The Gospel truth? Are you absolutely sure about that? How can one be certain when the founders of the church were so obsessed with finding ways to lie? Let’s start with Paul. Romans 3:
7For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
Dear Believer:
You ask me to accept Jesus as my personal Savior; yet his behavior and
teachings often expose one who should be escaped, not sought. I ask
only that you read what follows in the spirit of open-mindedness taught
in Prov. 15:10 NIV (“he who hates correction will die”) and Prov. 12:1
NASB (“he who hates reproof is stupid”) because I seek to “Prove all
things” (1 Thess. 5:21).
The following are questions I have about the Bible and Christianity. I’ve asked most of them of folks who have written to complain about my site. I have not yet received adequate answers.
I realize that not all Christians are Bible-thumpers, and not all Bible-thumpers believe exactly the same thing. When answering these questions, feel free to skip those which do not apply to you. It might be helpful to explain why a certain question does not apply, but it’s not required. Read More…
Original sin; the foundation for Christian belief that salvation is necessary. The idea for this dogma is that due to Adam’s fall, we are all sinners destined for hell and in need of a savior. (Romans 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:
However, let us examine the original crime and punishment and see if this dogma holds true. First, does God himself believe that we should be damned for the sins of our ancestors? The Bible supports both ideas; yes and no. If you wish to serve a god which is more unjust than our legal system, here are your supporting verses:
Gen. 9:21-25 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father …. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan [Ham's son]; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
Exodus 20:5 I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
Exodus 34:7 Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children unto the third and to the fourth generation
Num. 14:18 Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
Jer. 16:10-11 Wherefore hath the Lord pronounced all this great evil against us? … Because your fathers have forsaken me, saith the Lord.
If you wish to believe that the god you serve is more ethical than that, here are your supporting verses:
Deut. 24:16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
2 Kings 14:6 But the children of the murderers he slew not: according unto that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the LORD commanded, saying, The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the children be put to death for the fathers; but every man shall be put to death for his own sin.
Jer. 31:29-30 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But every one shall die for his own iniquity.
Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
Now, let us examine just what Adam’s punishment was:
Gen. 3:17-19 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Hmmm. No mention of separation from god, or hell for that matter. And I believe that god’s original intent for Adam, before he sinned, was to “dress and keep” the Garden of Eden. (Gen. 2:15) So, Adam’s punishment is to do what god intended him to do in the first place. Okay. As a matter of fact, the Earth gets cursed by god due to Adam’s sin. Eve’s punishment is merely one verse:
Gen. 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Apparently, before the whole apple ordeal, popping a watermelon out of a hole the size of a grape would not have hurt! That’s right, we had no nerve endings or pain receptors before sin entered the world. And to love your husband is a punishment forced on to the woman as well (and thy desire shall be to thy husband).
Keep in mind that in not one place in the verses concerning Adam’s punishment does the Bible mention hell or the concept of his posterity being “born into sin” and, thusly, damned to hell. As a matter of fact, there is no mention of hell anywhere in the Old Testament. Every single place that you find the word “hell” in the Old Testament has been mistranslated. The original Hebrew in its rightful place is “sheol,” which in most of the OT refers to the grave and in some places refers to the underworld below Earth. The ideology of a “hellfire and brimstone” hell comes to us from the New Testament.
And, after all, should you choose to believe in a god that would not punish a man for the sins of the father (as shown by the above scriptures), how could you believe that that same god would damn you to eternal suffering for 75 years of “sin?” Seems like quite the unjust price to pay as our own legal system, while far from perfect, is more lenient than that.