Gavin Ortlund on Original sin & the human will
No position located on this map
Searched in the sources read for this figure and not found. A limit of the reading rather than a claim about the figure — a source not yet read could settle it.
THE POSITION
Searched and not located. The question this locus asks — how far the fall disabled human nature, and whether the will can turn to God unaided — is not one his public corpus takes up. His two full-length solo videos on Calvinism argue divine and human causation rather than anthropology: 'Calvinism Isn't Crazy!' (26 min, chapters on compatibilism and on Augustine and Aquinas on unconditional election) and 'Calvinism: What Everyone Misses' (15 min, on dual causation), both framed as theological-triage appeals for patience between Calvinists and non-Calvinists. Where he does treat the fall — chapter 5 of Retrieving Augustine's Doctrine of Creation, and the video 'Were Adam and Eve Historical People?' — the subject is the historicity of Adam against evolutionary science, not the extent of the damage.
WHY THERE IS NO QUOTATIONTier is `unknown` rather than `established` because nothing of his was read in full on this locus. The YouTube transcript panel would not open for either Calvinism video across repeated attempts, and both books are paywalled, so the search rests on chapter markers, video and book tables of contents, a curated index of 27 of his resources, and third-party reviews — enough to show where the topic is not addressed, not enough to assert that he holds no position. A targeted search pairing his name with 'total depravity', 'bondage of the will' and 'original sin' returned other authors' work, not his.
WHAT OTHERS HOLD HERE
ABOUT THIS FIGURE
Pastor and author behind Truth Unites. Works on retrieving the church fathers for Protestants and on charitable engagement with Catholic and Orthodox claims.
Cite this page
"Gavin Ortlund on Original sin & the human will", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/ortlund/original-sin (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/ortlund/original-sin).