A invenção do pecado original segundo Agostinho

Even his contemporaries, especially Julian of Eclanum, accused Augustine of ‘inventing’ original sin. The present article seeks to show how far this accusation is just, by analysing Augustine’s own response. The latter, whenever confronted with the thesis according to which, in speaking of ‘original sin’ he was innovating in terms not only of terminology but also theology, always responded by arguing that he was setting out and defending the old unanimous doctrine universally professed by the tradition of the Church. To prove it he turned to the authority of the Church Fathers, both Latin and Greek. The present study focuses precisely on assessing Augustine’s ‘patristic argumentation’ so that we can thereby evaluate whether or not and how far the Bishop of Hippo was ‘innovative’ in the way he formulated and defended the doctrine of original sin.