The Doctrine of Original Sin
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Ask Mr. Religion
Flatly Unflappable
The doctrine is taught within Scripture.
WSC Question 18. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
Answer. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in
the guilt of Adam’s first sin,
the want of original righteousness, and
the corruption of his whole nature
which is commonly called original sin;
together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.
[Rom. 5:12, 19; Rom. 5:10-20; Eph. 2:1-3; James 1:14-15; Matt. 15:19.]
And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in
his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s
sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth;
neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have
done (Genesis 8:21).
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother
conceive me (Psalm 51:5).
The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as
soon as they be born, speaking lies (Psalm 58:3).
Our Lord, taking it for granted to be known by all who heard him, spoke of original sin:
"If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children...." (Matthew 7:11)
WSC Question 18. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
Answer. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in
the guilt of Adam’s first sin,
the want of original righteousness, and
the corruption of his whole nature
which is commonly called original sin;
together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.
[Rom. 5:12, 19; Rom. 5:10-20; Eph. 2:1-3; James 1:14-15; Matt. 15:19.]
And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in
his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s
sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth;
neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have
done (Genesis 8:21).
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother
conceive me (Psalm 51:5).
The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as
soon as they be born, speaking lies (Psalm 58:3).
Our Lord, taking it for granted to be known by all who heard him, spoke of original sin:
"If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children...." (Matthew 7:11)
Do we inherit the sin nature then by genetics, or does the Lord somehow have us formed in that state when conceived?
greenbaggins
Puritan Board Doctor
We inherit the nature by spiritual genetics, even though (I believe) that God creates the soul.
Ask Mr. Religion
Flatly Unflappable
God creates a soul and the guilt and sin of Adam is immediately (not mediately) imputed to the person. This is the creationist view, versus traducianism (see the recent thread on this view).
The guilt of Adam's sin is counted as our own guilt; we can be punished for it and it affirms that our nature is corrupted.
Worth a read:
http://www.amazon.com/Imputation-Adams-Sin-John-Murray/dp/0875523412
Von
Puritan Board Sophomore
Maybe the same answer applies as to the Levites paying tithes:
One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
(Hebrews 7:9-10)
In other words, we were in Adam's loins when he sinned.
So when we were conceived, God imputed to us the results of the Fall of Adam, as in now having a sin nature that is spiritual dead?
And so this is the reason for the Virgin Birth, in order to allow for Jesus to be born and not associated with the sin of Adam?
RamistThomist
Puritanboard Clerk
It is not the only reason, but it is the most "up front" reason. Another reason is the typology: a virgin messed it up, another virgin was instrumental in un-messing it up.
it also seems that many are against Original Sin concept due to them seeing Augustine as being the one behind it, and seeing Him not using scriptures but philosophy and Catholic doctrines to get that doctrine.
RamistThomist
Puritanboard Clerk
Most are against it because it seems counter-intuitive for God to punish me for what someone else did.
Scott Bushey
Puritanboard Commissioner
Jesus was not conceived like the rest of us. Insemination plays a part. Christ was 'conceived', but not in the way we are. Hence, he did not inherit the sin nature like the rest of us; Yet, he was the same in order or personage. His Father was the true Father.
Ask Mr. Religion
Flatly Unflappable
Yes.
Ask Mr. Religion
Flatly Unflappable
Those against it, as Jacob noted, just have finite notions of "fairness" for starters. They even go so far as to say they could have done better than Adam if placed in his situation. Sigh. God made Adam as a perfect representative of all his progeny. We could not have, nor could we ever elect, a better representative.
Another reason for refusal of the doctrine is the notion that man is captain of his own destiny, possessing libertarian free will (the liberty of indifference), resulting in the view that man becomes a sinner when he sins and does not just sin because he was born a sinner in the first place. The view that we are morally neutral when we are born is repugnant to Scripture.
The doctrine of original sin has been taught by the church militant for many years, so claiming "Rome!" as a reason to deny it is uninformed nonsense.
418 AD - Council of Carthage (Early Christian Church)
This council's position on original sin was, even "new-born children... have in them... original sin inherited from Adam".
529 AD - Council of Orange (Early Christian Church)
"... it is the whole man, that is, both body and soul, that was 'changed for the worse' through the offense of Adam's sin..."
"...also that sin, which is the death of the soul, passed through one man to the whole human race..."
1530 - Augsburg Confession (Lutheran Church)
"...since the fall of Adam all men begotten in the natural way are born with sin, ...and that this disease, or vice of origin, is truly sin, even now condemning and bringing eternal death upon those not born again..."
1537 - The Smalcald Articles (Lutheran Church)
"... sin originated [and entered the world] from one man Adam, by whose disobedience all men were made sinners, [and] subject to death and the devil. This is called original or capital sin."
"This hereditary sin is so deep and [horrible] a corruption of nature that no reason can understand it, but it must be [learned and] believed from the revelation of Scriptures..."
