On the Virginal Conception, and On Original Sin: Chapter 20/Chapter 21
BASIC WRITINGS
argument to contradict it,that God ought to have produced a just offspring,and nothing other than a just offspring, through such propagation even from the substance of a sinful virgin, since sin exists nowhere in human nature except in the will; by contrast, my previous argument proves that even if there were sin in the entire being of the Virgin, she could nonetheless have been purified through faith for the sake of this pure conception. Moreover, my argument here explicitly exempts this human being from every necessity of death or of any corruption or effort, whereas the other argument seems to leave that issue open, although it is resolved by a sufficient argument if one looks into the matter carefully. Hence, it is evident on the basis of either argument that our
Lord and Redeemer endured all his sufferings solely by his most gracious will.
Chapter 20 That he who was born of the Virgin had original justice in place of original sin
It seems to me that I have adequately shown what I set out to show: that there was no rational basis on which original sin could be transmitted from his ancestors to the human being who was conceived by the Virgin, but rather that he should have been made just and happy, as reason demands.Therefore, since from his very origin (in the sense I have explained)35 from a just Father according to his divine nature and from a just mother according to his human nature he was born just, it is quite appropriate to say that he had original justice in place of the original injustice that all other children of Adam have from their origin.
Chapter 21 Why he could not possess personal injustice But it would be superfluous to argue the point that personal injustice did not touch him, since the human nature in him was never without the divine, and his soul was never weighed down against his will or in any way hindered by the corruptible body. Because his soul—or rather the whole human being— together with the Word of God, who is God, always existed as one person, he was never without the perfect justice, wisdom, and power that, in terms of his person, he always possessed from himself as God, although in terms of his natures, the human nature received from the divine nature whatever it possessed.
I do not deny that there may be some other reason, besides the one I have given here and the one I offered elsewhere,36 why God assumed a sinless
35 See Chapter 1 for different senses of 'origin'.
36 See Cur Deus Homo, particularly Book 2, Chapter 16.