original sin and Christian Salvation

Only through woman did man learn to taste the tree of knowledge
Science is the first sin, the germ of all sins, original sin.
-F. Nietzsche

Introduction

The doctrine of sin stands out as one of the most effective manipulative devices ever invented. It has a subtle terrorizing effect which intimidates believers into accepting the Church's view that there is an almighty deity who takes interest in their affairs. If he was only a creator, he would leave us alone to go about our business. But if he is a personal God who takes issue with our behavior, then we have cause to be mindful of his will.

The idea of a mind-reading, all-seeing deity as judge, jury and executioner, has an Orwellian scariness to it. Is it impossible to entertain heretical private thoughts without fear of punishment? Does it pursue us into death? Is there no escape?

The reason for believing in sin rests on the say-so of Church authorities. There is a suspicious smell to this. If you violate Church law, you violate God's law. Violate God's law and God will punish you. And how do we know the Church speaks for God? Answer: because Church authorities insist on it. It goes in circles. That is why unquestionable faith is so important to these people. Their reasoning can make you dizzy. In reality, believers are not conforming to God's law; they are conforming to Church law.

If there truly was such thing as a God, then it is the God of Reality and the laws of nature. These laws can't be disobeyed; they are self enforcing and they no moral conscience. Then there is the biblical God. To think that such a God has the power and intelligence to create the universe and keep it running, only to have the first man go against his will, is utterly comical for its irony.

The very nature of the original sin presents us with a picture of a powerless god. Since he failed so early at a relatively simple task, there is no reason to presume God has any influence over human actions. No reason to believe he was involved with the Bible. No reason to believe he orchestrated Jesus' crucifixion. No reason to believe he can restore the dead to life. No reason to believe he has a plan. And most importantly, no reason to believe he exists.

The Church's Case for Original Sin

This report presents the Church's case for Original Sin. Supporting references come from the Catholic Encyclopedia, the Epistles of Paul and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Frankly it can be boring; but it does serve as a refresher to those who don't have a full understanding of why they are Christians. What is especially striking is the science defying claim that God intended the first man to be immortal until he sinned.

What is more important is what is missing. The Gospels and the Old Testament have nothing to say about the original sin and there is not a word from Jesus. What it means is that Jesus died for reasons having nothing to do with the original sin and that Paul concocted a big fat lie.

We analyze a paragraph from the Catechism of the Catholic Church to show how priestly writing can be appear to be saying something when it is really saying nothing.

Finally we take look into the writings of Thomas Aquinas. His genius for criticizing human nature earned him the status as one of Christianity's most prominent theologians.

What is a Fall

In the context used here, "fall" refers to a state when one disobeys God. So then, to fall means to fall into the devil's clutches. In this context, the term does not appear anywhere the Old Testament and is not recognized by Jews. It is not until we get to the New Testament where the word is used synonymously with disobeying God by allowing oneself to be deceived by the devil.

¹²Therefore let any one who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. (1 Cor. 10:12)

⁶He must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil;
⁷moreover he must be well thought of by outsiders, or he may fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. (1 Tim. 3:6-7)

¹¹Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, that no one fall by the same sort of disobedience. (Heb. 4:11)

Explaining Original Sin

The doctrine of Original Sin is founded upon what the Catholic Church defines as the first man's first sin, when Adam disobeyed God by eating from the tree of good and evil. From that time on, every human inherited the stain of his act. The stain itself brings eventual death to all men.

Original sin may be taken to mean: (1) the sin that Adam committed; (2) a consequence of this first sin, the hereditary stain with which we are born on account of our origin or descent from Adam. From the earliest times the latter sense of the word was more common, as may be seen by St. Augustine's statement: "the deliberate sin of the First man is the cause of original sin" (Catholic Encyclopedia: Original Sin)

¹²Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned. (Rom. 5:12)

²³For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 6:23)

Eve was exonerated for being deceived.

