Alan Jacobs

Alan Jacobs is a professor of literature at Wheaton College. He can discuss the imaginative life of C. S. Lewis, the enduring classic of children’s
literature the Chronicles of Narnia, and Lewis’s life in general.

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Bible/Jesus Experts

Original Sin

A Cultural History

Talking Points

Alan Jacobs is a professor of English at Wheaton College in Illinois. He is the author of several books, including most recently The Narnian, a biography of C.S. Lewis. His literary and cultural criticism has appeared in a wide range of periodicals, including the Boston Globe, The American Scholar, First Things, Books & Culture, and The Oxford American.

Description

Essayist and biographer Alan Jacobs introduces us into the world of original sin, which he describes as not only a profound idea but a necessary one. As G.K. Chesterton explains, “Only with original sin can we at once pity the beggar and distrust the king.”

Ever since Augustine, the church has taught the doctrine of original sin, which is the idea that we are not born innocent, but as babes we are corrupt, guilty, and worthy of condemnation. Thus started a debate that has raged at the heart of Western civilization for centuries.

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