Through one man sin entered the world...?

Question

Christians believe that we inherited a sinful nature through our first parents Adam and Eve because they ate the forbiden fruit.

Now beforing answering my question, define the word JUSTICE and then tell me if it applies to the gods (Elohim, the Hebrew word in Genesis) or God if you want.

Question: Is there a logic that justifies God being "JUST" as it so puts it in the bible when a child is punished for his father or mother mistake? I mean, even human laws are more just than that, who is that judge that will punish the son of a criminal just for the single fact that he is the criminal's son? Isn't that what the bible wants us to believe? Wouldn't it be possible that if it was someone else instead of Adam that was told not to eat obey this commandment? so why punish everyone for someone else's fault?

Answer 1

the original sin concept is just another way religion has found to enslave people to it with guilt.

Answer 2

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin entered human nature. Everyone since then is inherently sinful. We arent punished for being sinful - death (spiritual) is the natural consequence of sin. The way to avoid the consequence (ie to have eternal life with God as he originally intended us to) is to accept that Jesus was the sacrifice for sin (original sin) and each individuals sins, and to start living (as best you can) the way God wants you to.
A simple comparison - if you have pethidine a few minutes prior to giving birth, your kid is born suffering the effects of it. Its not a punishment, its a natural consequence.
Justice = getting what you deserve given what you've done or not done- God thinks everyone deserves a second chance.
One facet of this is that people have a 21st century concept of what is fair and unfair, which has been developed over centuries of various judicial systems. But if you believe that God made the world, wouldn't it be only fair that he got to make the basic rules? If you dont believe that, then what youre left with is man's rules, which in some cultures did punish the children of criminals and if you look at a lot of cases where man has been judge jury and executioner, a lot of innocent people have died or been imprisoned unjustly.
If you look at the law in UK as it stands today, the ones who are treated unjustly are the poor, indigent, mentally and physically disabled, those without access to justice through disempowerment, poverty, lack of education etc. So man's justice is often unfair and unreliable. So how logical and fair is that? At least God tells us that we should treat everyone equally, no matter who they are. Sorry to go on, but there werent a lot of other questions to choose from! : )

Answer 3

I hope I have understood your question correctly. Justice=moral rightness

When man ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge, (knowledge of good and evil) He lost favor with God. God exiled man from the garden and sealed it so that it would not be spoiled by evil. We will not be able to reenter His Kingdom until we have cleansed our spirit of all that is evil.

Is it fair we are punished for the sins of our fathers, it doesn't seem to be. I spend much time in the Word trying to solve this puzzle because even though it does not seem fair, it is God's will. I do have some thoughts, but those are not for this question.

Another thought for an earthly father and son. If the father has not raised the son to live by the laws of God, has that father not done a great injustice to his son? But, if the father leads the son along the path of righteous service to God and the son turns away, not only has he disgraced his father and sinned against God. He has also done injustice to his future generations.

Human laws are not more just than the the laws of God. Never will be. If however everyone would accept their own injustices and pay repentance, then true justice would be served.

Stay focused on the Word my friend, the answers will come.

Answer 4

If I'm correct, that apple was from the tree of "knowledge;" yet god gave man free will--to do what, with no knowledge. Oh yes, & they also saw that they were naked & they had sex & otherwise, what would have been the plan? Why would god create Adam & Eve just to loll around in the garden? Almost forgot, Eve was made out of Adam's rib. My point is, there's no logic in these myths, & one mustn't expect logic from those who believe it was real. The one, true thing that is most incomprehensible when attempting ANY sort of dialogue with "certain" Christians is the Original Sin concept, & that we are ALL BORN SINNERS, & only by repenting & accepting Jesus as our saviour can we save ourselves from eternal hell. Your question is valid, but you'll discover no "logic" to justify this irrational belief. It certainly didn't come from Jesus, nor did it come from god. It would be wise for some to study the HISTORY of Christianity. There have been so many "spins" on it for so very long! So many prophets writing & re-writing over decades. It's amazing that some Catholics actually BELIEVE the wafer & wine ARE the real flesh & blood of Jesus Christ. It was only a symbol of The Last Supper--nothing more. You're using logic about an illogical issue. (Now I can hardly wait for all the thumbs down) While I've defended Chrisitans on this site when people were nasty, they have no problem bashing ME. Justice? Hello?

