@NickolaosPappas
Certainly the Greeks DO believe Satan has something to do with SIN (see text below). But this article doesn’t address the definition problems for what is undoubtedly sin, and what just looks like it is sin.
Eastern Orthodox[edit]
The Eastern Orthodox version of original sin is the view that sin originates with the Devil, “for the devil sins from the beginning (1 John iii. 8)”.[81] They acknowledge that the introduction of ancestral sin[82][ better source needed ] into the human race affected the subsequent environment for humanity (see also traducianism). However, they never accepted Augustine of Hippo’s notions of original sin and hereditary guilt.[83][ better source needed ]
Orthodox Churches accept the teachings of John Cassian, as do Catholic Churches eastern and western,[52] in rejecting the doctrine of total depravity, by teaching that human nature is “fallen”, that is, depraved, but not totally. Augustine Casiday states that Cassian “baldly asserts that God’s grace, not human free will, is responsible for ‘everything which pertains to salvation’ – even faith”.[53] Cassian points out that people still have moral freedom and one has the option to choose to follow God. Colm Luibhéid says that, according to Cassian, there are cases where the soul makes the first little turn,[54] while Augustine Casiday says that, in Cassian’s view, any sparks of goodwill that may exist, not directly caused by God, are totally inadequate and only direct divine intervention ensures spiritual progress.[55] and Lauren Pristas says that “for Cassian, salvation is, from beginning to end, the effect of God’s grace”.[56]
Eastern Orthodoxy accepts the doctrine of ancestral sin
[aka: Ancestral Sin is the closest to Evolutionary Sin!]:
“Original sin is hereditary. It did not remain only Adam and Eve’s. As life passes from them to all of their descendants, so does original sin.”[84] “As from an infected source there naturally flows an infected stream, so from a father infected with sin, and consequently mortal, there naturally proceeds a posterity infected like him with sin, and like him mortal.”[85]
The Orthodox Church in America makes clear the distinction between “fallen nature” and “fallen man” and this is affirmed in the early teaching of the Church whose role it is to act as the catalyst that leads to true or inner redemption. Every human person born on this earth bears the image of God undistorted within themselves.[86] In the Orthodox Christian understanding, they explicitly deny that humanity inherited guilt from anyone. Rather, they maintain that we inherit our fallen nature. While humanity does bear the consequences of the original, or first, sin, humanity does not bear the personal guilt associated with this sin. Adam and Eve are guilty of their willful action; we bear the consequences, chief of which is death."[87]
The view of the Eastern Orthodox Church varies on whether Mary is free of all actual sin or concupiscence. Some Patristic sources imply that she was cleansed from sin at the Annunciation, while the liturgical references are unanimous that she is all-holy from the time of her conception.[88][89]
I enjoy the discussion in this section on Irenaeus below!
Augustine thought Irenaeus put too much of sin’s fault on God:
Irenaeus’ use of Paul’s Epistles[edit]
Many aspects of Irenaeus’ presentation of salvation history depend on Paul’s Epistles.
Irenaeus’ conception of salvation relies heavily on the understanding found in Paul’s letters. Irenaeus first brings up the theme of victory over sin and evil that is afforded by Jesus’s death. God’s intervention has saved humanity from the Fall of Adam and the wickedness of Satan.[65] Human nature has become joined with God’s in the person of Jesus, thus allowing human nature to have victory over sin.[66] Paul writes on the same theme, that Christ has come so that a new order is formed, and being under the Law, is being under the sin of Adam Rom. 6:14, Gal. 5:18.
Reconciliation is also a theme of Paul’s that Irenaeus stresses in his teachings on Salvation. Irenaeus believes Jesus coming in flesh and blood sanctified humanity so that it might again reflect the perfection associated with the likeness of the Divine. This perfection leads to a new life, in the lineage of God, which is forever striving for eternal life and unity with the Father.[67][68] This is a carryover from Paul, who attributes this reconciliation to the actions of Christ: “For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ” 1 Cor. 15:21–22.
A third theme in both Paul’s and Irenaeus’s conceptions of salvation is the sacrifice of Christ being necessary for the new life given to humanity in the triumph over evil. It is in this obedient sacrifice that Jesus is victor and reconciler, thus erasing the marks that Adam left on human nature. To argue against the Gnostics on this point, Irenaeus uses Colossians Col. 2:13–4 in showing that the debt which came by a tree has been paid for us in another tree. Furthermore, the first chapter of Ephesians is picked up in Irenaeus’s discussion of the topic when he asserts, “By His own blood He redeemed us, as also His apostle declares, ‘In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins.’”[69]
Irenaeus does not simply parrot back the message of Paul in his understanding of salvation. One of the major changes that Irenaeus makes is when the Parousia will occur. Paul states that he believes that it was going to happen soon, probably in his own lifetime 1 Thess. 4:15 1 Cor. 15:51–52. However, the end times does not happen immediately and Christians begin to worry and have doubts about the faith. For Irenaeus, sin is seen as haste, just as Adam and Eve quickly ate from the tree of knowledge as they pleased. On the other hand, redemption restored to humanity through the Christ’s submission to God’s will. Thus, the salvation of man will also be restored to the original trajectory controlled by God forfeited in humanity’s sinful in haste.[70] This rather slower version of salvation is not something that Irenaeus received from Paul, but was a necessary construct given the delay of the second coming of Jesus.