Original Sin

Oath - Calling upon God to witness the truth of a statement or the sincerity of our intention to keep a promise.  An oath, to be lawful, must be prudent, just and truthful; 1. There must be a good reason for the taking of the oath; 2. The promise made must concern something lawful, or the information with which the oath is concerned must be facts which may be revealed; 3. The subject matter of the oath must be true.  The sin of perjury is the committed if one takes an oath to an untruth or solemnly promises something he has no intention of fulfilling. 

Among the Hebrews, two varieties of oaths were practiced: one of a milder form and the other involved a “self-invoke curse.” Peter employed both in his denial of Jesus.  At first he denied knowing Jesus with the more common oath; then in his last denial he invoked upon himself a curse.   Care must be taken to distinguish between the legitimate oath and the taking of the name of God in vain.  
© Fireside New American Bible

Obadiah, The book of - Shortest book in the Old Testament, only 21 verses long, but one of the most vigorous in its language and message, as it castigates the arrogance of the Edomites for their invasion of Judah, taking advantage of the fall of Jerusalem in 587 B.C.; Obadiah predicts their downfall when, on “The Day of the Lord,” God will pass judgment on all the nations and Israel will be restored.”
 © Fireside New American Bible

Omission  - Willful neglect or positive refusal to perform some good action that one’s conscience urges one to do. Such omission is morally culpable, and its gravity depends on the importance of what should have been done, on the person’s willfulness, and the circumstances of the situation.
© Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications

Omniscience  - God’s knowledge of all things. Revelation discloses that the wisdom of God is without measure (Psalm 146:5). And the Church teaches that his knowledge is infinite.  The difference between past, present, and future does not exist for the divine knowledge, since for God all is simultaneously present.
© Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications

Original Justice  - The state of Adam and Eve before they sinned. It was the simultaneous possession of sanctifying grace, with its right to enter heaven, and the preternatural gifts. Had Adam not sinned, original justice would have been transmitted to all his descendants. Later, through repentance, he personally recovered sanctifying grace but not the other prerogatives of original justice. Since Adam, human beings are said to be deprived of original justice. Jesus Christ, the new head of the human race, by his passion and death expiated human sin and regained what Adam had lost. Sanctifying grace is restored at justification, but the preternatural gifts are returned only as capacities (such as the ability to overcome concupiscence) or only eventually (such as bodily immortality after the final resurrection).
© Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications

Original Sin  - Either the sin committed by Adam as the head of the human race, or the sin he passed onto his posterity with which every human being, with the certain exception of Christ and his Mother, is conceived and born. The sin of Adam is called originating original sin (originale originans); that of his descendents is originated original sin (originale originatum). Adam’s sin was personal and grave, and it affected human nature. It was personal because he freely committed it; it was grave because God imposed a serious obligation; and it affected the whole human race by depriving his progeny of the supernatural life and preternatural gifts they would have possessed on entering the world had Adam not sinned. Original sin in his descendants is personal only in the sense that the children of Adam are each personally affected, but not personal as though they had voluntarily chosen to commit the sin; it is grave in the sense that it debars a person from the beatific vision, but not grave in condemning one to hell; and it is natural only in that all human nature, except for divine intervention, has it and can have it removed only by supernatural means.
© Modern Catholic Dictionary, Eternal Life Publications

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