Christians I honestly don’t understand ‘origional/ancestral’ sin?

Question

....Why are we born with original sin?

What purpose does it serve?

, its said that its not to do with the characters of any person (ie individual sins), its just a state of our existence
But, why?


What was the ‘fall of man’?

And if its adam and eve, why would all of humanity in their physical life be even associated with this for their actions, or because of their actions?

Answer 1

Adam and Eve (all of humanity) sinned, sin became a part of them. It was in their blood.

The father passes his blood to the children. Therefore we all have sin in our blood.



Rom 5:12 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:

Answer 2

Most of this is the silly fight over dogma. This cannot be resolved by just stating the obvious - that people are at different points on the path and see the same truths differently.



In my view, the term original sin refers to the error that we made so long ago in believing we were separate from God/Spirit. When we decided to try things our way instead of His, we wanted to be our own creators instead of acknowledging that this was impossible. Since we were already created, we came up with what looks like reincarnation on a physical plane. Silly, yes, but we wanted the experience. And of course we knew that our place in our home was secure. After all, we never actually changed anything. We just had a daydream, and now we need to get over it.



Since we ARE the children of the creator the dream we made seems real enough. But we do not have the full power of the creator in one key area - Reality has already been created, and we are actually in it now, although we choose not to be aware of it.



Thank God indeed we do not have the power to destroy what He created. All of Reality awaits our awareness and will assist the Spirit to bring home the prodigal son.

Answer 3

Let me offer an observation on symbolism: if you take a flag to a lab for analysis, their report will give you the type of material (cotton, rayon,etc), the weight, the size, the type of dye used for color, all of its physical characteristics. You might see that the flag will easily burn, but if you burn this particular type of cloth you can get into serious trouble, because it also has psychological, historical, even spiritual meanings which would offend others on seeing it destroyed.



The tales of Original Sin and the Fall are symbolical: the literal figures are less important than the attempt to give a form to our human predicament: we are the only animals which kill for no reason, which insist on personal fortunes far beyond our real needs, which invents cruel and painful means to intimidate others, which are subject to madness, breakdown, perversion.... There is something in our human history, some point at which personality went astray. We do not know exactly what happened, but we need to remember and meditate this problem, which is symbolized by the symbols and metaphors you mention. Those who believe these symbols refer to actual individuals are missing the point.

Answer 4

((froufrou)) this is a hard question, I'm going hit you with a snowball:)LOL



Fall of man is an unequivocal refutation of the Darwinian hypothesis of evolution. I know some won't agree but we can all have fun trying to answer. We learn from that and I know I do.

Wouldn't you like to start at the bottom and work ya way to the top instead from top and falling to the bottom. To me that is what Darwin has taught.



Well so much for that, everyone has their own views.

Socialistic philosophers have taught that all the ills to which man is heir are solely attributable to heredity and environment. The conception is an attempt to deny that man is a fallen creature and at heart desperately wicked. We are told today that if our leaders will make possible a perfect environment, man will then be able to realize his ideals and heredity will be purified. But man has already been tested under the most favorable conditions and was found wanting.

With no evil heredity behind them, our first parents were placed in the fairest imaginable environment, an evironment, which God Himself pronounced "very good." Only a single restriction was placed upon their liberty, but they failed and fell. The trouble with man is not external but internal. What he needs most is not a new berth, but a new birth.Man is a responsible being, responsible to serve, obey and glorify his maker. Man is not an independent creature, for he did not make himself. Having been created by God he owes a debt to his Creator. I believe man is a responsible creature, and as such, subject to the Divine government. This is the great fact which God would impress upon us from the commencement of human history.

"But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: (Gen. 2:17). There was no other reason why the fruit of this tree should not be eaten save the plain command of God. This command was not given arbitrarily in the real meaning of the word, but gave emphasis to the relationship in which man stood to God. We are intelligent, responsible creatures, we are subject to the Divine government. But the creature became self-seeking, self- centred, self-willed, and as the result he disobeyed, sinned, fell.



