A RIGHT CONCEPTION OF SINChapter 1 -- SIN AND THEOLOGY
By Richard S. Taylor
Sin, as one doctrine of the Christian system, is the common denominator of the other doctrines. The doctrines relating to sin forms the centre around which we build our entire theological system.
If our conception of sin is faulty, our whole superstructure (of beliefs) will be one error built on another, each one more absurd than the last, yet each one necessary if it is to fit in consistently with the whole erroneous scheme.
If we are to end right we must begin right. Many, perhaps most, of the errors which have protruded themselves into Christian theology can be finally traced to a faulty conception of sin.
To reason from a false premise is to start an endless chain of false conclusions.
Beware of lest ye be Deceived!
It is Satan's constant effort to misrepresent the character of God, the nature of sin, and the real issues at stake in the great controversy. His sophistry lessens the obligation of the divine law, and gives men license to sin
The Great Controversy page 569
If Original Sin
were a tree,
what are its
fruits?
HISTORY OF ORIGINAL SIN
I. MEANING
- Original sin may be taken to
mean: (1) the sin that Adam
committed; (2) a consequence of
this first sin, the hereditary stain
with which we are born on
account of our origin or descent
from Adam.
- From the earliest times the
latter sense of the word was more
common, as may be seen by St.
Augustine's statement: "the
deliberate sin of the first man is
the cause of original sin"
www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/
view
NATURE OF ORIGINAL SIN
“Original sin is the privation of sanctifying grace in consequence of the sin of Adam….. One man has transmitted to the whole human race not only the death of the body, which is the punishment of sin, but even sin itself, which is the death of the soul [Denz., n. 175 (145)].
As death is the privation of the principle of life, the death of the soul is the privation of sanctifying grace which according to all theologians is the principle of supernatural life. Therefore, if original sin is "the death of the soul ", it is the privation of sanctifying grace.
www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.
BACKGROUND TO ORIGINAL SIN
“The absence of sanctifying grace in the new-born child is also an effect of the first sin, for Adam, having received holiness and justice from God, lost it not only for himself but also for us (loc. cit., can. ii).
If he has lost it for us we were to have received it from him at our birth… Therefore the absence of sanctifying grace in a child is a real privation…….if it is holiness, its privation may be called a sin. Sanctifying grace is holiness and is so called by the Council of Trent,”
www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.
INSTRUCTION ON INFANT BAPTISM
By the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Approved by His Holiness Pope John Paul II October 20, 1980
Traditional Doctrine On Infant Baptism
The Teaching of the Magisterium
Popes and Councils also often intervened to remind Christians of
their duty to have their children baptized. “The Council of
Carthage in 418 condemned "whoever says that newborn infants
should not be baptized," and it taught that, on account of the
Church's "rule of faith" concerning original sin, "even babies, who
are yet unable to commit any sin personally, are truly baptized for
the forgiveness of sins, for the purpose of cleansing by rebirth what
they have received by birth."[11]
7. This teaching was constantly reaffirmed and defended during the
Middle Ages. In particular, the Council of Vienna in 1312 stressed
that the sacrament of Baptism has for its effect, in the case of
infants, not just the forgiveness of sins but also the granting of
grace and the virtues.[12] The Council of Florence in 1442 rebuked
those who wanted Baptism postponed and declared that infants
should receive "as soon as is convenient"
www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDFINFAN.HTM
Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
INSTRUCTION ON INFANT BAPTISM
By the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
Approved by His Holiness Pope John Paul II October 20, 1980
Traditional Doctrine On Infant Baptism
The Teaching of the Magisterium
Popes and Councils also often intervened to remind Christians of
their duty to have their children baptized. “The Council of
Carthage in 418 condemned "whoever says that newborn infants
should not be baptized," and it taught that, on account of the
Church's "rule of faith" concerning original sin, "even babies, who
are yet unable to commit any sin personally, are truly baptized for
the forgiveness of sins, for the purpose of cleansing by rebirth what
