In his
classic book
Orthodoxy, G. K.
Chesterton famously said that the doctrine of original sin is the part of
Christian theology that can really be proved.
What he had in mind, I think, is the part of that doctrine that holds
that as a result of the Fall, our capacity to obey even the most obvious
precepts of natural law has been gravely impaired. I think this impairment is indeed obviously
real. One illustration would be the way
people find it so difficult, in one area of human life after another, to adhere
to the virtuous middle ground between opposite extreme vices. When we aren’t gluttonous, we tend to become
overly fixated on dieting and healthful eating.
When we aren’t drunkards, we often become prigs who scold even those who
drink in moderation. And so on. Worse, those in thrall to one vice often
suppose that the only alternative is the opposite extreme vice. Sober moderation eludes us.
