Kenneth Wilson - Sin as Contagious in the Writings of Cyprian and Augustine

Cyprian has been considered to be a major provenance of the doctrine of original sin since he paved the way for Augustine with Adam’s “contagion of the ancient death” (Ep. 64, contagium mortis antiquae). But about 388 C.E., Augustine considered that phrase recondite (deMor.Ecc.1.40). Thus, Cyprian’s broader use of contagius should be analyzed outside of this epistle and compared with his understanding of infant baptism. Versus Cyprian’s 34 uses, Augustine’s massive corpus contains less uses per total word count with about 148 occurrences. Augustine’s emphasis on contagius shifts in 412 from a Cyprian/Donatist meaning to a more technical redefinition that includes his damnable inherited reatus. Is Cyprian the source for Augustinian original sin? Does Augustine’s use of contagium indicate he modified his anthropological consequences of Adam’s sin?