Are we born into this world intrinsically sinful, predisposed to evil? St Augustine passionately argued that we are; his opponents thought the notion an insult to a good God. The Church sided with Augustine, and ever since it has taught the doctrine of original sin: the idea that we are not born innocent, but that as babes we are corrupt, guilty, and worthy of condemnation.

Perhaps no Christian teaching has been more controversial. G. K. Chesterton affirmed it as the sole provable doctrine and argued that "Only with original sin can we at once pity the beggar and distrust the king". Yet others have described the very concept as "baleful", "repulsive" and "revolting".

Here, Alan Jacobs takes his readers on a sweeping tour of the idea of original sin - its origins, its history, its proponents and opponents - by drawing on the works of, among others, John Milton, Blaise Pascal, John Bunyan, John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards. He leaves us better prepared to answer one of the most important questions of all: are we really, all of us, born bad to the bone?