ORIGINAL SIN: THE FALL FROM GRACE

I'd like to share a little insight into the doctrine of Original Sin, and the inherited corruption of our flesh. A lot of people believe that this is a little hard to accept, the fact that because of the sin of some of our distant forefathers, the rest of humanity was forced to suffer as well. In fact, there are even some who claim, amazingly, that there is nothing wrong with the state that we are born in, an that we are not in a fallen state.

But anyone who has seriously striven to abide by even the Old Testament's 10 commandments can see the folly of this. Even the daftest of us will quickly come to realize that there is a definite principle at work within us that wants to do everything that God commanded us not to do. God says not to commit adultery, yet when the opportunity presents itself, that's exactly what we want to do. He says to forgive, yet we want vengeance. He says not to covet, yet we praise this and call it "ambition".

Even secular people are in agreement with this simple concept. They attribute these genetic predispositions as beneficial in a past age at aiding in the "survival of the fittest". The impulse to anger and vengeance, they reason as necessary for the defense of primitive communities. The hyper sex drive, they reason was necessary to ensure the survival of the bloodline by "spreading your seed". Even scientists are in agreement that not only our physical traits and characteristics are genetically inherited, but also definite behavioral patterns as well. This is a genetic reality.

How does this reconcile with the Bible? Well, it explains in several places that "like begets like". It's for this reason that a perfect God was able to beget a perfect Son, Christ. "Through whom all things were made". Yet the begetting never stopped there. A Perfect Christ was able to produce perfect creatures. Even Adam, we see, was originally made in the image of God.

But this is where the perfection ceased, as far as man is concerned. We all know the story of Adam's disobedience, and we can all see how ever after, mankind has been afflicted with death and disaster. But how was this corrupted state transmitted down through their offspring?

"Like begets like". A corrupted Adam and Eve could not beget an uncorrupted being; they could only pass along their own image, which was already defective. When Adam begat Seth, it specifically says he "became the father of a son IN HIS LIKENESS, ACCORDING TO HIS IMAGE"; which again, was a corrupted image. He was already genetically and spiritually predisposed to disobedience. The same genetic predispositions common to all mankind that war against the wisdom of God were already present in Adam's descendants.

Science is beginning to support this. In the latter half of 2010, Newsweek published an article entitled, "Sins of the Fathers".

It was explaining what scientists are calling "Trans Generational Gene Permutations". That is how certain effects in an organism's life somehow alter the very DNA that is passed along to the next generation. The study centered on a group of lab mice, which were injected with increased levels of blood sugar until they developed diabetes. Then when allowed to breed, scientists were amazed to discover that the offspring also had inherited diabetes.

Many arguments and explanations ensued. It was reasoned that the inheritance was not through an altered DNA structure, but due to the baby mice being nurtured and grown inside of a corrupted mother's womb. Thus, the offspring COULD have inherited the diabetes, not through DNA, but after conception, but before birth.

To dispel this probability, they did the following: They raised the male and female mice in separate environments. Only the male mice, this time, were subjected to the injection of increased blood sugar levels until they developed diabetes. The female mice were completely incorrupt. Then they allowed them to breed, at which point the only input of the diabetes-laden male mouse was his sperm. This would show whether the diabetes was passed along in a mutated form of DNA.

Yet again, the offspring, more often than not, were born with this deficiency! Now the study was concerned with merely physical mutations, but this seriously challenged one of Darwin's principal theories, namely that evolution is the accumulated result of RANDOM genetic mutations. This shows that although mutations do occur from generation to generation, they may, in fact, be anything other than random. They can be influenced by life experiences in an organism.

So how does this tie in to Original Sin? Well, although the study merely observed PHYSICAL phenomena, we know that behavioral, mental and emotional characteristics are genetically inherited as well. It is entirely possible that an act of rebellion could have altered a genetic code and resulted in an inherited disposition of rebelliousness.

So who cares? I mean, how does this apply today? I'd like to point out that even after Adam and Eve's disobedience; other sins were committed by later descendants that had the potential to impact their bloodlines. We definitely can see, today, that some defects affect only certain segments of society. With all their defects, the Notorious "Eugenics Programs" of the 1920s America, or worse, they both documented the fact the certain flaws, like criminality, laziness, homosexuality and other deviances, lack of impulse control, etc. all had a genetic basis. My purpose is not to support such doctrines, or even to suggest that they cannot be overcome with much effort and God's Grace. My purpose is merely to show that such defects do exist in our genes, defects that in no way could have aided in the "survival of the fittest".

And more importantly, that what we do, whether we obey God or disobey God, we may be passing along an increasing amount of defects to our future offspring. I mean, a genetic predisposition to alcoholism or drug addiction could not have emerged until there was such a thing as alcohol or drug use. While we may bemoan the fact that we are born into bodies that compel and urge us to act in ways contrary to God's commandments or even our own reason at times, we need to take care what burdens we are saddling future generations with. God certainly said in the Old Testament, "I will bless those who love me to the 1000th generation, and I will curse those who hate me to the 3rd and 4th generation."

Science seems to be converging on the church's understanding of human nature and the consequences of our obedience and disobedience every day.

Written by
Chris Hall
2011