Is Original Sin Biblical? Part 1
The Truth Regarding This Doctrine
I know this may be a shock to many, but do you know where the doctrine of original sin came from? It came from Augustine in the fourth century. I cannot find any evidence that the first Christ followers in the first three centuries believed in this doctrine as it is taught today. So how did Augustine come up with it? The answer is very simple.
He was reading Romans 5:12 in Latin, not Greek, but a poorly translated version of Latin. There was a huge error in the writing from the Latin. So Romans 5:12 in Latin stated "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, IN WHOM all have sinned." It should not read, "in whom." Yet this error went unchecked for over 1,000 years. In the Greek it actually reads, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, FOR THAT all have sinned." (KJV).
So Augustine concluded it read that we all have sinned due to Adam's sin, that we sinned with him, but that's not true. The original did not say IN WHOM. It said FOR THAT. That then takes away that we all sinned with Adam's first sin. Suddenly, Ezekiel 18 makes sense where it clearly says the "man who sins shall surely die," proving every man is responsible for his own sin, not his father nor father's father, etc...
Then you look at Psalm 51:5. Read it in the NLT. There it says David was born a sinner. Is this a correct translation? The correct translation reads in the KJV "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." It says he was shapen in iniquity, not born in it. So here David is saying his mother was the one in sin when he was conceived, not him. I personally believe his mother had him out of wedlock, thus him basically telling God "I am a sinner just like my family now." Psalm 51 is David repenting after committing adultery and having a child of his own out of wedlock (as well as lying and murdering Uriah). Another proof is that the Psalms are poetic. It looks like David is singing his heart in repentance, but not speaking a theological absolute truth as many try to use this verse as a proof text for us being born sinners.
It is interesting when you read the proper version, learn from the Holy Spirit instead of men, you have your eyes opened. So then this begs the question...what does Romans 5:12 really mean?
I believe in original sin. But I do not believe the way it has been and is being taught by the vast majority is correct. There is no proof we are born a sinner in the Bible. Babies are not sinners. They are innocent. If they are sinners that means they all go to hell. This is absurd and Jesus speaks against that Mt 19:6. In order to be held responsible for the sin and be labeled a sinner, you must have understanding of the wrongdoing, Jn 15:22.
Rather, the original sin was Adam accepting EVIL KNOWLEDGE. That knowledge became a part of his mind''s wisdom. His wisdom became corrupted when he freely accepted the lie. So with his corrupted knowledge this world fell. This world now is filled with evil knowledge. Why else was God concerned with them eating from a tree of knowledge? So this evil knowledge he and his wife then passed down to their children when raising them. So their children then grew up with tainted knowledge, and they passed it down, etc.. So original sin comes from knowledge, not Adam's sperm. For this reason, all have sinned. This also affirms we have free will and sin is a choice, which the early Christians believed. The early Christians believed if anyone rejected we had free will that person was a heretic.
So yes, sin has an origination where all men now are corrupted by sin. But when does that corruption take place? It does not take place as a baby. It takes place when we fully understand sin is wrong and commit it anyways. That's why Jesus says, "Had I not told you you had not had a cloak for your sin" in John 15. So we all eventually get corrupted by sin from Adam's fall, due to him accepting evil knowledge and passing it down to his children. We are born into a fallen world with evil knowledge everywhere, where we all are exposed to it. Thus, all have sinned. At any given point, every baby as they grow up will sin. But that does not mean there is a sin gene in our DNA, as the Scriptures do not teach that at all. This is a theological assumption and argument, but for it to be true many assumptions have to be placed into the Scriptures that are not there. It's a stretch and doesn't make sense.
So why was Jesus born of a virgin? See Part 2.