Does the Bible Teach Original and Actual Sin - Research Paper Example

 Does the Bible Teach Original and Actual Sin? Introduction Sin is a controversial subject. All the religions believe in good and evils and sin is believed to be the contributions of the evil forces. Different religions have different interpretations about sin. For example, Christians believe that a person can marry only one female and it is a sinful act if he marries another female under normal circumstances. On the other hand, Muslims don’t believe in such doctrines. They can marry up to four girls after divorcing their existing wife and still their religion may not consider it as a sin. Hindus also believe in keeping more than one wife at certain circumstances. Killing of the non-believers or the enemies of religion is a sacred act for the Muslims whereas Christians don’t have such belief. Thus the interpretations of original sin are different among different religions and communities. 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 Adam1. Christians have a comprehensive definition about sins. They believe that all the human being in this world are sinners since the sin has entered in this world through the first human being Adam and transferred to his successors genetically. Moreover, Christians also believe that those who believe in Jesus Christ (the only son of God, who has sacrificed his life for saving the sinners) will get forgiveness and salvation. Modern thought has no mind for the doctrine of original sin. It has been veiled, defiled, disguised, dressed up or discarded entirely in the teachings and preaching of present day Christianity. Some modern scholars have even suggested that the doctrine is a theological accident. The task of this paper is threefold: 1) To illustrate that the Bible does indeed teach both original sin and actual sin as Augustine and Calvin interpreted; 2) to illuminate that humans are integrated beings and as such, original sin is transmitted in the human race biologically through genetics, and spiritually by our organic solidarity with Adam as members of the human race, justly imputed from Adam to each 3). The doctrine of original sin is no accident. It is an inspired message from God that is critically relevant in our world and especially in the field of counselling.  This paper briefly analyses the questions; does the Bible teach original and actual sin and how is sin transmitted in the human race. Also this paper analyses original sin on the basis of its relevance in counseling. Does the Bible teach original and actual sin? Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good2. Bible teaches that a person would be able to select from the good and evil when he grown up. Bible teaches us that there are two things in the world; good and evil. We are free to choose between these two, but Bible cautions that the ultimate result of sin would be permanent death whereas the result of good would be salvation or eternal life. Bible is not giving much importance to the sins committed by the children at their early ages since they were not matured enough to segregate between the good and evil. At the same time Bible emphasizes the importance of committing good actions alone once the people got the knowledge about the good and evil. Thus, Bible argues that actual sins are the ones which performed with the complete knowledge about the consequences of an action. God will forgive sins which happened unknowingly according to Bible. Thus original sins are the ones which happened or performed with the complete knowledge about the consequences of it. It is easy to commit sins whereas it is difficult to perform good things according to Bible. Persuasion for sins may come from all the corners of the world and it is difficult for a person to overcome such persuasions. St. Luke 4:6 narrates and incident in which the Satan, the evil force, tested even the son of God, Jesus Christ. “And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it”3. The above incident clearly shows that the evil forces are attacking all the people irrespective of believers or the non-believers, God or the humans. Satan, the king of evil forces is using every means to increase the strength of his military force. Job 33:27 says “I have sinned, I have not done the right, but God spared me”4. Only the God has the right to make modifications in the lives of his creation. In other words, only the creator has the right to make changes in his creations. Bible says that only God has the authority to forgive sins. God has sent his only son Jesus Christ to the earth in order to save the lives of sinners who accept Jesus as the saviour and God. As per the God’s doctrine the ultimate outcome of sins is death. Sin entered to the world through only one person Adam and that sin can be taken back only through another person Jesus Christ. God do not like to change his doctrines and in order to wipe out the sins committed by Adam, God asked his only son to become scapegoat which is accepted by the Jesus. The death at Holy Cross by Jesus for saving the lives of sinners gives us the opportunity to save our lives from punishments. The only condition put forward by God for saving our life is to believe in Jesus Christ and behave as if the Jesus taught us. Colossians 1:21-23 says that And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreproveable in his sight: If you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven5 Faith in Jesus is the core of Christianity. The faith that Jesus has sacrificed his life for us and resurrected on the third day after his death and will come back again to give us eternity is the fundamental Christian doctrine. Even though, the beliefs of Jews, Christians and Muslims have similarities, only the Christians accept Jesus as the son of God and saviour. 