they have received by birth."[11]
7. This teaching was constantly reaffirmed and defended during the
Middle Ages. In particular, the Council of Vienna in 1312 stressed
that the sacrament of Baptism has for its effect, in the case of
infants, not just the forgiveness of sins but also the granting of
grace and the virtues.[12] The Council of Florence in 1442 rebuked
those who wanted Baptism postponed and declared that infants
should receive "as soon as is convenient"
www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDFINFAN.HTM
Unbaptized Infants
The fate of infants who die without
baptism must be briefly considered
here. The Catholic teaching is
uncompromising on this point, that all
who depart this life without baptism, be
it of water, or blood, or desire, are
perpetually excluded from the vision of
God……..: "The punishment of original
sin is the deprivation of the vision of
God;
The remission of all sin, original and
actual
We believe that all sin are remitted in
baptism, both original sin and those sins
which have been voluntarily
committed." The Council of Trent
(Sess. V., can. v)
www.newadvent.org
Augsburg Confession of Faith (1530), Lutheranism’s
creed, asserted:
[A]ll men, born according to nature, are born with sin, that is,
without the fear of God, without confidence towards God and with
concupiscence, and that this original disease or flaw is truly a sin,
bringing condemnation and also eternal death to those who are
not reborn through baptism and the Holy Spirit (Article II).
BACKGROUND TO ORIGINAL SIN
“Sanctifying grace therefore enters into the moral order, not as an act that passes but as a permanent tendency which exists even when the subject who possesses it does not act, it is a turning towards God”.
“Consequently the privation of this grace, even without any other act, would be a stain, a moral deformity, a turning away from God, and this character is not found in any other effect of the fault of Adam. This privation, therefore, is the hereditary stain”.
www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.
It is Satan's constant effort to misrepresent the character of God, the nature (or DEFINITION) of sin, and the real issues at stake in the great controversy. His sophistry lessens the obligation of the divine law and gives men license to sin. {The Great Controversy Chap 35 pg 569}
Original Sin and Protestantism
“Lutherans and Calvinist suggest that, according
to Augustine, human beings are utterly depraved
in nature. That humans are spoiled by the original
sin to the extent that the very presence of
concupiscence, fomes peccati (incendiary of sin),
is already a personal sin”.
Concupiscence: sexual intercourse
“Augustine's doctrine about the liberum arbitriumor free will and its inability to respond to the will
of God without divine grace is interpreted in
terms of Predestrination: grace is irresistible,
results in conversion, and leads to perseverance”.
“The Calvinist view of Augustine's teachings rests
on the assertion that God has foreordained, from
eternity, those who will be saved. The number of
the elect is fixed. God has chosen the elect
certainly and gratuitously, without any previous
merit (ante merita) on their part”.
newadvent.org
The Augsburg Confession
Article II. confessed ORIGINAL
SIN.
“Since the fall of Adam all men
descending from him by ordinary
generation are born in sin, which
places under condemnation and
bringeth eternal death to all who are
not born again by baptism and the
Holy Ghost.” p.g 695
The History of Protestantism by the
Rev. J. A. Wylie, LL.D.
The Doctrine of the Immaculate
Conception
In the Constitution Ineffabilis Deus of 8
December, 1854, Pius IX pronounced and defined
that the Blessed Virgin Mary "in the first instance
of her conception, was preserved exempt from all
stain of original sin."
Her body was formed in the womb of the mother,
and the father had the usual share in its
formation. Mary was preserved exempt from all
stain of original sin at the first moment of her
animation, and sanctifying grace was given to her
before sin could have taken effect in her soul.
The formal active essence of original sin was not
removed from her soul, as it is removed from
others by baptism; it was excluded, it never was in
her soul. Simultaneously with the exclusion of sin.
newadvent.org
The Doctrine of the Immaculate
Conception
The state of original sanctity, innocence, and
justice, as opposed to original sin, was
conferred upon her, by which gift every stain
and fault, all depraved emotions, passions, and
debilities, essentially pertaining to original sin,
were excluded. But she was not made exempt
from the temporal penalties of Adam — from
sorrow, bodily infirmities, and death.
