102. 24 There is no way in which we can simultaneously hold the views of the new church and the views of the former church on faith; if we did hold both these views at once, they would collide and cause so much conflict that everything related to the church would be destroyed in us.
Survey of Teachings of the New Church #10
10. Teachings from the Formula of Concord on original sin:
(a) Since the fall of Adam, all human beings who are propagated according to nature are born with sin, which condemns and brings eternal death to those who are not born anew. The merit of Christ is the sole means and instrument through which we are reborn, and therefore the only remedy by which we are healed (pages 9, 10, 52, 53, 55, 317, 641, 644, and the appendix, pages 138, 139).
(b) Original sin is a corruption of our nature at such a deep level that there is nothing spiritually sound left in the human body or soul or in their powers (page 574).
(c) It is the source of all other, actual sins (pages 317, 577, 639, 640, 942; appendix, page 139).
(d) It is the complete absence or lack of the image of God (page 640).
(e) A distinction must be maintained between our nature, as it was created by God, and the original sin that resides within our nature (page 645).
(f) The volume refers to original sin as the Devil’s work, spiritual poison, and the root of all evils, and says it is an “accident” and a “quality.” Our nature, on the other hand, is there referred to as the work and the creation of God; it is our person, substance, and essence. The volume gives as a comparison the distinction between the person who is infected with a disease and the disease itself.