³But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. (1 Cor. 11:3)

¹⁴and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. (1 Tim. 2:14)

Why is Salvation supposed to be desirable

Salvation frees us from the sinful condition of humanity caused by Adam. It can be described as the final triumph over sin and death. In this way we are restored to the condition we were in at the time of Creation before Adam sinned. Jesus comes to us as the new Adam when he was free of sin.

As sin is the greatest evil, being the root and source of all evil, Sacred Scripture uses the word "salvation" mainly in the sense of liberation of the human race or of individual man from sin and its consequences. (Catholic Encyclopedia: Salvation)

¹²And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Peter in Acts 4:12)

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation (Col. 1:15)

Through Redemption we find Salvation

Through Redemption we liberate ourselves from sin and evil with God's acceptance of our faith in Christ. Because Christ paid the ultimate price for our sins, redemption comes to us by offering our faith in Christ as payment for what he did for us, and from God, by accepting our offer.

The restoration of man from the bondage of sin to the liberty of the children of God through the satisfactions and merits of Christ. (Catholic Encyclopedia: Redemption)

Satisfaction, or the payment of a debt in full, means, in the moral order, an acceptable reparation of honor offered to the person offended and, of course, implies a penal and painful work. (Catholic Encyclopedia: Redemption)

¹⁹For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous.(Rom 5:19)

²²For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.(1 Cor. 15:22)

⁴But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law(Gal. 4:4)

¹⁴Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil(Heb. 2:14)

Creation, Redemption and Christ

Several passages in the New Testament associate God's redemptive work with Creation by acknowledging Christ as the only redeemer and the source of a renewed creation. Redemption then, causes a new Creation through Christ.

Jesus was God at Creation.

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
² He was in the beginning with God;
³all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. (John 1:1-3)

⁶yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.(1 Cor. 8:6)

¹⁶for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities-all things were created through him and for him.(Col. 1:16)

Redemption causes a new Creation.

¹⁷Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. (2 Cor. 5:17)

¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
²And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband; ³and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them;
⁴he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away."
⁵And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." (Rev. 21:1-5)

Christ is the one redeemer

⁶yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.(1 Cor. 1:6)

³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,(1 Cor. 15:3)

²¹For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. (1 Cor. 15:21)

How does redemption work?

It presupposes man was first created in a supernatural state, but sinned and became a mortal. Therefore because the first Adam brought death into the world, in Christ, a new Adam restores us back to life. For redemption then, we need acceptance from God and an offering from us by faith through Christ.

Redemption presupposes the original elevation of man to a supernatural state and his downfall from it through sin; and inasmuch as sin calls down the wrath of God and produces man's servitude under evil and Satan, Redemption has reference to both God and man.

On God's part, it is the acceptation of satisfactory amends whereby the Divine honor is repaired and the Divine wrath appeased. On man's part, it is both a deliverance from the slavery of sin and a restoration to the former Divine adoption, and this includes the whole process of supernatural life from the first reconciliation to the final salvation.

That double result, namely God's satisfaction and man's restoration, is brought about by Christ's vicarious office working through satisfactory and meritorious actions performed in our behalf. (Catholic Encyclopedia: Redemption)

¹⁹For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous. (Rom 5:19)

²⁰you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Cor. 6:20)

¹⁴Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. (Rom. 5:14)

Church Doublespeak

The word doublespeak means to say one thing and mean another. It was coined by George Orwell in his highly recommended book, "1984." It is arguably one of the most effective techniques for manipulation ever invented. The objective is to confuse individuals to the point where they think you know more than them. If you can get them to shed their self confidence, they become more willing to conform.

As an example, let's scrutinize paragraph 390 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which explains the fall. When we do, it comes out that the Church is strongly certain of information to which it admits to fabricating.

The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event, a deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man. Revelation gives us the certainty of faith that the whole of human history is marked by the original fault freely committed by our first parents.

1. "The account of the fall in Genesis 3 uses figurative language, but affirms a primeval event."
Means: The author who wrote the Fall of Man had no records to work from, so he made it up-but it actually took place. Figurative translates to symbolic or representative.

