“The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.

” (Ps 118:14)
 Lecture I: Original Sin & Atonement 
 Original Sin(s) in the Orthodox Perspective:
It is written, “God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and
female He created them” (Gen 1:27). Adam and Eve were good (Gen 1:27); they had a ‘good’ human nature
that was created ‘in the image of God’. After the fall, this image was distorted; the moral human nature was
wounded, weakened and damaged by sin. A predisposition to sin invaded the human nature. It is written that
Adam begot a son in his own likeness, after his image (Gen 5:3)
In other words, Adam begot a son in his own ‘distorted’ image. Therefore, St. Paul said, “we all once
conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by
nature children of wrath, just as the others” (Eph 2:3). King David also said, “I was brought forth in
iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps 51:5)
The sinful human nature that we inherited is sentenced to death for “the wages of sin is death” (Rom
6:23). Thus death reined over all humanity as St. Paul said, “Through one man sin entered the world, and
death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom 5:12), “by one man
disobedience many were made sinners” (Rom 5:19). Indeed, “The Lord looks down from heaven upon the
children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have
together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one” (Ps 14:2-3)
In addition, the whole creation was also affected by the fall, God told Adam, “Cursed is the ground
for your sake” (Gen 3:17). God has given dominion of the world to Adam and due to Adam’s sin “death
entered the world” (Rom 5:12). Therefore, St. Paul said, “The creation itself also will be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation
groans and labors with birth pangs together until now” (Rom 8:21-22). Even the wild nature and cannibalism
in the animal kingdom is said to be due to the fall of Adam since all animals were created vegetarians (Gen
1:29-30) (Adam & Eve, By H.H. Pope Shenouda III)

 Different view on Original Sin:

Generally speaking, the Calvinists maintain that the sin of Adam was imputed (made to count) to the
whole human race. They base their belief on the following passage:
“Even Levi, who receive tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, so to speak, for he was still in the loins of his
father when Melchizedek met him” (Heb 7:9-10). Levi was a descendant of Abraham, but because he was
still in the loins (seed) of Abraham when he paid tithes to Melchizedek, Levi is said to have paid them also.
Therefore, in their minds, Adam’s sin was imputed to his descendents; all of them are guilty of that actual
sin in the Garden and justly deserve punishment for it.

 Refutation:
First of all, St. Paul doesn’t affirm that tithes were counted to Levi. He said that Levi paid tithes “so
to speak” (Heb 7:9), in a figurative or symbolic manner. Secondly, this view contradicts Holy Scripture that
says, “The fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall the children be put to death for their
fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin” (Deut 24:16), also, “The son shall not bear the guilt of
the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son” (Ezek 18:20)
 Therefore, what we inherit or what is transmitted to us is Adam’s fallen human nature and his
actual sin. Moreover, we have our own sins to contend with because all of us have sinned and deserve
punishment.

H.H. Pope Shenouda analyzed the original sin in his book ‘Adam & Eve’ and concluded that they were guilty of 27 sins!

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 Redemption & Atonement:
Sin is an offense against God, King David said, “Against You, You only, have I sinned and done evil
in Your sight” (Ps 51:4). This he said even though he sinned against Uriah the Hittite and his wife
Bathsheba. The weight of that offence is proportional to the status of the offended party. Sin is, therefore,
considered unlimited because it is committed against the unlimited God. Consequently, any sin requires
unlimited atonement.
 This atonement should be provided by a person who is:
1. Unlimited  To be able to provide this unlimited atonement the Savior has to be unlimited.
2. Sinless  The Savior has to be free from sin to be able to redeem others, or else he would need
salvation himself.
3. Human  Since human beings committed the sin, therefore, a human being should pay the price.
4. Mortal  Since the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23), therefore, the savior has to be mortal.

 Our Lord Jesus Christ is:

