Not only educational programs, but across the entire range of cultural life, what we believe about innate human moral disposition has consequences. The claim in liberal societies that we will exclude any and all views about human nature from public consideration turns out to be a deception. "The fact of the matter is, we're not setting anything aside," Jacobs claims in this hour-long Conversation. "Those assumptions are so deeply engrained into philosophies of education that whether you know it or not, you're assuming something about how people naturally are, and therefore what forces you're dealing with when you're trying to educate. . . . Our views about basic human nature are having an influence whether we acknowledge it or not."

In his book, Jacobs is not concerned with developing a traditional theological definition or defense of the doctrine. Rather, he explores how the idea that we not only choose sin but we inherit it has played itself out in a variety of cultural forms in the West—from poetry to movies, from psychoanalysis to the rearing of children, from liturgical prayers to the blues. And through it all, Jacobs invites us to reflect on our personal perception of the human condition.

In this MARS HILL AUDIO Conversation, Alan Jacobs explains to Ken Myers how the Pauline/Augustinian belief in original sin requires five essential beliefs: that everyone is afflicted by sin; that this tendency is built into our nature and can't be avoided; that our propensity toward violence, deceit, and disorder really is sin, a moral problem; that mankind wasn't originally made this way, that we fell from innocence; and that the only way out is through supernatural intervention, not through hard work.

Jacobs describes how some Christians (e.g., Pelagius) have denied original sin, being as repulsed by the idea as many non-Christians are; how many non-Christian beliefs mirror aspects of this doctrine; how the Muslim view of human waywardness differs from the Christian view; and how belief in original sin is the best grounding for a commitment to human equality.  60 minutes.

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This is one of a series of Conversations produced by MARS HILL AUDIO. Other Conversations featuring Alan Jacobs include The Public Poetry of W. H. Auden and Alan Jacobs on The Narnian. To see a list of other available recordings, see our online catalog. If you like, you may download an free demonstration issue (ZIP, 33.5MB, containing MP3 files) of the MARS HILL AUDIO Journal, our bimonthly audio magazine.