THE WHOLE ENCHILADA:

The fact is that original sin tells us something important when it comes to justice. It tells us that human beings are responsible for the wrong that they do.

If the materialists are right and if you do something awful, then logically it's not really your fault is it? You are just the product of bad genes or an unfortunate environment imposed on you by those around you.

But can we really blame 'bad' genes or environment? A godless conception of good or evil is intellectually riddled with holes, because without a god and a natural law then there can be no good and no evil. Everything is neutral. When a comet ploughs into a planet, it's not being evil: it's just blindly doing its thing. Without a concept of sin and the doctrine of original sin, good and evil must simply be arbitrary and temporary constructs. They may serve some biological evolutionary purpose for now, but they have no moral underpinning in this accidental universe in which we accidentally exist.

Original sin tells us that you can't get away with the luxury of that belief; that you are indeed responsible for your actions.

Those who would call themselves liberals ought to be especially careful in dismissing original sin because it is one of two Christian doctrines - along with the doctrine of humans having been created in the image of God - that underpin our Western liberal values.

One of these doctrines is positive: all people are equal in value. But more than that, each individual has an impossibly huge value, bearing the dignity of being at the apex of God's creation.

The other doctrine - original sin - is negative, but just as important because it tells us that we are responsible for the wrong that we do and that we should be held to account.

These two Christian doctrines are the foundation of liberal democracy: equality and justice. The values of our society would never have developed without them. So we should be very careful about sneering at either of them.

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