Date: Wed, 05 Aug 1998 13:03:27 -0700 (MST)
From: Thomas James Brower <>
Subject: Re: Theological question...
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian

On 3 Aug 1998, Rowland C. Croucher wrote:

> A pastor-friend emailed me with this question. Your helpful responses? 
> 
> > A young lady asked me this question the other day, and I wondered what
> > your response to would be.  She was quite serious and genuine.
> > Question:
> > Why is the sin of Adam our fault?
> > Why are we punished for his sin even before our very existance?  His
> > sin was his choice not mine.  How can the concept of justice and
> > free-will be applied to this situation?
> > And most important, how are we to be convicted by issues like our own
> > sin and God's forgiveness if we do not understand the reasons behind
> > what appears to be a wrongful conviction of us by a so-called just and
> > loving God?

Those questions seem to come from the concept of 'original sin', so I will
address the concept instead of those questions.
Looking in Ezekiel 18:20 we find that we are responsible for our own sin
and cannot inherit his guilt, but we do suffer the consequences of Adam's
sin, which is physical death. (Genesis 3:22-24, Romans 5:12, 1 Corinthians
15:21-22).  Romans 5:12-21 is where Augustine based 'original sin'
from(I think).  You can't have 'original sin' and the concept from
Ezekiel, but you can have Ezekiel and 'original consequence'.  We have
Christ to make up for Adam's mistake(we get eternal life) and to cleanse
of our own sins.  Does all that make sense?

Thomas