1. Unlimited  He said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Who is and Who
was and Who is to come, the Almighty” (Rev 1:8)
2. Sinless  Archangel Gabriel said to the Virgin, “That Holy One who is to be born will be called the
Son of God” (Lk 1:35). Our lord said, “Which of you convicts Me of sin?” (Jn 8:46)
3. Human  Our Lord was called the Son of Man several times, also, the Bible documents that on
several occasions He was thirsty, hungry, tired, sleeping, etc…
4. Mortal  Even though our Lord is immortal due to His divinity, he assumed a human nature that was
liable to die.
 The Ransom:
Our Lord said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a
ransom for many” (Mk 10:45), St. Paul said, “There is one God and one Mediator between God and men,
the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all” (1 Tim 2:5-6). The word ‘ransom’ suggests some
kind of payment and someone to whom this ransom is paid. The question is, “To whom was this ransom
paid?” Origen and some early fathers suggested that this ransom was paid to the devil but the Church
rejected this idea.
H.H. Pope Shenouda III clarified this issue and said, “The ransom was paid to the Divine Justice. The
Old Testament sacrifices were symbols of the sacrifice of the cross. These sacrifices were not offered to the
devil but were offered to God. Hence, holy fire came down from heaven and consumed them (1 Kg 18:38),
and it is written that God “smelled a soothing aroma” (Gen 8:21) after the sacrifice of our father Noah. Since
sin is committed against God (Ps 51:4) then the price of this sin should be paid to God Himself, the devil has
no right to ask or to accept a ransom. The devil is just an accuser (Rev 12:10; Job 1). On the cross our Lord
offered Himself to the Father (Lk 23:46) and not to the devil.”
 Nature of Salvation: (Adapted from ‘The Stages of Salvation’ by Fr. Shenouda Maher)
God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Gen 1:26). The Church
Fathers commented on this verse saying:
 There is a theological difference between the term ‘in the image of God’ and ‘the image of God’. The
Divine Logos is alone the image of God as St. Paul said, “He is the image of the invisible God” (Col
1:15), “Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor 4:4), “through whom He made the worlds; who being
the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person” (Heb 1:3). The Divine Logos is alone
the image of God because He is of the same essence and Godhead; we on the other hand were created in
that image or according to that image of God.

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 God revealed His will and said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Gen
1:26). But when God actually created man, Holy Scripture said, “God created man in His own image”
(Gen 1:27) and there was no mention of “God’s Likeness”! Some of the Church Fathers concluded that
the ‘likeness of God’ would be fulfilled in the kingdom of God, in eternal life. This likeness is an infinite
goal that takes an eternity of unceasing spiritual growth and Divine Revelation; this is Eternal Happiness.
St. John said, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be,
but we know that hen He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 Jn 3:2). St.
Paul said, “Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His
glorious body” (Phil 3:22-21)
 The likeness of God is perfected in Eternal Life but we actually start this process here on earth through
the Sacramental life of the Church and the working of the Holy Spirit and God’s grace. St. Paul said,
“My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (Gal 4:19), “That
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; … that you may be filled with all the fullness of God”
(Eph 3:14-19), “Till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a
perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13), “For as many of you
as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal 3:27), “You have put off the old man with his
deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who
created him” (Col 3:9-10), “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16)
 St. Cyril of Alexandria and St. Augustine consider ‘the image’ and ‘the likeness’ as synonyms that were
used interchangeably in the Holy Book of Genesis. However, all the Fathers agree that we grow in the
likeness of God and that this likeness is perfected in Eternal Life.
 Deification:
Deification is an ancient theological term used to describe the process by which a Christian becomes
more like God. A distinction must be drawn between the idea of deification as “becoming God” (theosis) and
as “becoming like God” (homoiosis theoi).
 What Deification is not:
When the Church calls us to pursue godliness, to be more like God, this doesn’t mean that human
beings then become divine. We do not become like God in His nature. That would not only be a heresy, it
would be impossible. For we are human, always have been human, and will always remain human. We
cannot take on the divine nature of God. God said it clearly, “My glory (of the divinity) I will not give to
another” (Is 42:8). In (Jn 10:34), our Lord Jesus Christ, quoting (Ps 82:6) repeats the passage, “You are
gods”. The fact that He was speaking to a group of hypocritical religious leaders who were accusing Him of
blasphemy makes the meaning very clear: our Lord was not using “god” to refer to divine nature. We are
gods in that we bear His likeness, not His nature. Moreover, the same Holy Psalm says in the next verse,
“You shall die like men and fall like one of the princes” (Ps 82:7)
 What Deification is:
Deification means we are to become more like God through His grace. When the Son of God
assumed our humanity in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the process of our being renewed in God’s
image and likeness was begun. Thus, those who are joined to Christ through Faith, Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist begin a re-creation process, being renewed in God’s image and likeness. We become as St.
Peter writes, “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet 1:4) These words of St. Peter and some sayings of the
Fathers were taken out of context to promote the heresy of Pantheism according to which humans are gods in
nature and not just as a courtesy title.


Notice that (Gen 5:1) is translated “in the image of God” according to the Septuagint and the Coptic translations. This is different
from KJ translation, which says “in the likeness of God”.

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