A friend of mine wrote this recently. We have been talking about original sin, specifically the question of whether or not all humans are guilty because of Adam’s sin. Here are some interesting insights from my friend…

The doctrine of Federal Headship states that God holds people responsible for the actions of others who represent them. This is seen in the Augustinian doctrine of Original Sin in which the guilt of Adam’s sin is held against all his descendants, since he was the head of the human race. Of course if all mankind was born guilty, then so was Jesus the moment he became human. If this were true, however, Jesus could not save anyone. He would need a savior of his own.

The key verse that seems to suggest that the guilt of Adam condemns the world is Romans 5:18-19: “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” The problem with this interpretation is that it leads to universalism: The one act of Jesus on the cross justifies all men. Men are not automatically justified, and they are not automatically condemned either. The action of Adam leads to people being made sinners in the same way that the action of Jesus leads to people being made righteous: By the free choice of people to either follow Adam into sin or trust in Christ for salvation.

Several have pointed out that it would be unjust for God to punish one person for the sins of others. In fact, God himself warns the Israelites: “In those days they shall no longer say: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ But everyone shall die for his own sin” (Jer. 31:29-30; also Eze. 18:1-4). This would indicate that our sense of justice which leads us to reject the doctrine is informed by God’s own revelation of justice.

Some examples that could be cited to support federal headship might better be described as community responsibility. God will bring judgment on a nation if there is enough sin to deserve it. For instance, he would not allow Israel to conquer the land of Canaan until the iniquity of the Amorites was complete (Gen. 15:16). If there was enough community merit (righteous men), God would have spared the city of Sodom (Gen. 18:22-33). Whenever a nation is being judged, there are inevitably innocent people who suffer for the sins of others. The righteous are not generally separated from the wicked as they will be on the final judgment (Mt. 25:31-46). When God punished Israel and sent them into exile in Babylon, there were several innocent people like Ezekiel and Daniel who suffered as well. It is important to point out, however, that these were all temporal judgments. They had no eternal consequences, as the guilt of Adam would bring on all mankind if the doctrine of Original Sin were true. This makes these other examples quite different.

The classic example of federal headship is the case of King David. Because of David’s sin in taking a census, God sent a plague that killed 70,000 people (1 Chron. 21). But before we assume that these were innocent people paying for David’s sin, 2 Samuel 24:1 indicates that they were as guilty as their king: “Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them, saying, “Go, number Israel and Judah.”” It seems that David’s pride was shared by the entire nation and God used David’s action to humble the people.

Some may point to the example of Achan whose theft led to not only his death but that of his family as well (Josh. 7:19-26). Though the text does not explicitly say it, there is every reason to believe that his family was held responsible because they were complicit in the deed. After all, they lived together in the same tent. Another example suggests that if they were innocent they would have been spared. We have in mind the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. They and all who sided with them were put to death (Num. 16:20-35). Years later, however, we learn that some of Korah’s descendents survived this judgment, no doubt because they would not side with Korah in his sin. The sons of Korah were even blessed to write some of the Psalms (Ps. 42, 44-49, 84-85, 87-88). So in families, children are never held responsible for the sins of their parents. If children sin as their fathers’ do, they will suffer the punishment of their parents (Ex. 20:5-6). It all depends on them. So the doctrine of Federal Headship, in addition to being unjust, seems to have no real support in the Scriptures.

Question posted on Yahoo! Answers: If Adam and Eve were created perfect, how were they able to sin? A perfect being cannot sin. And if they were created imperfect, why did God get angry at them for his mistake of making imperfect beings. And if God knew they would sin, why did he get angry at them for something he knew they would do before creating them? If God is omnipotent and had a plan for Adam and Eve they were unable to have freewill.

What are your thoughts?

Question from Yahoo! Answers: How can “sinful nature” be inherited? Some people have even proposed the ridiculous notion that the “sin nature” is passed down from the father through his sperm. Wouldn’t an “inherited sin nature” make sin a physical problem? If that’s the case, Jesus died in vain. FYI. I’m a Christian who finds the whole concept of “original sin”, or born sinful, etc. to be fully un-biblical and a heretical teaching that has no place in the Bible.

My Answer:

The doctrine of Original Sin is of the utmost importance to the atoning work of Jesus Christ. As the poser of the question implies, the meaningfulness of Jesus’ death is at stake. Before moving forward with my answer, I will cut the suspense and go ahead and say that I am answering as a Christian who DOES ascribe to the doctrine of Original Sin and finds it to be completely biblical.

First of all, what is the doctrine of Original Sin? For an exhaustive discussion of this topic, I recommend the work Original Sin by Jonathan Edwards, who is considered by respected contemporary theologians to be the most brilliant American theologian ever. Here is my overwhelmingly brief synopsis of Original Sin: Adam, acting on behalf of all humans as our covenant head, was created by God in a state of righteousness, and chose freely to rebel against God’s law. In doing do, he condemned all humanity to the penalty of death, both physical and spiritual death. 

Here are a few Scripture references that prove the concept of Original Sin:

Ephesians 2:1-3

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Romans 5:12

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

The latter verse, Romans 5:12, is especially helpful in showing how sin is “inherited”. Sin came into the world through one man, Adam, which had the immediate effect of causing all subsequent men to sin. If Romans 5:12 does not show how and why all human’s are born sinners, they I challenge you to communicate what it does teach.

Through the grace of God, we are not without hope. Jesus came as the “Second Adam” to restore us spiritually to a state of righteousness. 

I know this answer is extremely brief, so if you want more clarification, please let me know.

Manda, my wife, showed me a picture in a children’s Bible and asked me if I had any issues with it. The picture was of a naked man and woman (naughty parts covered) sitting casually in a garden as if one of them should be smoking a cigarette. I said that, other than the latter fact, the picture fits well within the context of the story.

Our children should know that before Adam and Eve committed their act of disobedience against God, they didn’t know there was anything wrong with their nakedness. God’s standard when man had no knowledge of good and evil was different than it is now.

As soon as Adam and Eve became aware of their nakedness they knew it was wrong, so they covered themselves. Since man was now aware of good and evil, God’s standard shifted. It didn’t change, it shifted. God’s standard was the same before and after. The status of His standard changed dependent on whether or not Adam and Eve should be held accountable for their actions or not.

The application for our children should be that we will have mercy on them when they are unaware that they are doing wrong. Once they do something wrong and we express to them that it is wrong, they are then responsible for facing the consequences when they repeat the action in the future. They should also learn that because they have knowledge of good and evil, there is a price to be paid for all of their sin including that sin that took place before they knew it was wrong and even the sin that they inherited from their parents.