A contested doctrine is that of original sin or "inhereted sin." Romans 5:12-21 often functions as the foundational text for this doctrine. This article challenges such a reading of this text. It focuses on one important exegetical issue involved in a reading of Romans 5, namely, the significance Paul attaches to "eis pantas anthropous." The author argues that it is not Paul's intention to speculate here on the transmission or imputation of sin and human sinfulness. His thesis is that Paul speaks of universality in the sense of “without ethnic distinction" and not in the sense of “without exception.”