The person of Mary, in consequence of her
origin from Adam, should have been subject to
sin, but, being the new Eve who was to be the
mother of the new Adam, she was, by the
eternal counsel of God and by the merits of
Christ, withdrawn from the general law of
original sin. Such is the meaning of the term
"Immaculate Conception."
newadvent.org
“Adam's transgression was not
confined to himself, but was
transmitted, with its long train of
dire consequences, to all his
posterity. It is called original sin
because it is derived from our
original progenitor…. “As an infant
one day old cannot commit an
actual sin, the stain must come from
the original offense of Adam.”
The Faith of Our Fathers by James Cardinal
Gibbons
Chapter XIX. Grace—The Sacraments—Original
Sin—Baptism—Its Necessity—Its
Effects—Manner Of Baptizing p.g 256,257.
James Cardinal Gibbons
American Cardinal of the Roman
Catholic Church.
.
Current view on Original Sin
By Scott P. Richert, catholicism.about.com/od/beliefsteachings
Executive editor Chronicles MagazineB.A. in Political Science from Michigan State University
Adam and Eve, by disobeying God's command not to eat the fruit of
the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:16-17;
Genesis 3:1-19), brought sin and death into this world. Roman
Catholic doctrine and tradition hold that Adam's sin has been passed
down from generation to generation. It is not simply that the world
around us has been corrupted by Adam's sin in such a way that all
those who have followed have found it nearly impossible not to sin,
but that our very nature was corrupted in such a way that life without
sin is impossible. This corruption of our nature, passed down from
father to child, is what we call Original Sin.
.
Current view on Original Sin
By Scott P. Richert, catholicism.about.com/od/beliefsteachings
Executive editor Chronicles MagazineB.A. in Political Science from Michigan State University
Jesus Christ: Conceived Without Sin:
Jesus Christ was born without Original Sin because He was
conceived without Original Sin. The Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Christ is also the Son of God. In the Roman Catholic tradition,
Original Sin is, as I mentioned, passed down from father to child; the
transmission occurs through the sexual act. Since Christ's Father is
God Himself, there was no Original Sin to be passed down.
Conceived by the Holy Spirit through Mary's willing cooperation at
the Annunciation, Christ was not subject to Adam's sin or its effects.
The teaching of Original sin states that sin is infused into the flesh at conception, based
on Adam’s sin. Therefore sin, guilt, condemnation is inherited.
Because of the inherited guilt and condemnation it is imperative that a newborn child
be baptized quickly so that the inherited sin is washed away, so if the child should die it
would not be condemned to hell.
Sanctifying grace (Which is holiness) is received at baptism, and although the life may
not correspond with the sanctifying grace one is still deemed to be holy.
Correspondingly if one exercises in ones life acts of holiness while not being baptized
they are still deemed to be condemned by original sin. Therefore one can be saved while
sinning.
St Augustine’s teaching on original sin was adopted by Protestant leaders (Martin Luther
and John Calvin) and expanded on to create the teaching of Predestination.
Because original sin taints all offspring of Adam, as a tradition of the church Mary was
made exempted from original sin.
Original sin is believed by the tradition of the church to be passed down by the father
through the sexual act. Jesus did not have a earthly father and his mother was exempted
from the taint of original sin therefore he too would be exempted from original sin since
original sin is what causes condemnation.
Did Jesus believe in
the concept of
Original sin?
John 9:1-3
And as Jesus passed by,
he saw a man which was
blind from his birth. 2.
And his disciples asked
him, saying, Master, who
did sin, this man, or his
parents, that he was born
blind? 3. Jesus answered,
Neither hath this man
sinned, nor his parents
but that the works of God
should be made manifest
in him.