I think jeanimus meant well, but Jesus did NOT sacrfice himself for our "sins." He was MURDERED along with others, & how might this confirm he didn't expect to die, which is in the bible--that at the very end, Jusus cried out: "Father, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Bit of a misquote but essence being--crucifixation wasn't his CHOICE.) Rising from the dead is curious indeed. & how horribly the masses were bewildered during those terrible times, when he didn't return, yet had SAID he would! (So they say he said.) I'm getting so weary I think I'll go to Singles & Dating. Better yet, Cats.

Answer 5

You have a mistaken idea of Original Sin. We are not guilty of Original Sin but we are affected by it.

Original sin is the sin by which the first human beings disobeyed the commandment of God, in choosing to follow their own will rather than God's will.

As a consequence they lost the grace of original holiness, and became subject to the law of death; sin became universally present in the world.

Besides the personal sin of Adam and Eve, original sin describes the fallen state of human nature which affects every person born into the world, and from which Christ, the "new Adam," came to redeem us.

With love in Christ.

Answer 6

God would still be God in all his majesty REGARDLESS if you believe in Him or not. His love for us gave us a choice to love Him or turn away from Him. The evidence for His existence is all around us yet you are too stubborn to see Truth. you ask, why punish everyone for someone else's sin? quite simple: we ALL have sinned, none of us blameless, BUT there is grace. You have a choice: to fumble around in darkness or realize you are a sinner and live eternally. Would you want to serve a god who MADE you do His will? That would be a tyrant. But He's not that way. He said, "don't eat the fruit. They disobeyed. Why is that so hard to understand? He's still God and still bigger than this entire universe, regardless if you can see Him or not.

Answer 7

Funk and Wagnalls defines justice as "The rendering of what is due or merited".
Of course God is just. Who but God can understand the principles of what is clearly right or wrong?
The verse states that through one man, sin ENTERED the world. We are punished for our own sins. Can anyone deny that they have never sinned?

Answer 8

Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree of KNOWLEDGE of good and evil - prior to that there was not the discrimination to judge what we call good or what we call evil. Events happened but were not judged as good or evil.

Adam and Eve still had choice, as we do, to choose good or evil. Was it evil to eat of a tree that God put in the garden anyway? Or did God ultimately want us to choose ?- to become beings who control their own will who face the consequences of our actions, to develop logic in deciding the best choices to make - to become more like God?

What is Justice? - it is a man-made system for judging good and evil actions and punishing deviants from the norm in a bid to bring them into line. We earthlings decide on the actual point when something changes from good to evil. It is a common agreement for living in a society and differs depending on which society you belong to. Our presence in society is dependant on us following certain rules. Break those rules and we find ourselves excluded.

God is God, and as such contains all just - ness and non just- ness, we are not being punished for Adam and Eve's choice, but rather living with the consequences, as we live with the consequences of our parents actions. It is our choice how we react to those consequences, we are not forced into our re-actions. We are free to discard all bindings and discover our own relationship with God. Likewise, we are free to hold on to the bindings. Our life is our choice.

Adam had a choice, if he had chosen not to eat the apple, we would not be here now dicussing this, we'd still be in even Eden oblivious of cause and consequence.

You asked a good question - I expect there are many answers!

Answer 9

We are not being punished for Adam's sin. As you rightly put it, we 'inherited' sin and its consequence, death {Romans 5 verse 12}.God has purposed to undo the effects of Adams rebellion through the shed blood of Jesus Christ {John 3 verse 16}. I've only been able to understand the profundity of this arrangement through the help of certain individuals who come knocking at our doors.

Answer 10

Adam was a legal representative of all mankind. Because we were "in" him so to speak. Plus when he sinned he became a sinner and a sinner can only produce sinners. No one will be punished who lives a life of perfect righteousness. When our representatives in Washington go to war or raise taxes then we are at war or owe taxes because they represent us even though we did not cast the actual vote. Justice? How about God punishing our sin in someone else? How is it just that Jesus could be punished for my sin?
Representation is how. Praise the Lord for justice.

Answer 11

Read it again the Bible does not teach that you are held acountable for the sins of Adam but that sin entered the world through disobedience to God. It is through sin in the world that we inherit sin we all have sinful natures and each of us has our own sins.