do you think the Flood would have negated original sin?

Question

i am not a christian, so maybe i am missing something. The reason humans act badly is because of sin, which was brought into the world because of the Fall in the Garden. So far, so good. But then when God uses the Flood to wipe out the evil he sees, he keeps Noah and his family around. Why? If Noah had sin, then it was stupid on God's part. God could have just killed everyone and made new people (and animals, like he does in Creation)or some other lifeform, or ended it all. But he saved Noah, with the knowledge (even encouragement) that all future humans would be related to him.

So, if Noah and his family were sinless, how did it get back into the world without it being another big story in the Bible?

And if they had sin, what the hell was God doing killing everyone else in an attempt to eliminate sin?

i hope this makes sense, as i would hate to get a bunch of dumb answers.

unknown- God kills millions, and you focus on his mercy in saving one family? talk about blinders.

culturalwhiz- are you saying that if we could figure out life, God would leave us alone forever? If only we had known there was a time limit! it's not fair, one more century God, that's all we need!

Answer 1

It's religion. It doesn't have to make sense.

Sin is an outdated concept. It is described like some sort of substance or trait, but it isn't. There is not way to measure the "sin" in a person. Sin is just judgements about a person's actions by other persons. If someone says an object is evil, that says more about the person than the object.

So, unless the flood (which like all the rest of the religious stories is just superstition) wiped out anybody who could think and evaluate, it would not wipe out "sin". As long as there are people with opinions, you'll have people interpretting things as good or bad, i.e. virtues and sins.

Answer 2

"If Noah had sin, then it was stupid on God's part."
It wasn't that Noah didn't have sin, it was because Noah repented of his sins.

"God could have just killed everyone and made new people"
Except as long as He gave them free will, there would have been a possibility that they would have sinned as well.

"And if they had sin, what the hell was God doing killing everyone else in an attempt to eliminate sin?"
God could not have eliminated all sin without eliminating all free will, whether He continued with human beings or wiped them all out and began anew.

"i hope this makes sense, as i would hate to get a bunch of dumb answers."
It does. And I hope I have given a good answer. Also, thank you for at least considering the possibility that you've misunderstood something rather than arrogantly assuming that the bible must be wrong.

Answer 3

The Bible states that Noah was a righteous man, which doesn't mean he was sinless, but that he found favor in God's eyes. He was doing what God asked of him. All the other people didn't do as God asked them, kinda like today. Noah preached to the other people, he told them what God was planning for them - destruction. They didn't listen. Again kinda like today (there are those out there preaching that the end is near, and not many are listening). Read Genesis 6:9-12. Since Noah wasn't sinless, it was passed down to the rest of us. Just like in Noah's day the end is near and those who aren't in God's favor by doing what he commands will be destroyed at Armageddon.

Answer 4

the world wasn't redeemed, only cleaned. like a toilet. you dirty it, you flush it, but it's gunna get messy again. you gotta demolish the toilet completely if you want it grime-free.

God only got rid of the sinful people, He didn't mean to eliminate sin. and God acts as a judge: when crimes are perpetrated, there is warning, and punishment if atonement isn't made. so if you have 3 billion people on the earth raping, killing, etc all ignoring God at once, there's need for judgement. you can't accuse God of not giving them a way out. Noah preached for 120 years. however, Noah and his family were still humans, born with that capacity to sin, even if they chose not too.

sin won't be gone, ever. however, there will be a time when we (those born again into His family) are free from the presense of sin entirely, when our souls are transformed into a glorious form free from our bodily limitations and the capacity to sin. then we'll be in the new Heaven and new Earth God will create, after these ones fade away.

Answer 5

Noah didn't have sin in his life until after the Flood. He was known as an upright religious man before the Flood, but in an instant of weakness AFTER the Flood, he became drunk and did a few things God wasn't pleased with (to put it mildly). Besides, salvation is a free will gift, making it possible for sin to reenter the world through the conscious choice to not believe or be disobedient to God's word.

Answer 6

Noah was a righteous man. God was saving Him. Unfortunately, they and we are ALL borned with a sin nature. Noah believed and followed after God. God was giving another chance. Just because the flood came, it didn't get rid of the sin nature that they all had inherited from Adam. It was still there. It will be there until we're glorified, but if one doesn't look to Christ and what He accomplished at the cross, they'll never know or recognize their deliverance. I hope this makes sense, but I can't help it if it appears dumb to YOU. I get it!

Answer 7

Noah wasn't without sin. But he was loyal to God, and by obeying God he was saved from the destruction of the world.

If you check the Genesis account, when Adam and Eve sinned, it was because they chose to disobey God. They believed the lie that Satan told them - that they would be better off ruling themselves. Thus, they sinned and became imperfect and passed that imperfection on to future generations through their now imperfect genes.

You suggest that God could have simply started over. However, the angels also heard Satan's challenge to God's sovereignty. If God had simply destroyed everyone, Satan's challenge would not have been resolved. God knew that the angels heard the challenge and so God allowed mankind the time to prove that they were not capable of ruling themselves. We are near the end of the time that has been allowed for this challenge, and mankind has truly proven that they aren't capable of achieving happiness apart from God.

The flood wasn't to remove sin...it was a destruction of the wicked world of that time and a foregleam of what would happen in our time. Even with the destruction of this wicked system, those who obey God can be saved just as Noah and his family were.

Answer 8

God did not cause the flood to eliminate sin, it was judgment on the wickedness of man in Noah's time.
The bible says:
And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually

The bible also says that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

Noah preached for 120 years warning people of the coming judgment and the need to repent.

God knew before the universe was even made that Adam and Eve would sin, God knows everything.

He forgave Adam and Eve and is still forgiving sinful man today.

He can forgive because He satisfied His own justice by sending only Begotten Son to die in our place.
That's why the Bible says:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God

God judged people of Noah's time and He showed grace to Noah.

People can accept the payment for their sins that has been made by Christ or they can choose to pay for their own sins.

Answer 9

It seems to be a circular argument, as many religious arguments are. How could Noah have been sinless if the doctrine of Original Sin is true? What was the purpose of God wiping out the whole of existence to purify the human race if we were all to be descended from Noah (who has Original Sin?)? It is confusing to me, as well.

Answer 10

Noah and his family had sin, they were born with it. They however, tried to serve God and be loyal to him, and at the time of the Flood, they were the only righteous people on Earth. Of course, sin being inherited, they passed it on to their children, and their children's children, and so on. So it is that sin still exists in the world. Also, Satan and his demons have been around to mislead people into sinning, so there you go. Sin in a nutshell.