For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.

Sin came into the world through Adam (v.12), and salvation also comes to the world through one man, Christ. Sin spread through personal contact and personal choice. No one is born damned (Augustine's view); we separate ourselves from God by our own will. By God's grace--provided we are willing to receive it--all have the chance to be made right with God.

Warning: The following material is quite dense. Try to hang with Paul, as he develops his contrast between the First Adam (Genesis 3) and the second Adam, Christ (Romans 5; 1 Corinthians 15).

Note: The doctrine of original sin was formulated by Augustine (354-430 AD), bishop of Hippo (in North Africa). It is a central tenet of Reform Theology, though difficult to justify biblically. It rests on a mistranslation of one phrase in Romans 5:12, eph' hō, which means "because." And yet Jerome, in his Latin Vulgate (tr. by 384 AD), had mistakenly rendered it in quo, meaning "in whom." For more on this, please hear the podcast/read the article on Original Sin.

Suggested for memory: "Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all" (5:18).