ADAM AND EVE did more than just sin when they bit into that forbidden fruit. They poisoned themselves and all generations to come. That’s a theory Bible experts call original sin.
Scholars may have done a fine job putting a name on this idea. But they can’t explain it. Not in a way that makes sense to the typical brain. The scholar who named the theory, Augustine (AD 354–430), said there was nothing harder to explain.
Some scholars pitched the idea that Adam’s ancient sin worked through genetics. The fruit somehow changed humanity’s DNA, and the sin gene got passed on to the rest of us. Now every human comes wired to sin. Exception: Jesus, born of a virgin. “He did not sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
Other scholars say it couldn’t be genetics. If it were, we’d eventually find the cure to sin. That would leave future generations to sit around and debate whose sin Jesus died for.
Without explaining how sin migrates from Adam’s generation to ours, Paul seems to state it as fact: “When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned” (Romans 5:12).
We might not understand the original sin part, but most of us understand the “everyone sinned” part. Even if everyone didn’t sin when Adam did, everyone sinned after Adam did.
If there’s a sin gene, at least spiritually speaking, most souls would agree we’ve all got it.
The cure?
“Who will save me from this sin that brings death to my body? I give thanks to God. He will do it through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:24-25 NIRV).
This is an excerpt from Steve’s new book, releasing July 1, 2016:
A Visual Walk Through Genesis, page 42.
Blog subscribers who win books this week
- Sharon Critchfield
- Tanya Madison
I give away free books every week to randomly selected subscribers to my free blog or my quarterly newsletter.
Winners now get to choose from a stack of titles, including my two most recent: A Visual Walk Through Genesis and The One-Stop History of the Bible.
Note to the two winners: send me an email and I’ll give you the full list of books from which you can choose.
The deal’s good for a month, or for as long as I have giveaway books available.
I’ve had trouble with the concept of Original Sin. It weakens the idea of free will. But, it does agree with the Biblical warning that the sins of the father will be visited upon his children.
Wow, can’t wait for the book. I hope it gets to Africa, specifically Nigeria, soon after release.