The Jews believed that any manifestation of sickness (Such
as leprosy or blindness) in a person was as a result of a
sinful act done by the person or their parents, hence the
disciples question.
The scripture says that the man was born blind, this is before he
came out of his mother’s womb; So looking at their question from a
biological standpoint the question was really; who sinned, or, who is
guilty, this man (The embryo or fetus) or his parents, why he was
born blind? If “sin is the transgression of the Law”, the only
definition of sin, could he have sinned during the nine month in his
mother’s womb?
If Jesus believed that mankind
becomes guilty sinners at
conception or birth would Jesus
have answered the way he did? If
being born a sinners was a
biblical concept, at least one of
the possibilities given by his
disciples would have been
correct if guilt is infused into the
flesh of mankind at conception.
This would have been a perfect
opportunity for Jesus to affirm
any belief that sin and guilt is
inherited through the flesh.
But Jesus said “Neither hath this
man (biological interpretation:
The embryo or fetus) sinned, nor
his parents”.
It is inevitable that children should suffer from the consequences of parental wrongdoing, but they are not punished for the parents' guilt, except as they participate in their sins. It is usually the case, however, that children walk in the steps of their parents. By inheritance and example the sons become partakers of the father's sin. Wrong tendencies, perverted appetites, and debased morals, as well as physical disease and degeneracy, are transmitted as a legacy from father to son, to the third and fourth generation. This fearful truth should have a solemn power to restrain men from following a course of sin. –(Patriarchs and Prophets 1890 chap 27 pg. 306)
Both parents transmit their own characteristics, mental and physical, their dispositions and appetites, to their child. {Christian Education 233.1}
Therefore physical maladies and characteristic traits are transmitted to
the child, but the guilt of the parents is not imputed to the child. The
only guilt that children can receive is from that sin which they
themselves have committed when they know right from wrong.
Ezekiel 18:20.
The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father,
neither shall the father bear
the iniquity of the son: the
righteousness of the
righteous shall be upon him,
and the wickedness of the
wicked shall be upon him.
The results of sin, evil (Such as leprosy, blindness and other
maladies) are a manifestation of the devil’s work in deceiving
mankind and destroy him spiritually and physically; the works of
God are manifest in the restoration of mankind both spiritually and
physically. This was the work of Jesus, in coming to earth as a man.
Ezekiel 18:20.
The soul that sinneth, it
shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the
father bear the iniquity of
the son: the righteousness
of the righteous shall be
upon him, and the
wickedness of the wicked
shall be upon him.
Based on Ezekiel 18:20 would Cain Able and Seth be counted as
sinners at conception or birth on account of what there father Adam
did?
1) Sin is the sinner’s individual willful act to break of God’s
Law, and not ones nature or a state of being. (The only
definition given in scripture for sin is the Transgression of
the Law)
2) Sin and guilt are not infused into the flesh at conception or
birth; it is an act of the will, man’s choice to disobey God’s
law.
3) Sin and the corresponding guilt or accountability is not
charged to anyone who breaks God’s Law in ignorance (Not
knowing or understanding right and wrong).
4) The sins of the parents are not charged against the children,
it is only as they understanding right and wrong and then
participate in those sins that they become guilty.
5) Temptation (having a feeling or emotion to act in accordance with an instinct or desire which is contrary to the will of God)does not constitute an act of sin or any guilt; only when
cherished tolerated in the heart, or acted out, by commission or
omission.
6) The original sin was atoned for by Christ bearing the guilt;
standing as surety in the Garden of Eden at the moment man
sinned (The ratification of that surety on the cross) and by
Adam offering a lamb on God’s instructions.
7) In one act of sin Adam condemned himself and all mankind
to eternal death, but at that same moment, Jesus freed all men
from that guilt and condemnation giving Adam and all
mankind a second chance for personal salvation.
But surely Jesus
receive exemptions
of the flesh. Isn’t
He that Holy
thing?
THE END
OF
PART 2