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Before Augustine became an orthodox Christian, he was a Manichaean, where he learnt to believe that humanity is almost irredeemably wicked and perverse, lacking any innate goodness. He came to orthodox Christianity believing that salvation is an entirely undeserved act of grace that plucks us from our filthy state of evil.


A problem for the orthodox branch of Christianity was that Gnostic Christians believed that one could seek direct access to God through the "image of God" formed within everone at creation. Thus, there was no need for bishops and little need at all for the clergy. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, in On the Incarnation of the Word, sought to block anyone seeking direct access to God through this means, saying that human sin had damaged that image beyond human repair. St. Augustine later developed Athanasius' ideas into his understanding of "original sin".

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Q: Why did Saint Augustine believe you were all born into sin?
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