionOpen source says the Word was God.
Does Ezekiel 18 Deny a Fall?
Ezekiel 18:20Ezekiel 18:20 · King James VersionThe soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Ezekiel 18:20 · King James VersionOpen source (3) says the soul that sins shall die, and that a son does not bear a father’s iniquity. The verse is about whose guilt is whose. The Catechism’s “not a personal fault” is an attempt to say the transmitted state is not that kind of guilt. Maimonides’ “no one compels him” is about the path a person then chooses. The chapter does not mention baptism.
Keep Reading
References
- Mishneh Torah, Repentance, 5.1–5.2 (English by Eliyahu Touger, Moznaim Publishing, CC-BY-NC, on Sefaria. He does not use the phrase original sin.)
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 404–405
- Book of Ezekiel, 18:20Ezekiel 18:20 · King James Version
The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Ezekiel 18:20 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Book of Genesis, 3; 8:21. King James Version
- Letter to the Romans, 5:12Romans 5:12 · King James Version
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Romans 5:12 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version - Book of Deuteronomy, 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James Version
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
Deuteronomy 6:4 · King James VersionOpen source. King James Version
See Also
- Do Jews Believe in Angels? — Maimonides says angels are forms with no bodies, and that fire and wings in the prophets are parables. The Torah still narrates angels who meet people. The Catholic Catechism adds a guardian beside each believer.
- Do Catholics Believe in Evolution? — Humani Generis does not forbid research into the human body as coming from living matter, and it says souls are immediately created by God. It refuses polygenism. The Catechism says studies of the cosmos and of life-forms invite admiration of the Creator.
- Do Catholics Believe Mary Was Sinless? — Ineffabilis Deus in 1854 defines Mary as preserved from original sin at her conception. The Catechism adds that she remained free of every personal sin. An Orthodox clergy answer calls that definition foreign. Augsburg and Article IX speak of original sin in everyone naturally born.
- Where Do Mormons Believe the Garden of Eden Is? — Latter-day Saint teaching places the Garden of Eden in Jackson County, Missouri, and Adam-ondi-Ahman at Spring Hill in Daviess County. Genesis 2 does not name Missouri.
- Do Jews Believe in the Old Testament? — Jews receive the Tanakh, twenty-four books in the count Chabad publishes, under the names Torah, Prophets, and Writings. That list is not titled the Old Testament, and it does not include the New Testament.