1 John 3:4 says that “whoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law6. It is a fact that the human culture cannot survive in this world without proper laws. If all the persons do things as they like, it is impossible to live without conflicts since the rights of one person need not be the right of another one. For example, consider a person steals the property of another one as he doesn’t have any belief in doing goods. Such acts may create problems between the two which may result in fights between them. Only the fittest will survive in such cases. Survival of the fittest is the nature’s law; but not that of the creator. It is an accepted fact that human life is the most valuable thing in the world and human life is segregated from other forms of life. Moreover, it is impossible for human to stay alone as human is a social animal. Thus, human should look for moral laws more closely than the nature’s laws according to the Bible. According to James 4:17 those who knows to do good and failed to do it, commit sin7. It is not necessary that the wrong doings alone be the sins, sin has got lot of dimensions according to Christian beliefs. Sins can be committed through three mediums, mind, actions and words. According to bible those who failed to do good things are also culprits of sins. For example, only the good Samaritan helped the injured person in getting medical assistance whereas all the others who watched him in pathetic condition did nothing to save his life. As per the Christian belief all the others who watched the injured person and did nothing were also committed sins. In short, failure to perform things at the right time, at the right place, using right means also can be sins as per Christianity. Romans 14:23 And he that doubts is damned if he eat, because he eats not of faith: for whatever is not of faith is sin. Is the least descriptive of sin. It is obvious in the context of passage that Paul is referring to foods and setting apart days etc. The fact that only the last part of the sentence is used shows how deceptive it is to use this passage as a definition of sin. Why is it so popular to use then? Simple, because it affords people to transgress the law and do what they know is wrong as long as they have "faith" while doing it8. Christianity and Calvinism The Five Points of Calvinism are: Total Depravity; Unconditional Election; Limited Atonement; Irrisistible Grace and Perseverance of the Saints - When put together known as TULIP. Total Depravity states that man's natural state is one of total depravity and therefore a total innability to contribute to one's salvation. When man fell in the Garden of Eden, he fell in his totality. Romans 5:12 shows that man by nature is dead. 2 Tim. 2:25 shows that man are bound. Mark 4:11 shows that men are blind and deaf. 1 Corinthians 2:14shows that man is uninstructable. Psalm 51:5shows that man is naturally sinful by birth and by practice9 Total depravity theory of Calvinism is more or less in line with the Christian beliefs. It is impossible for the human to attain salvation if God’s benevolence is not there. By birth itself we are sinners and it is impossible for us to claim the kingdom of God without God’s blessings and benevolence. By nature, we are dead, deaf and blind. In order to become alive and to see and hear properly we need the blessings of the God. Nothing is happening in the world without the knowledge of the God, the almighty. What we are seeing, hearing and perceiving are not the right ones if God’s benevolence is not with us. We can judge things rightly only if we are able to experience the benevolence of the God. The God’s benevolence has been deprived resulting from the fall of Adam from Aden. We can regain this lost benevolence of God only through Jesus Christ according to the Christian doctrine. There are many arguments both in favour and against the Total Depravity theory which rejects an individual’s ability to attain salvation using his actions alone. Pelagius and Arminian theories are relevant under this context. Pelagius was a Celtic monk and a highly respected spiritual leader for both laymen and clergy. What is recorded of his behaviour denotes his Celtic heritage. He firmly believed in the individual--his free will and his ability to better himself as a spiritual being10. Pelagius never believed in the heredity principle of sin put forward by the Churches. He argued that it is pointless in accusing Adam for every sinful act of the current human. He also dismissed the supremacy of churches in granting salvation to the human through certain rituals and customs. At the time of Pelagius, churches spread the theory that man could only gain salvation through the Church. Pelagius dismissed this idea and argued that church has nothing to do with the salvation of the human as Adam’s sin is not applicable to the human. He criticized the doctrine that all sins are abdominal, that all men are conceived in sin and can only be saved by the unmerited grace of God which is only received through Jesus Christ and His Church Pelagius tried to ridicule the attitude of the human to blame Adam for everything. At the same time he never believed in the supremacy of Jesus Christ in giving forgiveness to sinners through church. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong in believing that Jesus has wiped off the dark spots of sins committed by Adam by sacrificing life and now we cannot complain that our sins not because of our guilt, but because of Adam’s guilt. Calvinism believe that man in his fallen, sinful state, cannot receive God's spirit, nor can he understand God's truth (1 Cor 2:14), unless God elects him. On the other hand, Arminian belief is that man can neither himself nor of his freewill do anything truly good. It is necessary to be born again of God, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, that he may understand, think, will and perform what is truly good, according to the Word of God (John 15:15)11. Arminian beliefs in my opinion have many strengths and weaknesses. It is a fact that in order to get salvation, we have to undergo a total change in our life principles and actions. It is impossible for us to get salvation unless guided by the Godly principles. At the same time there are lots of great people in the world like Mahatma Gandhi who happens to be from other religions, but performed well as per the Christian beliefs. It is