Original Sin and Justice

Author: Liu Zongkun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: The sinfulness of humanity and its universal decline not only make individual morality impossible to guarantee through the establishment of nations or other communities, but also make it even harder for individuals to adhere to moral principles in communal affairs. Communities possess a greater capacity to create sin than individuals, and they often inflict sin in the name of achieving perfection. This collective sin is frequently a blind spot for individuals caught within it, as it is often justified under the guise of noble banners such as nations or ethnicities. Thus, individual sin is easily condemned due to its moral benchmark, while collective sin is often difficult to reflect upon because it does not apply to personal moral standards. However, the three-dimensional structure of the Christian doctrine of sin—God-individual-community—provides a space for both individual and collective sinfulness to manifest. The doctrine of sin, through natural law theory, influences Christian social and political thought and has had a profound impact on Western modern democratic constitutionalism. The tension between the sacredness of God and the secular nature of the state is fully reflected in Augustine's theology, where the City of God and the City of Man form two entirely opposing worlds. The state becomes a temporary measure for humanity's fallen state, lacking a divine purpose due to its secular nature. The significance of this theory for modern political thought lies in its opening the way to limit state power. It is based on human sinfulness and universal decline, emphasizing the protection of individual freedom by limiting the power of all, rather than granting unlimited political power to the idealized human being who seeks to achieve perfection. The former takes a cautious approach toward both human nature and the state, without dreaming of establishing a state as a path for humanity to reach perfection. The latter, however, hopes to establish a state to ensure the improvement of human nature and ultimately achieve perfection. This is precisely the fundamental difference between political theories rooted in the Christian tradition of original sin and various other political.