Sin is distinguished into that which is common to all men, and the personal sin of each individual.
The sin common to all men is that which our first parents, and in them all their posterity committed, when, casting off their obedience to God, they tasted the fruit of the forbidden tree. The personal sin of each individual is that which each in his own person has committed, independently of the sin which is common to all. Both kinds of sin . . . These words are also used in the symbolic sense of failing to reach moral and spiritual goals. An important question here arises . . .