likeness of God. Sin, therefore, implies the impetus to become something other than what we were created for, rather than guilt for violating a commandment. Because each person's experience is unique, conquering one's sinful habits requires individual attention and correction. The ultimate goal for this salvific process is to become divinized, to reflect the Divine likeness by becoming Christ-like in one's thought, life and behavior. A traditional practice of Eastern Orthodoxy is, as in other apostolic churches, to have a spiritual mentor and guide to whom one confesses and who treats the sin on an individual basis. An experienced and spiritually mature guide will know how and when to apply strictness in dealing with sin and when to administer mercy. Original Sin In Eastern Orthodoxy, God created humanity with the ability to freely love him and gave humans a direction to follow. Man (Adam) and Woman (Eve) chose rather to disobey God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, thus changing the "perfect" mode of existence of Man into a flawed or "fallen" one. Since then a fallen nature and all that has come from it is the result of this "Ancestral Sin". Because of the entrance of death into the world through Adam, all humans end up sinning and follow in his ways (Rom. 5:12, Heb. 2:14-15). Through the union of humanity with divinity in Jesus Christ the mode of existence of humanity is restored in the Person of Christ. Those who are incorporated in him may participate in this renewal of the perfect mode of existence, be saved from sin and death, and be united to God in deification (theosis). Ancestral sin is cleansed in humans through baptism or, in the case of the Theotokos, the moment Christ took form within her. Man is not seen as inherently guilty of the sin committed by Adam, a view that differs from the Roman Catholic doctrine of original sin, where Adam is conceived as the federal head and legal representative of the human race, as first articulated by Latin Father Augustine of Hippo, According to the Orthodox, humanity inherited the consequences of Adam's sin, not the guilt. The difference stems from Augustine's interpretation of a Latin translation of Romans 5:12 to mean that through Adam all men sinned, whereas the Orthodox, reading in Greek, interpret it as meaning that all of humanity sins as a consequence