Original Sin and the Atonement

From John G. Jackson's essay the Pagan Origins of the Christ Myth (see web link: http://www.africawithin.com/jgjackson/jgjackson_pagan_origins_of_the_christ_myth1.htm) he states: The cardinal doctrines of the Christian religion are (1) the Fall of Man and (2) the Atonement. He later quotes from T.W. Doanes who points out:
"These two dogmas cannot be separated from each other. If there was no Fall, there is no need of an atonement, and no Redeemer is required. Those, then, who consent in recognizing in Christ Jesus a God and Redeemer, and who, notwithstanding, cannot resolve upon admitting the story of the Fall of Man to be historical, should exculpate themselves from the reproach of inconsistency"



I will substitute Original Sin for Fall of Man and therefore one must ask: What is Original Sin? Original Sin is a Christian belief based on Paul's statement, "Therefore just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned 13. for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. Augustine of Hippo fully developed the doctrine of Original sin because he stated that is was "the deliberate sin of the first man is the cause of original sin" (De nupt. et concup., II, xxvi, 43) and from the Augustinian perspective, is not a free and individual choice by a baby; but rather the effect of the sum total of "hereditary sin", taught through the story of the sin of Adam and Eve (Genesis Chapter 2-3). The Augustinian doctrine of original sin teaches that every individual is born into a broken world where sin is already active; that they are inevitably influenced personally by the actions of others and the consequences of choices made by others. The Augustinian effectively believes that human nature - and hence every individual person - is flawed. Therefore, according to this doctrine, Original Sin is perpetually transmitted to human beings by Adam and Eve.

What is the Atonement? The atonement is a doctrine found within both Christianity and Judaism. It describes how sin can be forgiven by God. In Judaism, Atonement is said to be the process of forgiving or pardoning a transgression. This was originally accomplished through rituals performed by a High Priest on the holiest day of the Jewish year called Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). Since the fall of the second temple, the idea of a mediator is no longer accepted as necessary for atonement in Judaism, to atone for sin all one need to do is simply repent. Also the atonement was for actual sins, the breaking of the Mosaic Law, and not for an original sin. In Christian theology, the atonement refers to the forgiving or pardoning of sin through the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, which made possible reconciliation between God and creation thus the Christian doctrine of atonement is more properly understood to be reconciliation. Which essentially mean we were enemies of God through the original sin of Adam and through Jesus Christ giving of himself as a sacrifice for Adam's sin we now have a restored friendship with God in (see 1 Corinthians 11:2-10; 15:22, Matthew 26:28).

Is Original Sin perpetual? I don't think it is. First, according to Judaism, which is Christianity's predecessor, there is no scriptural proof of a Jewish doctrine of original sin. In fact, in Genesis 4:6,7 (NIV) in the story of Cain and Abel, Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.This implies that Cain(the first born after the fall) was not born sinful but allowed sin to overtake him and thus the Original Sin Doctrine has no merit. Also, the Torah(The first five books of the Holy Bible and Hebrew Bible), a person sin will not exceed the 3 or 4 generation (Exodus 34:7 ) even though this text contradicts Deuteronomy 24:16 . Moreover, the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel18:20 which states that every man shall be responsible for his own sin and not the sins of his ancestors. Lets say I take the conservative stance and go with Exodus 34:7 that a person ancestry sin's pass on to the next generation, if Adam and Eve sinned then mankind punishment for Adam and Eve's sin of disobedience should not have exceed their great-great-grand children. If the sin did not exceed Adam/Eve great-great-grandkids i.e. the fourth generation, then the idea of a savoir-god atoning for original sin is unnecessary.

Secondly, I think that the theory of evolution does the most damage to the original sin, according to evolution mankind and other species slowly changed from lower life forms over millions of years, and according to geologist the earth is 4.5 billion years old. Evolution is a scientific fact the theory or best explanation is what Charles Darwin called Natural Selection. The reason we have evolved with the great Apes (chimps, orangutans, gorillas, etc.) from a common ancestor is found in genetics, human and other primates have a vitamin C deficiency, if we did not evolve from a common ancestor then other primates would not have this deficiency.

In conclusion, the idea of Original Sin is a myth or way people try to explain why people behave improperly to themselves and to others. The original sin idea creates a problem which has a ready made solution (the atonement through Jesus Christ). The reason we behave improperly is because we are mammals, because we have an ego, which is a conceived idea about ourselves, we have this notion that we are different from other species. Judaism, Christianity’s predecessor, doesn’t support the idea of original sin and because we have evolved over millions of years. We must concede there was no fall of man in a garden of delight, i.e. , and therefore the idea of a dying savior is not necessary. This is why creationist sees evolution as the greatest threat, but this is another blog.