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Hamartiologia

The theology of sin — its nature, origin, and effects; Orthodox emphasis falls on sin as sickness rather than legal guilt.

Hamartiologia (from hamartia, sin, and logos, account) is the theological account of sin. Orthodox theology understands sin primarily as: (1) a missing of the mark (the literal meaning of hamartia — an archer's arrow that misses the target); (2) a wounding of human nature through the misuse of freedom; and (3) a darkening of the nous and a disruption of the soul's natural orientation toward God. The legal-guilt model of sin (sin as a debt requiring payment) is less prominent in Orthodox theology than in Western, particularly Anselmian, soteriology.

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