The inerrant, infallible wikipedia said this, "The concept of
original sin was first alluded to in the 2nd century by Irenaeus... Its scriptural foundation is based on the... teaching of Paul... (Romans 5:12-21 and 1 Corinthians 15:22)." Later, it said, "The doctrine is not found in Judaism."
There is a VERY important distinction that needs to be made here. "Original sin" typically refers to the Western, Augustinian concept that mankind is somehow guilty of Adam's sin, and it's this guilt that separates us from God.
Wikipedia is quite right in saying that the Augustinian idea of Original Sin came later. I'll explain more in a sec.
Hello? Who can I trust then? If I don't have a sin nature, why do I need Jesus to save me? If I don't have a sin nature, why does God need to send me to hell? If I don't have a sin nature, why did Christians tell me that I did? If for 4000 years of Biblical time, nobody knew this doctrine, why all of a sudden with the coming of Jesus, does it suddenly appear? If Christians made it up, then what else did they make up?
We all have a sinful nature, inherited from Adam. When Adam sinned, it introduced a rift between God and man. Since man had separated himself by sin from God, Who is the source of eternal life, mankind became subject to death. Christ came to save us from sin and death. However, we do NOT inherit the GUILT of Adam's sin--only Adam is guilty for Adam's sin. Believing that we are guilty for Adam's sin is the innovation. The concept that man separated himself from God and life through sin, and that afterwards mankind fell under the dominion of sin and death, is completely Biblical.
Genesis 3:17-19 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed
is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat
of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you
are,
And to dust you shall return.”
In other words, since man has turned away from God, he is now subject to death and suffering.
Romans 5:12-15 12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift
is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.
We die because we sin, and we inherit that tendency to sin from Adam. But even if we don't sin, we still inherit a damaged human nature that is subject to death, thanks to Adam's sin. Human nature is damaged. It needs repaired. That is why Christ took on our human nature, to heal it and make it whole, by sharing with us in what it means to be human, and reconciling our humanity to God's Divinity, to bring us back to that source of Life.
Romans 6:17-23 17 But God be thanked that
though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human
terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members
as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness
leading to
more lawlessness, so now present your members
as slaves
of righteousness for holiness.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things
is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin
is death, but the gift of God
is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
To sum up, this speaks of how we are slaves to sin, but Christ came to free us from that slavery, and instead bring us to life with God.
Hebrews 2:14-15 14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
