Original sin. Arguably the least popular part of traditional Christianity.  Simply put original sin makes our standard of value the way things affect us. In other words, each of us takes our place at the center of our own personal world. We become the standard of reference between good and bad. In doing so, we put ourselves in God’s place. That is our personal original sin and we do it from the moment of birth.

The First Testament book of Genesis gives us God’s definition of humanity that includes man being made in the image of God. In making the world God brought all things into existence. Some, like protons and neutrons, he created to always obey Him through the laws of physics. He made man with the possibility that he could disobey his law. He did this in order that some within his creation would answer his love not out of duty but out of free obedience. This creational approach involved the risk that man would take the self-centered approach to life and thereby become hardened by that selfishness. We need only look in the mirror to know this is true.