1. The Calvinist doctrine that everyone is born in a state of corruption as a result of original sin: The religious organization maintained that all people are born into total depravity.
2. The doctrine, primarily held by conservative Christians, that every part of a person has been hopelessly damaged by sin: One definition of total depravity is seen in the sins shown by people who fail to do what is right; especially, toward one's fellow human beings.

Whatever the origin of total depravity is, the testimony of the Biblical writers is that sin, or depravity, is universal, something that can enslave each person individually, and that which corrupts society collectively.

The enslavement of total depravity is something from which people cannot free themselves by their own efforts but by the forgiveness of God and their dedication to God's will and following His teachings of honesty, moral living, righteousness, doing unto others as you would have them do unto you, and emphasizing a spiritual life instead of striving to satisfy physical desires (wealth, material things, popularity, etc.).