Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: pkk36438@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Polygon) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Is Original Sin a sin? Message-ID: Date: 23 Apr 91 07:17:50 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana Lines: 35 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Were Adams and Eve born to be bad? No. However, they decided to do something that was against the God's wish. It was reason that they were seperated from God. Are human born to be bad? No. However, people decided to do things against the God's wish or whatever, then they become evil. Rightness and wrongness must involve a decision or a choice. If people behave involuntarily, they are not responsible for what they do in the sense of morality. (The laws may tell you a different story, which is out of my scope.) If we have to be evil, then how can God, if there is such God, blame us for being evil? If God decided to let people born to be bad, then Original Sin is of God's wish and should not be considered evil. One may argue that the presense of Jesus Christ makes all the differences. I agree because Jesus made it clear that what's right and what's wrong. ( The words "right" and "wrong" are vague. For the sake of arguement here, I let them undefined since everyone should catch what I mean in this case.) It means people had to act in the way they were before they knew Jesus. If they elected to stay in the way they were, they became evil because, according to Christianity, they made a wrong or bad choice. So we see that morality involves free will and a revealed standard for measurement. Is a baby born to be evil? No. It's because he/she has not have a chance to make a choice-- for better or for worse. When he/she is able to make a choice, he/she may or may not responsible for his/her act depending on how his/her moral standard is established. Some standards can be universalized and some cannot be. It will be morally valid to judge a person when he/she makes a choice and selects a scale or standard of morality. In conclusion, the concept of Original Sin cannot stand because it is against God's wish. Unless I misinterpret the concept of Original Sin, I believe that my arguements are justified. At last, I want to make it clear that I am not trying to challenge any authority. If you find my agruement misleading, you are very welcome to correct me. But, please, don't flame it.