1618 - The Canons of Dordt (Reformed Church)
"Man brought forth children of the same nature as himself after the fall. That is to say, being corrupt he brought forth corrupt children. The corruption spread, by God's just judgment, from Adam to all his descendants – except for Christ alone – not by way of imitation (as in former times the Pelagians would have it) but by way of the propagation of his perverted nature."
"Therefore, all people are conceived in sin and are born children of wrath, unfit for any saving good, inclined to evil, dead in their sins, and slaves to sin;..."
"... original sin in itself is enough to condemn the whole human race..."
"... unregenerate man is... totally dead in his sins... [and is] deprived of all capacity for spiritual good..."
1618 - Belgic Confession (Reformed Church)
"... by the disobedience of Adam original sin has been spread through the whole human race."
"It is a corruption of all nature-- an inherited depravity which even infects small infants in their mother's womb, and the root which produces in man every sort of sin. It is therefore so vile and enormous in God's sight that it is enough to condemn the human race,..."
1644 - First London Baptist Confession of Faith (Baptist Church)
"... first Eve, then Adam being seduced did wittingly and willingly fall into disobedience and transgression of the Commandment of their great Creator, for the which death came upon all, and reigned over all, so that all since the Fall are conceived in sin, and brought forth in iniquity, and so by nature children of wrath, and servants of sin, subjects of death,..."
1646 - The Westminster Confession of Faith (Presbyterian Church)
"Our first parents, being seduced by the subtilty and temptations of Satan, sinned, in eating the forbidden fruit."
"By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion, with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul and body."
"They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed; and the same death in sin, and corrupted nature, conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation."
"Every sin, both original and actual,... bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God, and curse of the law, and so made subject to death..."
1689 - Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (Baptist Church)
"Our first parents, by this sin, fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and we in them whereby death came upon all: all becoming dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body."
"... and corrupted nature conveyed, to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation, being now conceived in sin, and by nature children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects of death,..."
This council's position on original sin was, even "new-born children... have in them... original sin inherited from Adam".
529 AD - Council of Orange (Early Christian Church)
"... it is the whole man, that is, both body and soul, that was 'changed for the worse' through the offense of Adam's sin..."
"...also that sin, which is the death of the soul, passed through one man to the whole human race..."
1530 - Augsburg Confession (Lutheran Church)
"...since the fall of Adam all men begotten in the natural way are born with sin, ...and that this disease, or vice of origin, is truly sin, even now condemning and bringing eternal death upon those not born again..."
1537 - The Smalcald Articles (Lutheran Church)
"... sin originated [and entered the world] from one man Adam, by whose disobedience all men were made sinners, [and] subject to death and the devil. This is called original or capital sin."
"This hereditary sin is so deep and [horrible] a corruption of nature that no reason can understand it, but it must be [learned and] believed from the revelation of Scriptures..."
1618 - The Canons of Dordt (Reformed Church)
"Man brought forth children of the same nature as himself after the fall. That is to say, being corrupt he brought forth corrupt children. The corruption spread, by God's just judgment, from Adam to all his descendants – except for Christ alone – not by way of imitation (as in former times the Pelagians would have it) but by way of the propagation of his perverted nature."
"Therefore, all people are conceived in sin and are born children of wrath, unfit for any saving good, inclined to evil, dead in their sins, and slaves to sin;..."
"... original sin in itself is enough to condemn the whole human race..."
"... unregenerate man is... totally dead in his sins... [and is] deprived of all capacity for spiritual good..."
1618 - Belgic Confession (Reformed Church)
"... by the disobedience of Adam original sin has been spread through the whole human race."
"It is a corruption of all nature-- an inherited depravity which even infects small infants in their mother's womb, and the root which produces in man every sort of sin. It is therefore so vile and enormous in God's sight that it is enough to condemn the human race,..."
1644 - First London Baptist Confession of Faith (Baptist Church)
"... first Eve, then Adam being seduced did wittingly and willingly fall into disobedience and transgression of the Commandment of their great Creator, for the which death came upon all, and reigned over all, so that all since the Fall are conceived in sin, and brought forth in iniquity, and so by nature children of wrath, and servants of sin, subjects of death,..."
1646 - The Westminster Confession of Faith (Presbyterian Church)
"Our first parents, being seduced by the subtilty and temptations of Satan, sinned, in eating the forbidden fruit."
"By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion, with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul and body."
"They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed; and the same death in sin, and corrupted nature, conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation."
"Every sin, both original and actual,... bring guilt upon the sinner, whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God, and curse of the law, and so made subject to death..."
1689 - Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (Baptist Church)
"Our first parents, by this sin, fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and we in them whereby death came upon all: all becoming dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body."
"... and corrupted nature conveyed, to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation, being now conceived in sin, and by nature children of wrath, the servants of sin, the subjects of death,..."
Help me out here...? I understand Gen.2:23-25 to be an oblique and beautiful way of describing Adam's joy at finding his "missing" complement, and the natural result.
I don't see the tale as it's told eliciting the conclusion the above statement seems to make.
RamistThomist
Puritanboard Clerk
I understand the arguments for pre-fall sex, but I was just summarizing historic church teaching (including Turretin, who implies they wouldn't have had time)
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