illogical to segregate humans based on their religions. In my opinion, those who acted in the same way directed by Jesus are true Christians even if they born in other religions. Christians are those who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ rather than those who born in Christian religion. Traditional Christians have only the name, but no actions to support their beliefs whereas Mahatma Gandhi like non-Christians has their actions supported their beliefs in Jesus or Christianity. In short, people who display the principles of Christianity through actions are the true Christians. How is sin transmitted in the human race? It is an accepted fact that the characteristics of the parents would be transferred to their offspring. As Adam is believed to be the first human, whatever characteristics he might have should be transferred to his children. It is evident from the fact that Kane the elder son of Adam killed his brother Abel. So, we have the tendency to commit sins which we got from Adam. Even the death also came to this world only because of the sins committed by Adam as God’s principle states that the result of sin is death. Thus Adam has transmitted death and sins to the generations according to the Christian belief. Ramifications of original sin and Inherited guilt in counseling Nobody knows from where we come and where we go after death. Science has no clue at all about the evolution of human even though there are many evolutions theories. It is an accepted fact that our physical body is controlled by a spiritual energy which is invisible. We know that the physical body will be destroyed after death, but we don’t know what happens to the spiritual energy after our death. Religions have answers to the spiritual part of our life whereas science answers the physical parts. The religions teach us that our spirit will get salvation only if we act according to the teachings of the religion while we spend our days in this world. Unfortunately, Christians are not unique in their teachings about sin and the salvation. There are different communities in Christian religion itself which spreads contradictory messages to the believers about the salvation and eternity. Some Christian communities argue that we can get salvation only through belief in Jesus whereas some others argue that we can get salvation only through our actions supported by beliefs. Moreover, different Christian communities teach different interpretations about original sins. Thus people are facing still stress, agony and distress over their future life after death. Understanding of the true meaning of original sin is essential for giving counselling to such people. Inherited guilt is a condition in which future generations continue to bear some feelings of responsibility for the actions of their predecessors12. Guilt and shame are good for us and helpful to our spiritual growth. Guilt and shame assist us by revealing our past sin to us—and they also prevent us from sinning again13. At the same time misconceptions about inherited guilt can create psychological problems to a person. Worries about the consequences of inherited guilt may agitate the mind of a person. In such cases, counselling is the only option to get rid of the unnecessary worries and emotional problems. Counselling is a process that can help people to understand and deal with problems14. The aim of counseling is to provide the opportunity for a client to work towards living their life in a way that he or she would experience as being more satisfying and resourceful15. Christian counseling is somewhat different from the traditional psychological counseling. “Biblical counselling seeks to carefully discover those areas in which a Christian may be disobedient to the principles and commands of Scripture and to help him learn how to lovingly submit to God's will"16. Because of the false interpretations of Christian beliefs, people are under severe stress not only because of their own sins, but also because of their inherited sins which can be eliminated through Chrisitan counselling alone. Inherited sins are actually wiped off by Jesus since he has taken responsibility of the sins committed by Adam. Conclusions Sin is described differently by different religions. Even Christians have different interpretations about original sins. The inherited sin is caused by Adam and it is wiped off by Jesus through his sacrifice of life on Holy Cross. In Christian counselling, the understanding of original sin and its consequences are important in order to give proper tips to the persons who are worried about the inherited sins. Bibliography 1. Calvinism Versus Arminian, 2000, Accessed on 5 April 2010 from http://www.yutopian.com/religion/theology/Calvinism.html 2. Christian" Beliefs that Can Drive You Crazy - Part 4 False Assumption — Guilt and Shame Are Good for Me, Accessed on 5 April 2010 from http://drhenrycloud.com/library/articles/printarticles/CBTCDYC_4_Guilt_and_Shame_are_Good_for_Me.htm 3. Christian Counselling, 2010, Accessed on 5 April 2010 from http://www.allaboutgod.com/christian-counseling.htm 4. Good News Bible, The Bible Society of India, Bangalore, ISBN 81-221-1082-7 5. Knight Kevin, 2009, Original Sin, Accessed on 5 April 2010 from http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11312a.htm 6. Pelagius, Accessed on 5 April 2010 from http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/p/Pelagius.html 7. Pollick Michael, 2010, What is Inherited Guilt? Accessed on 5 April 2010 from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-inherited-guilt.htm 8. Rees Lynette, 2001, What Is Counselling? Accessed on 5 April 2010 from http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/counselling_personal_development/72714 9. The theological ramifications of original sin and free will, Accessed on 5 April 2010 from http://www.firesofrevival.com/sin.htm 10. The Calvinistic View Accessed on 5 April 2010 from http://www.angelfire.com/md/calvinsheart/calvinism.html 11. What Is Counselling?, Accessed on 5 April 2010 from http://www.123oye.com/job-articles/career-planning/counselling.htm Read More