ABSTRACT
In the Christian tradition, human beings are understood to be tainted with original sin. Th ey are guilty by nature, regardless of anything specifi c they do. One way to put this would be to say that it is not accidental that they do things wrong: hurt each other; sacrifi ce others to their own interests; ignore the claims of need that others have on them. On this view, there is a kind of deep structural failure in the nature of human beings.
