I think I\u2019ve always been a bit uneasy with\u00a0the\u00a0idea that God holds me responsible for something\u00a0Adam did at the beginning of the Bible. I know God\u2019s ways are not my ways, but this never made much sense.<\/p>\n
Of course, my uneasiness doesn\u2019t make something right or wrong. I\u2019m just putting it out there.<\/p>\n
Of course, I\u2019m talking about\u00a0\u201coriginal sin\u201d\u2014the idea all humans are the objects of God\u2019s anger from conception on because Adam\u2019s deed of disobedience in the Garden of Eden has hardwired sinfulness into us all. Not only that, but for many Christians, original sin also means humans actually bear the guilt<\/em><\/strong> of what Adam did\u2014which takes this to yet another level.<\/p>\n That seems rather alarming if true, and thus raises the question: does the Bible actually say this?: Where in Genesis or in the Old Testament as a whole is Adam\u2019s disobedience in the Garden of Eden described as the cause of universal human sinfulness and guilt?<\/strong><\/p>\n For much of my adult life, my subconscious mind never allowed myself to look at this issue too carefully, I think for fear of what I might find. But several years ago, as I was writing The Evolution of Adam<\/a> Now, before I go on, let\u2019s be clear about a couple of\u00a0things. First, I\u2019m only asking whether the\u00a0Old Testament<\/em> paints Adam<\/strong> as the one to blame for all the misery of the human race. I\u2019m not\u00a0talking\u00a0about what the\u00a0New Testament says about Adam (namely Romans 5:12-21, which is hardly the clearest passage we\u2019ll ever read in the NT<\/a>, but I digress).<\/p>\n Second<\/strong>, by wondering out loud about \u201coriginal sin\u201d I\u2019m not saying \u201cI\u2019m OK, you\u2019re OK, and God\u2019s OK with it all, so let\u2019s just get along.\u201d<\/p>\n I believe that what the Bible calls\u00a0\u201csin\u201d is real\u2014<\/strong>and you don\u2019t have to read about Hitler, Stalin, or George Steinbrenner to find examples. Each of us carries around an alarming ability to harm each other in a seemingly non-stop variety of new and inventive ways.<\/p>\n Add to that the endless capacity we have to find ways to be miserable and harm ourselves. Few are truly at peace with themselves. The biochemical and environmental contributors to the common list of emotional struggles we face betray a deep sense of disquiet in our own hearts. We are all \u201csinners<\/a>\u201d\u2014we all bear witness that things are not as they could be and we bear that burden daily.<\/p>\n Whatever words we want to use to describe it, this self-evident reality of repeated, relentless sin remains a consistent fact of human existence.\u00a0We clearly need help. The Gospel is about what God has done through Jesus to come to our rescue.<\/p>\n But all I\u2019m asking here is whether the Old Testament says that Adam is the cause of it all.\u00a0<\/strong>It doesn\u2019t. Not at all. Not even a hint.<\/p>\n Adam is introduced in Genesis 2, and for one chapter seems to hold it together. But then in chapter 3, Eve is outcrafted by the talking serpent, takes a bite of\u00a0the\u00a0forbidden fruit, and then hands it to Adam, who does\u00a0likewise.<\/p>\n All three parties are cursed by God for this act of disobedience, and those curses have lasting consequences for the human drama.\u00a0Fair enough, but note the consequences for Adam: from now (1) growing food will be hard work, and (2) death will be a fact of life.<\/p>\n Note what is not said<\/strong>: \u201cAnd a third thing, Adam. From now on all humanity will be stained by your act of disobedience, born in a hopeless and helpless state of sin, objects of\u00a0my displeasure and wrath.\u201d If Genesis\u00a0did<\/em> say that, it would clear up a lot.\u00a0But it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Nowhere in the Old Testament do we read that humanity is under God\u2019s condemnation simply by\u00a0being born and therefore helpless to do anything about it, and thus no actions are truly pleasing to God.<\/p>\n [And don\u2019t even bring up that one verse, Psalm 51:5. That\u2019s not the prooftext for original sin in the Old Testament but\u00a0David\u2019s hyperbole after the Bathsheba incident.]<\/p>\n Yes indeed, God is terribly mad about sinful acts, especially when his people, the\u00a0Israelites, do them.\u00a0But\u2014and I can\u2019t stress this enough\u2014implicit in all of God\u2019s acts of wrath and punishment is the idea that the Israelites were most certainly capable of not sinning<\/strong>. That\u2019s the whole point of\u00a0the\u00a0law: follow it and be blessed, disobey and be cursed. The choice is clear and attainable<\/strong>, so do the right thing.<\/p>\n [For example, see Deuteronomy 30:11-20: the Law God has given the Israelites isn\u2019t far off across the ocean or way up in the heavens, but it is \u201cvery near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe\u201d (v. 14).]<\/p>\n In fact, some Old Testament figures actually seem to pull it off pretty well: Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David. No, they weren\u2019t \u201cperfect\u201d<\/strong> but that\u2019s exactly the point. God seems fine with some of\u00a0his\u00a0people\u00a0getting\u00a0it basically right and using them\u00a0for some key task.\u00a0Nowhere does God say to these people, \u201cGreat effort guys, but . .. you know . . . that Adam thing. Sorry. My eternal wrath remains upon you.