APA Dictionary of Psychology

in the Judeo-Christian tradition, a state of sin held to be innate in all humankind as a result of the first sin committed by Adam and Eve, which led to their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Although modern theologians tend to interpret this story symbolically rather than historically, the idea that there is a kind of hereditary stain or fundamental flaw in human nature remains important in Christian thought. The doctrine of original sin has sometimes been reinterpreted in psychological, existential, or socioeconomic terms.