Yes, we all have a natural inclination to sin, and ultimately we all commit sins and come into desperate need of Christ’s redemption, but we are not born with a fatalistic, sinful software that determines when and how we sin. Yes, sin has stained it, but that charge cannot be laid at God’s feet. If Copan’s nuanced depiction of original sin is correct, it may help us better understand at least three important Christian beliefs.įirst, the Imago Dei is completely good. It maintains the holiness and goodness of God, while acknowledging that Adam’s fall truly impacts all human lives. It’s a subtle difference, but an important one. Rather than saying we are created with a sin nature, it may be more biblically accurate to say we are created in the image of God – which is good – but because of Adam’s sin, that image has been tainted. 5:17).īut have we gone too far with the concept of original sin? By insisting that we are born with a “sin nature,” are we saying that God fashioned us in our mothers’ wombs as sinners, implying that God is at least partly responsible for our wretched flesh?Ĭhristian apologist Paul Copan addresses this issue in “How Do You Know You’re Not Wrong?” He argues that, unintentionally, we may twist Adam’s fall into an accusation that God makes us sinners.Ī better approach, says Copan, is to understand that God never engages in evil and always creates only that which is good. And for that, we owe an eternal debt of gratitude to our great God.Īt the same time, both Scripture and experience remind us that while we await glorification, we must engage in a daily battle between the flesh and the indwelling Spirit (Gal. These truths go against the grain of our feel-good culture but are intended to drive us to the foot of the cross, where the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. 17:9) and, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 53:6) “The heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately sick” (Jer.
We use Scripture to explain our depraved state: “We all went astray like sheep we all have turned to our own way” (Isa.
While many schools today abandon these truths in favor of relativism, syncretism, and multiculturalism, many Christian parents instill in their children the reality that sin has marred the Imago Dei – or image of God – in their lives. From childhood, students came to understand that all human beings are sinful and fallen creatures. This statement, like others in the Primer, incorporated biblical truths into basic education. In Colonial days students learned to read from The New England Primer, which featured a number of Christian maxims such as, “In Adam’s Fall, we sinned all.”
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