\u201d<\/p>\n After Genesis 5, Adam wanders off the Old Testament stage until 1 Chronicles 1:1, the beginning of the nine-chapter list of names in 1 Chronicles 1-9. Adam\u2019s name is first (of course), but\u00a0he\u2019s just one name along with\u00a0the\u00a0pages of other names.\u00a0He\u2019s not the bad guy.<\/p>\n Throughout the entire rest of the Old\u00a0Testament\u00a0story, Adam doesn\u2019t even warrant a mention. If Adam was really the person who set the whole world on a downward sin cycle, again, I\u2019m not sure why it\u2019s kept such a big secret.<\/p>\n [And no, \u201cAdam\u201d in Hosea 6:7 is not evidence to the\u00a0contrary. There \u201cAdam\u201d is a place name, which the context makes perfectly clear. (See also Joshua 3:16b where \u201cAdam\u201d is a place name).]<\/p>\n Some argue \u201cAdam\u2019s sin and its consequences don\u2019t have to be mentioned because they are obvious<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0To be blunt, that is nonsense\u2014especially given #2.<\/p>\n Back to Genesis. Adam\u2019s son Cain killed his\u00a0brother\u00a0Abel. Here we have the immediate follow-up story to Adam and Eve and where his great sin is committed.<\/p>\n If Cain\u2019s act were\u00a0caused by a hardwired state of sinfulness due to what Adam did, here is where you would mention it\u2014at least hint at it.\u00a0Instead, Cain\u2019s act is seen as a repeat<\/em> of Adam\u2019s disobedience (there is a lot of overlap in vocabulary between chapters 3 and 4) rather than a result<\/em>.<\/p>\n God asks Cain<\/em>, \u201cWhy<\/em> are you angry?\u201d as if it\u2019s not<\/em> obvious, and then offers Cain the same choice the law would later offer the Israelites.\u201d You\u2019ve got a choice, Cain. Make it a good one.\u201d He didn\u2019t.\u00a0And the fact that Adam already \u201chad it in him\u201d to disobey\u00a0suggests that Cain\u2019s choice to sin was, like his father\u2019s, not imposed on him from elsewhere.<\/p>\n God wipes out all life in a flood because of the complete and thorough mess humans have made of it all. But look at Genesis 6:6-7. There we see that this escalation of\u00a0sinfulness, which has\u00a0now reached its boiling point, seems to take God by surprise.<\/strong><\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t say, \u201cWell, of course, we all saw this coming, what with Adam\u2019s disobedience in the Garden and all. I just wanted it to get really bad before I acted.\u201d Rather, God\u00a0is \u201cgrieved\u201d and \u201csorry\u201d about how out of hand all this has gotten.<\/p>\n Bottom line, there is ample time in the OT to say what so many people\u00a0think the Bible<\/em> says but in fact never does.<\/p>\n I know how some will respond to all this:<\/p>\n \u201cBut what about Paul!?\u201d Fair enough, in Romans 5:12-21 Paul does mention Adam\u2019s disobedience as having a universal effect\u2014but that effect is \u201cdeath<\/strong><\/em><\/span>\u201d not \u201cinherited sinfulness.\u201d And even if Paul sees Adam as the cause of human misery and alienation from God (which I don\u2019t think\u00a0is the best reading of Romans 5<\/a>), we still need to grapple with why the Old\u00a0Testament\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0<\/em>see it that way<\/strong>. Paul, regardless of how he is interpreted, doesn\u2019t make 1-5 above go away.<\/p>\n Others will respond: \u201cBut if Adam isn\u2019t the cause of it all, we no longer have a good explanation for why people are so messed up?\u201d Agreed, but that doesn\u2019t mean we would settle for a bad answer just so we can have one.<\/strong> The fact that questions arise that muddle our theology doesn\u2019t make the Old Testament magically fall into line.<\/p>\n [Incidentally, Jewish theology simply says that humans are \u201cinclined\u201d toward \u201cevil\u201d\u2014aka the \u201cevil inclination,\u201d which is the language taken from the Flood story in Genesis 6:5, \u201cThe LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination<\/strong> of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil<\/strong> continually.\u201d Sin is seen as a fact, but\u2014wisely\u2014no attempt is made to explain\u00a0where<\/em> this \u201cevil inclination\u201d came from. It does not have a cause. It is, rather, a fact of existence.]<\/p>\n Still others will respond: \u201cBut without Adam as the cause of human sinfulness, the entire gospel falls apart.\u201d I disagree. Rather, I think only a version of the gospel that needs this kind of Adam<\/span><\/em> falls apart<\/strong>. Perhaps there are other ways (and there are).<\/p>\n I\u2019m raising\u00a0nothing\u00a0new here\u2014and I treat it all in a bit more\u00a0detail\u00a0in The Evolution of Adam<\/a><\/strong>\u2014<\/em>but as far as I am\u00a0concerned\u00a0these are rather obvious problems to be dealt with, especially for those who claim that\u00a0the Bible forms their theology.<\/p>\n Want to learn more? Try this course: Jesus and the Old Testament<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=inspirandinca-20&l=as2&o=1&a=158743315X\")
1. Inherited sinfulness is not one of the curses on Adam.<\/h2>\n
2. Throughout the Old Testament, pleasing God through obedience is both expected, commanded, and doable.<\/h2>\n
3. With one exception,\u00a0Adam disappears after Genesis 5.<\/h2>\n
4. Adam is not blamed for Cain\u2019s act of murder.<\/h2>\n
5. Likewise,\u00a0Adam is not blamed for the flood.<\/h2>\n