Den kristna arvsyndstanken och dess apokalyptiska genesis : Huvudstrategier för tolkning i samtiden och om teologins möjlighetsvillkor däri

Sammanfattning

This thesis examines the theological legitimacy of the doctrine of original sin within a contemporary context in which the doctrine is frequently viewed as obsolete or contentious, despite its foundational role within the Christian theological tradition. Guided by three sub-questions, the study investigates: (1) the extent of the divergence between the doctrine’s dogmatic formulation and its biblical foundations; (2) the interpretive strategies employed by Eva-Lotta Grantén, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Ted Peters to articulate the doctrine’s continued relevance; and (3) how these strategies might be critically developed to propose a revised framework that maintains continuity with tradition, upholds the doctrinal significance of original sin within the broader framework of Christian systematic theology, and responds constructively to contemporary theological and contextual challenges. An analysis of key scriptural texts reveals a significant discrepancy between their contextual, narrative, and generic characteristics and the historical doctrinal interpretations built upon them. This finding motivates a corrective interpretive strategy that seeks to reconnect the doctrine with its scriptural origins – resulting in a more traditionally grounded and historically coherent understanding. The study also situates the concept of original sin within the apocalyptic genre of Second Temple Judaism, thereby challenging the common perception of the doctrine as a distinctively Christian innovation. The thesis identifies a fundamentally existential interpretive approach in the works of Grantén, Niebuhr and Peters, in which sin is conceived as an intrinsic human condition interpreted through anthropological reflection. In moving beyond the idea of sin as rooted in a singular historical event and adopting an existential paradigm, this approach unexpectedly reveals striking affinities with contemporary Jewish thought on sin – an insight of considerable significance for advancing interreligious dialogue. At the same time, the study offers a critical assessment of strategies that reinterpret original sin based on the premise that the theological concepts must align with the findings of natural science, driving these strategies to frame original sin in dialogue with evolutionary theory. The thesis argues, however, that such approaches risk undermining the transcendent framework of Christian theology and compromising its coherence with a traditional understanding of God, by subordinating theological reflection to external paradigms. Moreover, they tend to generate an arbitrary conception of theology’s purpose. The study further observes that the modern strategies employed by Grantén and Peters paradoxically reproduce the very pre-modern and linear ontology they intend to overcome. The thesis ultimately proposes a revised approach that retains an existential emphasis while grounding human limitation and brokenness ontologically within a theological framework. These conditions are presented as inescapable aspects of human existence, inaccessible to rational explanation, and best engaged through forward-oriented theological reflection. This reflection is conducted from a standpoint that affirms theology as a distinct discipline, neither to be narrowly subordinated to other fields nor expansively conflated with them.