Chapter seven of Kupperman’s book “Theories of human nature” describes the essentiality of human imperfections to the doctrine of original sin. This chapter is entitled: “The Christian Doctrine of Original Sin: Essential Human Imperfection”. The author begins by in-depth analysis of original sin and how it affects day-to-day human activities. He argues that from a biblical perspective, original sin is somehow linked to all human beings according to Christian beliefs.
This chapter concludes on the Christian perspective of sin and how they can be passed on from one generation to another using an example in Noah’s case whereby he cursed his grandson over mistakes committed by his son.
The chapter then explores the psychological aspect of human nature, whereby the author puts forward a two-sided view of humanity. In one instance, all humans are seen to be imperfect and are bound to commit mistakes. On the other hand, the author believes that there may be a possibility of perfection among human beings.
The author utilizes psychological knowledge to try to understand the concept of sin. Two points of view on defining sin are offered that eventually result in questionable circumstances. The chapter concludes with the author suggesting that it is difficult to tell whether a temptation to involve oneself in a sinful event is a manifestation of the original sin or it is a normal human act. The moral rectitude case is also mentioned.
The author describes that a perfectly moral individual has to exhibit moral rectitude. The only way original sin can be accepted is by acknowledging that human beings can never be perfect. However, if moral rectitude is brought into context, then the interpretation of the doctrine becomes highly questionable.