The divine record of the Fall alone explains the mystery of death. Man possesses an imperishable soul, why then should he die? He had breathed into him the breath of the Eternal One, why then should he not live on in this world for ever? Reject the divine explanation and we face an insoluble enigma.



I know this will get thumbs down, but I'm not saying anyones wrong, this is just my view.



Blessings to ya

Answer 5

What was the ‘fall of man’?



It is believed by many that this fall happened in Atlantis, that all antediluvian stories stem from its sinking as well as all the origin of the world stories. Atlantis, according to Herodotus, was the Gardne of Eden. What we have received in the bible is a degradation of the real to something that is blown off as being mythological. All the gods and goddesses in Greek Mythology had their beginnings as real kings and queens during that time.

The fall of man came when the Law of One was rebelled against. The Law of One cannot function alongside animality. One or the other must go. Original sin in its truest form, not in the unfair attribution of penalty to all things for one sin, simply imjplies a time when man bad-stepped outside of the Divine Circle and fell into generation.

Answer 6

This depends on your take of life, after life and spirituality. I have come to agree with the Gnostic view on creation and purpose. Ideally, we are all of the supreme being, the all were everything comes from. I believe that all we are is a facet of the Divine nature and that part of that Divine nature created the physical world as we know it to be. This part of the all mistakenly declared themselves as being all powerful not realising that with out the all, the ability to create life and matter would not have existed.

In the same sense then we are all born into matter and hold ourselves in awe of our ability to play god. Bringing forth life both in nature and in man made senses. We take credit for all we achieve and seldom realise that with out the supreme we could achieve nothing.

This is the source of original sin

Answer 7

I don't believe we are born damned. That's the hardcore version of original sin. But there is a version I believe. That we, as humans, are tempted to do bad things, out of selfishness. He has that shiny rock? I want it. I'll hit him and take it from him.



This is basic human nature. We have mostly overcome it, but we still do things that are so impure in the eyes of a God who is perfection.



And we weren't created perfect. We were created with a choice. Adam and Eve failed. They lost that pure relationship with God.



What about this do you not understand Frou? Mayhaps I can help. :)

Answer 8

Original sin is the doctrine which holds that human nature has been morally and ethically corrupted due to the disobedience of mankind's first parents to the revealed will of God. In the Bible, the first human transgression of God's command is described as the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden resulting in what theology calls the Fall of mankind. The doctrine of original sin holds that every person born into the world is tainted by the Fall such that all of humanity is ethically debilitated, and people are powerless to rehabilitate themselves, unless rescued by God.

Answer 9

Simpleness of it is man was created with a spiritual connection with God our Creator and in the rebellion against God by eating the one fruit that was forbidden they died spiritually. As God warned them they would die the day they ate from it they did in fact die spiritually. For the death spoken of in the Genesis account was spiritual death not physical death. Thus when the account states that Adam and Eve gave birth to son in their own likeness it included the spiritual deadness. This is why one must be born of the Spirit to spend eternity with God which is being made spiritually alive by God.

Answer 10

I consider it a colossal ingratitude that explains our dilemma as punishment for sin. Compared and contrasted with other life forms on this planet Terra, we humans don't have it so bad--pretty good, actually. We've been able to thrive well enough that sometime in this year 2011, our numbers will reach Seven Billion people. When I was born i 1949, there were only Three billion of us.

Answer 11

Original Sin I think is just a way to describe the error of an Immortal Soul believing that it is separate from other souls.

When we enter this world, we believe in the whole experience of Life entirely.

We see all around us that other beings act differently from us, that they make independent decisions, and that leads us to label them as "bad" or "good" which is a judgment, and drives us farther from understanding the Unity of God's creations.

We don't see the marvel of billions of whirling electrons, we see everything at a large scale, that "I" am different from "you."



The great saints eventually see the whole thing through Divine perspective.