2. "A deed that took place at the beginning of the history of man".
The lie is repeated two different ways: "Deed" implies factual. "History" implies the event was recorded by a witness. 

3. "Revelation gives us the certainty of faith."
Means: the revealer was expressing his personal opinions, but was too ignorant to know they were his personal opinions. Regardless, we should accept them as facts.

4. "That the whole of human history is marked by the original fault."
Means: The Church can't accept human nature for the way God created it; so it pins the blame on the mythical Adam and Eve. "Original fault" translates to the curse of Original Sin, which has no more impact than a voodoo curse.

5. "Freely committed by out first parents."
Means: The Church condemns free will, while it admits God gave man free will. Here again, the Church is opposed to what its mythical God created. In its own conceited way, the Church is saying it knows how to fix what God screwed up.

6. In conclusion. The Church defines obedience as the measure of moral perfection. Such logic mimics the arrogance espoused by the likes of Communist and Fascist dictators. While the Church can't terrorize its audience physically, it achieves its objectives mentally.

Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas rates as one of Catholicism's greatest theologians. He is best known for his encyclopedic Summa Theologica, but he also wrote a tome published as Aquinas's Shorter Summa. This excerpt called, "The woman's sin," captures the extreme pettiness for which his peers consider a mark of his greatness. He even has the audacity to blame Eve for believing a lie-a lie that came from the Devil through God. Bear in mind that the mythical Eve was probably just above the age of puberty with almost no experience. Though, in reality, all she had were the instincts God gave her.

1. Typical of theologians, two things stand out about Aquinas. One is the obsession with heaping every negative imaginable on humans. And the other it to treat God like a helpless frustrated victim. Forget that God nonsense. Church dogma tells us nothing about God. It tells about the pathology of the people who spout this idiotic nonsense.

The woman craved both the promised exaltation and the perfection of knowledge. Added to this were the beauty and sweetness of the fruit, which drew her to eat of it. And so, scorning the fear of death, she violated God's command and ate of the forbidden tree.

Her sin has many aspects. First, there is a sin of pride, whereby she inordinately desired her own excellence. Second is a sin of curiosity, whereby she coveted knowledge beyond the limits fixed for her. Third is a sin of gluttony, whereby the sweetness of the fruit enticed her to eat. Fourth is a sin of infidelity, growing out of a false estimate of God, so that she believed the words of the Devil who gave the lie to God. Fifth is a sin of disobedience, consisting in a transgression of God's command.

2. Aquinas goes on to discuss the man's sin. Of course, "The sin came to the man through the woman's blandishments." The man was "not seduced as the woman was."

That is, he did not believe the words the Devil spoke against God. The thought could not cross his mind that God would utter a lying threat or that He would forbid the use of a thing for no good purpose. Yet he was drawn by the Devil's promise to an undue desire of excellence and knowledge. As a result, his will fell away from the right pursuit of justice and, consenting to his wife's importunities, he followed her in transgressing the divine command and ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree.

Intent to absolve the man, Aquinas says the man did not believe the devil, ignoring the fact that the devil did not approach him. He, the man, could not imagine God would lie to him. Incredibility, Aquinas faults the man for having a desire for excellence and knowledge. It was his wife's fault that he transgressed. The man is a sexist.

3. And while we are on the subject of sex, Aquinas was known to remain virgin throughout his life. Perhaps he felt his inhibitions gave him license to criticize. Ignoring Genesis 1:28, where God says to be fruitful and multiply and subdue it, Aquinas blames Adam for releasing man's appetite for sex and all the other passions.

The harmonious integrity of the original state depended entirely on the submission of man's will to God. Consequently, as soon as the human will threw off the yoke of subjection to God, the perfect subjection of the lower powers to reason and of the body to the soul likewise disintegrated. As a result, man experienced in his lower, sensitive appetite the inordinate stirrings of concupiscence [sexual appetite], anger, and all the other passions.

Conclusion: With the invention of sin came the incentive to demonize every aspect of natural human behavior. Power comes by way of creating artificial problems with artificial solutions. They do it because, unfortunately, it works.

End