Christianity and Judaism
In contrast to the Jewish view of being morally balanced, Original Sin refers to the idea that the sin of Adam and Eve's disobedience (sin "at the origin") has passed on a spiritual heritage, so to speak. Christians teach that human beings inherit a corrupted or damaged human nature in which the tendency to do bad is greater than it would have been otherwise, so much so that human nature would not be capable now of participating in the afterlife with God. This is not a matter of being "guilty" of anything; each person is only personally guilty of their own actual sins. However, this understanding of original sin is what lies behind the Christian emphasis on the need for spiritual salvation from a spiritual Saviour, who can forgive and set aside sin even though humans are not inherently pure and worthy of such salvation. Paul the Apostle in Romans and I Corinthians placed special emphasis on this doctrine, and stressed that belief in Jesus would allow Christians to overcome death and attain salvation in the hereafter.
Nathaniel William Taylor
At the heart of this objection is Taylor's view of the atonement. Many Christians believe that Christ's death upon the cross was as a sin-substitute, whereby the sins of mankind were imputed to Christ, who was punished for our sins in our place. Martin Luther went as far as to say that Christ became the worse sinner in the universe. Christ's righteousness, or his perfection, was then imputed to all believers. Consequently, God no longer sees believers as they really are but is blinded by imputed righteousness. For many Christians, this belief is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Yet Taylor explicitly denied this view.