Most who claim to believe in the doctrine of Original Sin do not even know what it teaches. Additionally, most are ignorant of its origin and history.
For instance – most people think Augustine of the 5th century AD developed the doctrine, but Irenaeus came up with the original Original Sin in the second century AD. Like Augustine, he incorporates Genesis 2 into his teaching, but claims that the story of Adam and Eve is really an allegory for all humankind rather than a literal history. Following from this thought there was no original state of perfection, and therefore no “fall from grace,” but rather a developing of the human person and the culture over time to reach this perfect state. Irenaeus also claimed since we are born into sinful world, it is only natural that we will sin. This is vastly different from the Original Sin we think of today – which is the Original Sin that Augustine taught – though most people never look at this fact – and they simply assume the doctrine is something founded in the 2nd century AD, thus – it somehow adds credibility to it in the minds of modern Christians.
Augustine claimed that, by virtue of organic unity, the whole human race existed in Adam at the time of his transgression. It says that Adam’s will was the will of the mankind, so that in Adam’s free act, we all revolted against God, and we brought guilt and hellfire ourselves. From newborn on up – we are doomed.
Collectively – the doctrine today is taught something like this – The whole human race sinned when Adam sinned. When Adam sinned, human nature was corrupted, so that now all men are born with a sinful nature. This sinful nature is the cause of all of man’s sins. Man sins by nature and cannot help but sin. Because of Adam’s sin, we are all guilty and under the “wrath and curse of God,” and subject to the “pains of hell forever.” Even newborn babies are guilty and condemned from the moment of their birth.
Obviously – Irenaeus’ version of Original Sin would be called heresy if we were to profess it as the doctrine of Original Sin today – but it seems far more scriptural than anything taught by Augustine…
We aren’t born to burn – we are born to learn – and we aren’t born doomed to Hell – because a child is not born accountable until he truly understands right from wrong.
Think about it folks – death came through Adam – not condemnation of Hellfire. We are born into a sinful world – but we can’t be held accountable for our sins until we truly know right from wrong. Each of us is responsible for our OWN sins – and not the sins of our father – even our greatest grandfather Adam.
This entry was posted on November 1, 2009, 1:49 am and is filed under Commentaries. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Original Sin is False…
Most who claim to believe in the doctrine of Original Sin do not even know what it teaches. Additionally, most are ignorant of its origin and history.
For instance – most people think Augustine of the 5th century AD developed the doctrine, but Irenaeus came up with the original Original Sin in the second century AD. Like Augustine, he incorporates Genesis 2 into his teaching, but claims that the story of Adam and Eve is really an allegory for all humankind rather than a literal history. Following from this thought there was no original state of perfection, and therefore no “fall from grace,” but rather a developing of the human person and the culture over time to reach this perfect state. Irenaeus also claimed since we are born into sinful world, it is only natural that we will sin. This is vastly different from the Original Sin we think of today – which is the Original Sin that Augustine taught – though most people never look at this fact – and they simply assume the doctrine is something founded in the 2nd century AD, thus – it somehow adds credibility to it in the minds of modern Christians.
Augustine claimed that, by virtue of organic unity, the whole human race existed in Adam at the time of his transgression. It says that Adam’s will was the will of the mankind, so that in Adam’s free act, we all revolted against God, and we brought guilt and hellfire ourselves. From newborn on up – we are doomed.
Collectively – the doctrine today is taught something like this – The whole human race sinned when Adam sinned. When Adam sinned, human nature was corrupted, so that now all men are born with a sinful nature. This sinful nature is the cause of all of man’s sins. Man sins by nature and cannot help but sin. Because of Adam’s sin, we are all guilty and under the “wrath and curse of God,” and subject to the “pains of hell forever.” Even newborn babies are guilty and condemned from the moment of their birth.
Obviously – Irenaeus’ version of Original Sin would be called heresy if we were to profess it as the doctrine of Original Sin today – but it seems far more scriptural than anything taught by Augustine…
We aren’t born to burn – we are born to learn – and we aren’t born doomed to Hell – because a child is not born accountable until he truly understands right from wrong.
Think about it folks – death came through Adam – not condemnation of Hellfire. We are born into a sinful world – but we can’t be held accountable for our sins until we truly know right from wrong. Each of us is responsible for our OWN sins – and not the sins of our father – even our greatest grandfather Adam.
This entry was posted on November 1, 2009, 1:49 am and is filed under Commentaries. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.