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actual sin

American  

noun

Theology.
  1. any sin committed by an individual of their own free will, as contrasted with original sin.


actual sin British  

noun

  1. Christianity any sin that a person commits of his own free will and for which he is personally responsible Compare original sin

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of actual sin

First recorded in 1450–1500


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Between 1983 and 2013, Felton published more than a dozen books, with the collective message that clutter was, if not an actual sin, at least a failure of self-understanding.

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 8, 2014

By the dogma of the immaculate conception, Roman Catholics regard the Virgin Mary as a unique human person, by virtue of being without original or actual sin.

From Time Magazine Archive

It is in confession of actual sin that the contrite offender humbles himself before his God.

From The Loyalists, Vol. 1-3 An Historical Novel by Jane West

Can the reader see the difference between this doctrine of actual sin from the birth, viewed in connection with its origin and bearings, and the New Divinity, which makes sin consist exclusively in moral exercise?

From Calvinistic Controversy Embracing a Sermon on Predestination and Election and Several Numbers, Formally Published in the Christian Advocate and Journal. by Wilbur Fisk

Now the habit of actual sin has not the nature of a fault, else it would follow that a man while asleep, would be guilty of sin.

From Summa Theologica, Part I-II (Pars Prima Secundae) From the Complete American Edition by Saint Thomas Aquinas

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