Answer 12

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God (See the first 3 chapters of Genesis), they became imperfect, dying spiritually to God immediately, and dying physically within the symbolic "day" of 1000 years. When our Original Parents became imperfect, they became incapable of producing perfect offspring. Thus, all their descendants (the entire human race) are born imperfect, inheriting the sin nature from them. All have [therefore] sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23.) But God so loved [us] that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16. There you basically have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a nutshell.

Answer 13

Wild guess: a different take on the whole growth through adversity, perhaps.



This is one aspect of Islam that I like better, the idea of having to reach certain age & personal awareness before being held accountable for sin.

Answer 14

Adam and Eve for told to be fruitful and fill the earth they were told not to eat from the tree of good and bad. As god only gave them that one command. eve was deceived and adam sinned willfully as god told him personally in the day you eat off the tree of good and bad you will positively die. although they were 900+ yrs they died and they were thrown out of the paradise when they sinned thus sin was passed on to all of us. read the Genesis account all the chapter it tells you real plain. gods sovereignty was in question it is real detailed in the bible king james thanks

Answer 15

As humans, we inherit biologically a lot of things from our ancestors. Starting with diseases, body structures, the way we think and how we produce. It is in us to procreate and to destroy. Sin also comes through the same route, by inheritance, human race has inherited adams sin and is in need of a saviour. You cannot save your self. Spiritually speaking only God can. Hence the need for Christ who come in human form to die for you and pay for your sins. It is just a matter of you accepting his salvation and everything will be well with you.

Answer 16

Yes, this is one of the most interesting of Christian myths, I think. (I'm not a Christian, I should say, but the subject still interests me.)



I suspect it might be a metaphor for the 'embodiment' of spirit - for the contraction from limitless divine to 'individual' human, with all the troubles that that implies. The divine, by becoming man, is able to experience the universe from the inside, as it were, but only at the cost, for each individual, of the loss of the knowledge of its own divine nature.



The message got twisted a bit, imo.

Answer 17

But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Answer 18

Actually, I am quite sure that in the Bible it states that the son shall not be held responsible for the sins of the father... so according to the Bible, there is *no such thing* as original sin, since if god himself broke his own rule, either he or his rule would be imperfect, which completely contradicts god's own definition of himself.

Answer 19

If your mother was a crackhead, you were born addicted to cocaine, and as a baby you suffered withdrawals.



Is that fair? I think not - but that doesn't change the facts. That is the nature of sin - it is self indulgence at the expense of others.



All of us have inherited things from our ancestors - some good things, some not so good things.



Fact remains - all of us have our own moral decisions to make; and if you are honest you will admit that you too are a sinner.



God put all the guilt of the human race on Jesus as He hung upon a cross, so that the punishment you and I deserve, He suffered for us..........



" God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. "



II Corinthians 5:19-21



Now that's really unfair - but that is the way it is; and it would be a shame to despise what God has done for you, because to reject the gift of God is to accept the judgment of God against you.



http://4laws.com/laws/english/flash/



edit:



I did not compare God to a crackhead mother. I set forth a clear example of the true nature of things and demonstrated that we all inherit things from our forbears - whether they be blessing or curses.



The consequences of sin are real. If you have children, you amy well be increasing the likelihood they will end up in hell because of your rebellion. . Even if they have more sense that you and follow God, you will still be a source of grief to them.



There is no fault in God. The fault is in sinful men - and if His creation seems perverse to you; realize you are reading it through a perverse mind.

