If there was no original sin, why did Jesus die for mankind?

Question

Jesus died for our salvation. The Bible states that sin does not pass from father to offspring, yet there is the idea of original sin going back to Adam, and all people since then are wretched, sinful creatures. This idea is contradictory. Then how did Jesus die on the cross, God gave his only begotten Son to save humankind, if sin doesn't follow from father to offspring, and our sins can be forgiven by repenting and asking God?

Answer 1

Wow... I knew this would get a LOT of WRONG ANSWERS!

Original sin IS a LIE!!!

When you realize this, you understand that the doctrine of "immaculate conception" and infant baptism are both meaningless. No one is born with the guilt of sin. Since everyone is born innocent, there is no need to figure out some way for Jesus to be born without guilt for Adam's sin.

Ezekiel 18:1 A message came to me from the LORD. He said, 2 “You people have a proverb about the land of Israel. What do you mean by it? It says, “‘The parents eat sour grapes. But the children have a bitter taste in their mouths.’

3 “You will not use that proverb in Israel anymore,” announces the LORD and King. “And that is just as sure as I am alive. 4 Everyone belongs to me. Father and son alike belong to me. ->People will die because of their own sins.

[ God presents a hypothetical family of alternating good and evil fathers to explain this teaching:]

5 “Suppose a godly man does what is fair and right.
...
9 He follows my rules. He is faithful in keeping my laws. He always does what is right. You can be sure he will live,” announces the LORD and King. 10 “But suppose he has a mean son who harms other people. The son commits murder. Or he does some other things that are wrong.
...14 “But suppose that son has a son of his own. And the son sees all of the sins his father commits. He sees them, but he does not do them.
...17 ... He will not die because of his father’s sin. You can be sure he will live. 18 But his father will die because of his own sin. He got rich by cheating others. He robbed his relatives. He also did what was wrong among his people.

19 “But you still ask, ‘Is the son guilty along with his father?’ No! The son did what was fair and right. He was careful to keep all of my rules. So you can be sure he will live.

Read the whole chapter and you will see I have not lifted the passage out of its context. I just skipped sections that elaborate on what they did or did not do.

…Many respond to this teaching with Romans 5:12, “Sin entered the world because one man sinned. And death came because of sin. Everyone sinned, so death came to all people.” Paul here is teaching that death is the universal CONSEQUENCE of sin and NOT a result of an INDIVIDUAL’S GUILT for sin as “original sin” teaches. Observe the context:

... as Paul goes on:

Romans 5:13 Before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not judged when there is no law. 14 Death ruled from the time of Adam to the time of Moses. Death ruled even over those who did not sin as Adam did. He broke God’s command. But he also became a pattern of the One who was going to come.

Death is NOT a consequence of guilt for "original sin" but sin in general...

Ezekiel 18 is all about GUILT. God explains very clearly that guilt ONLY attaches for a person's OWN SIN. It CANNOT be inherited as the doctrine of "original sin" claims, thus the notion which forms the foundation of the argument is false as are all deductions based on it.

The doctrine can be traced to misunderstandings of Romans 5:12, along with a few Old Testament passages which relate to the CONSEQUENCES of sin in the world and NOT of GUILT FOR sin as gets clarified when we look at the context of the passage instead of lifting it from its context to prove a point.

Answer 2

Well you could put it that humanity strayed and he came to restore us, original sin is something he didn't really talk about, but is one of the things that the church gradually came to believe. Really original sin is just a mask for the real dogma of 'the depravity of the soul' which states that every human soul is evil from conception - a potentially blasphemous claim considering the breath of God (i.e. the spirit) is breathed into every human soul to give it life. That is why the argument is so great and the real message of Jesus lost in the fight

Answer 3

Eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is the first independent act by the human being in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve cannot be said to have been fully aware of the extent of their transgression because they did not yet have knowledge of good and evil. They do, however, know that God has told them explicitly not to eat of that tree. In that respect, they are like children, who may understand that certain behavior is expected but do not fully understand why.

Like any concerned parent, God wants his children to learn and accept responsibility for their actions, however painful it may be. Indeed, God has lovingly provided all the arrangements in the garden - a secure life, the edict against one tree -but also the capacity for free choice that will cause Adam and Eve to mature. He knows perfectly well where the humans are in the garden, but he asks his question, “Where are you?” to draw the story out of them and begin the process of moral development.

God becomes angry not so much at the act of disobedience but at Adams and Eve’s avoidance of responsibility (Adam says Eve made him do it ... Eve says the snake made me do it). Significantly, the word SIN is not introduced into the Bible until later when Cain murders his brother, Abel. It seems that Adam and Eve’s worst transgression is their scapegoat, and the couples moral life will finally begin when they can acknowledge having done wrong.

Eve and Adam leave their fathers protective abode, as children must. God knows it is time for them to face life as adults in an imperfect world. The heart broken parent appoints a guard at the garden’s gate to prevent Eve and Adam from regressing to a childhood devoid of adult responsibilities but also to prevent himself from softening and allowing them to return.

The reader sees Eve and Adam leaving the Garden of Eden full of optimism. They are not at all the tearful, dejected couple portrayed in Renaissance art, expelled by a furious father. The first thing they do is make love and create new life. What a better is there to teach us about pleasure and responsibility, behavior and consequences, than through the knowledge that the fleeting gratification of lovemaking produces a child with whom parents share a lifelong bond?

Jesus' salvation is the "maturity" we gain here on Earth. His crusifixion makes the bridge (which he is Judge of) to God (full circle) and we can then enjoy wisdom, knowledge, and eternal life with God.

Answer 4

no such thing as original sin. the slave/prophet/messenger of God Jesus ( peace be upon him ) never died on a cross, but has returned to God for a time, until Jesus ( peace be upon him ) returns to earth. God does not need to have sons daughters, or a day of rest. The only sin a person has is the ones they accumulate throughout their lives.

Answer 5

Jesus died because he threatened the church establishment in Jerusalem.

The idea of original sin was a christian invention as was the idea that god had to sacrifice his son in order to forgive it. It makes no sense if you think about it.

The reason christians made it up was because the prevalent messianic belief was that the messiah would be a triumphant figure and Jesus wasn't. At the time of his death, Jesus looked like a loser. Christians used original sin and propitiatory sacrifice to explain part of this.

If god existed then he could have forgiven original sin at any time. He's god. Supposedly he can do anything. Can't he?

Answer 6

i am exactly sure about sin not passing from father to offspring. Read the first couple of commands in full and in detail. it talks about the sins of the fathers being visited to the next generations. very good question though. feel free to e-mail me about it further. I am always asking questions like this myself.

Answer 7

Adam and Eve did screw every thing up. Once they did Satan's bidding, they entered his world. And yes God did create Earth but he and Satan share it. Because we are living out side the holy garden, we have sinned for living on Satan's Earth. Remember we are not suppose to be here. God didn't exactly plan us. We were punishment to Adam and Eve. Their punishment was to care for life created by them.

Answer 8

He didn't. The notion that there is sin, or that one person can atone for another's misdeeds, is nonsense. The notion that god created Jesus for the purpose of convincing god to remit sins is even more nonsensical.

Answer 9

Because God supposedly gave all humans the gift of free will. Everyone knows that being a sh*t excuse for a person isn't hereditary. You CHOOSE to be "bad".

Answer 10

Original sin is something that everyone has (it's in the Bible)