Since becoming a Christian at 17 I have always struggled with the concept of original sin which, I now know, came from Augustine and was adopted by the Roman/Latin church. I remember having long discussions with leaders of my church in Weymouth. In the confirmation group I asked awkward questions which people didn’t seem to have answers for. I could not understand how a new born baby could be ‘born in sin’ and be born containing ‘original sin’. To me then, and even more so now, the concept simply does not fit with the concept of a loving God who created us all in God’s image.

If we are created in God’s image, stated this arrogant loud teenager, then how on earth could we be born with Original Sin?
I remember tagging on the patience of my teachers as I proudly stated that, if anything, we must all be born in ‘original blessing’ as this is the only thing that makes any sense f we are created in God’s image.

In today’s thought from Celtic Lent we hear that this very concept was a distinguishing difference of theology between the Latin church and Celtic Christians. The catholics believed the core of us, our soul, was eveil and fallen and required transformation from Christ. The Celtic Christians believed our core was a divine image but tainted which needed fixing by Christ.
In the words of Genesis 1:31; ‘God saw everything that they had made, and behold, it was very good’

This makes a massive difference to how we view other people and creation itself. If we consider ourselves and others as being inhabited by that divine image then that surely significantly impacts upon our behaviour towards each other. Surely it means we see each other differently and we would want to cherish, uphold and applaud each other in our daily journeys. Surely this would mean Christian ‘spaces’ would be open, welcoming and loving to absolutely everyone!

Original sin, or original blessing ….. you decide?