Answer 20

If Eve ha not listen to the serpent & waited for that time cycle in her body to set up to re-multiply for Then she would have wnt to Adam & say Honey it is now time in God due time frame for us to bring in another offspring & that offspring would have been born with eternal life, But no the serpent which was an upright creature BEFORE the curse, & never before the curse, In the curse God took that upright creature & cursed him into the reptile family, & since that time we all have came the sexual process of time many being for pleasure only & we were all born into sin. My question is why do so many people want to thumb me down without even reading what the bible says & not what mom & dad says. Read the curse in Gen. 3:14-19, Remember there was a time period before the curse that the serpent was an upright creature. I think there is too many so called christians afraid to really see what the bible says, they go on what mom & dad believe, Your mom & dad were wrong, I challenge anyone to prove me wrong, anyone, you can not do it, but all you can do is go on what you were taught as a young child, My Challenge goes out to all faiths. I want you to prove to me I am wrong, You can not honestly do it, why because the truth will always prevail. Now before you thumb me down study it, But if you instantly thumb me down then you are not really wanting to know the truth but just to go on something you have never studied. .Come on now & prove me wrong by scriptures You can not do it. Because there is no scriptures in the bible that says the serpent was a snake BEFORE the curse, Yes after the curse he was but not before the curse, & there had been a time frame from the creation of the serpent & actually the curse, therefore he was a upright creature in the animal kingdom. COME ON NOW I WANT TO SEE YOU COMMENTS.

Answer 21

Disobedience to God is A NEGATIVE THOUGHT and have ill consequences.It happen from the beginning and if we choose to have that same disobedience we will receive the same consequence.

Answer 22

MY FRIEND YOU ARE BORN PURE AND DON'T HAVE TO PAY FOR THE "SINS OF YOUR FATHERS":



READ THE BIBLE

EZEKIELS 18,20

20 The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.



http://www.bible.ca/ef/expository-ezekiel-18.htm





THE SINS OF THE FATHER DO NOT FALL ON THE CHILDREN.> READ THE BIBLE.



Deut. 24:16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.

BIBLE..



That is an RC dogma.. The RCS believe in PURGATORY I NOWHERE IN THE HEBREW OR GREEK SCRIPTURES AND LIMBO ( THAT NEVER WAS AND NOW BANNED BY THE INFALLIBLE POPE WHO NEVER IS.. ( NO SUCH DESIGNATION IN THE BIBLE



IC XC NIKA

GREEK ORTHODOX * RIGHT WORSHIPER) X FIRST KATHOLIKOS ( GR UNVIERSAL) APOSTOLIC CHRISTIAN



GOD DOES NOT BURN YOU IN HELL OR PURGATORY FOR SINS OF PAST GENERATIONS



PLUS



WE GO TO THE GRAVE WHEN WHEN DIE .. SHEOL ( IN HEBREW ) HADES ( GREEK)



THE DEAD KNOW NOTHING.. ( NO BURNING WHEN DEAD RIGHT FROM THE SCRIPTURES)

Ecc 9:5, "the dead know nothing" BIBLE



We Rise at Resurrection and are Judged ( In Bible) JUdaism OLAM BA HA,, In CHristianity

Resurrection ( Where we go then Pay for Our Own Sins and are Corrected NOT BURN IN "HELL?) The righteous and the not so rrighteousNOT BURN FOREVER



IC XC NIKA

GREEK ORTHODOX * RIGHT WORSHIPER) X FIRST KATHOLIKOS ( GR UNVIERSALUNIVERSALIC CHRISTIAN of the Greek Septuagint and FIRST GREEK NEW TESTAMENT AND FIRST Scruotyres if the World

Answer 23

The original sin is pretty much just a tool used to describe why there's so much tragedy in the world when the supposedly benevolent God of Christianity could easily stop it. Pretty much, "The world's messed up? Well that can't be God's fault. We must deserve it."

Answer 24

well the Bible says "nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself"

(Ezekiel 18:20)



Therefore original sin is not true

Answer 25

We're not born 'with' sin, we are born into a world 'under the influence of sin'. Adam and Eve were our representatives, so to speak, and we have followed their actions ever since.

Answer 26

We are forgiven in Christ Jesus, true Love

Answer 27

It's a cult hook to keep those who believe feeling guilty and more easy to mind manipulate

Answer 28

basically, you already have sins eventhough you're just a tiny little infant. nobody is innocent.

Answer 29

keeps the Catholic Church coffers full.