God, evil and moralityDraft · awaiting advisor review

Is it fair that we inherit Adam’s sin?

In short

Christians agree that Adam’s sin affected the whole human race, but they differ on how. Some believe we inherit Adam’s guilt; many others believe we inherit a damaged nature and mortality, and are judged only for our own sins. The Bible also presents Jesus as a new Adam, whose obedience can count for us as Adam’s failure affected us.

The Objection

Guilt belongs to the person who did the wrong. Holding billions responsible for one ancestor’s act seems plainly unjust, and the Bible itself says “the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father” (Ezekiel 18:20). The Qur’an teaches that no soul bears another’s burden (6:164) and that Adam repented and was forgiven (2:37). Original sin looks like a later doctrine that makes newborns guilty for something they never did.

Put as its strongest advocates would put it.

The Christian Case

Scripture
Paul teaches that sin and death entered the world through one man and spread to all, “for that all have sinned”. He does not explain the mechanism, but he insists that every person also sins for themselves and is judged by their own deeds.
Scripture
Paul sets Adam alongside Christ: as one man’s disobedience affected many, one man’s obedience brings righteousness to many. If being joined to Adam seems unfair, the same principle of solidarity is what allows Christ’s goodness to be given to people who did not earn it.
Historical evidence
The fullest doctrine of inherited guilt was developed by Augustine in the early fifth century, against Pelagius, partly relying on the Latin rendering of Romans 5:12 as “in whom all sinned”. Many scholars read the Greek as “because all sinned”. Eastern Orthodox churches never adopted Augustine’s view of inherited guilt in the same form.
Christians differ
Augustinian and many Reformed Christians hold that all inherit Adam’s guilt as well as a corrupted nature, often explaining it through Adam as our representative head. Eastern Orthodox and many other Christians hold that we inherit mortality and a bent towards sin, but not guilt, so each person is condemned only for their own sins. Both views take Romans 5 seriously.
Philosophical argument
An argument: we do inherit circumstances we did not choose – families, cultures, bodies – and every person seems to show a tendency to selfishness, which needs explaining. On the “inherited condition” view, the doctrine describes this damage rather than blaming us for another’s act. Whether condition without guilt is fair, if God then judges only our own choices, is a serious question either way.

Where the Evidence Is Weaker

The idea that newborns are personally guilty for Adam’s act is the hardest part to defend morally, and Christians who reject it do so partly for that reason. Paul never explains how Adam’s sin passes to others, so every account goes beyond the text. Questions about the historical Adam and human origins add further difficulty, and Christians answer them in different ways.

Arguments to Avoid

Saying that babies who die go to hell because of Adam: Scripture does not teach this, and it is a needlessly cruel claim.
Claiming the Bible teaches that sin is passed on biologically through sex: that was a later theological speculation, not a biblical statement.
Saying Islam has no idea of sin: Muslims believe Adam sinned and repented, and that every person is accountable for their own sins.
Treating original sin as a way of excusing our own wrongdoing: Christians hold that each person is responsible for their own choices.

Read for Yourself

Romans 5:12–21

¹²Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: ¹³(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. ¹⁴Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. ¹⁵But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. ¹⁶And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. ¹⁷For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) ¹⁸Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. ¹⁹For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. ²⁰Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: ²¹That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ezekiel 18:1–20

¹The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying, ²What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? ³As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. ⁴Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. ⁵But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, ⁶And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour’s wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman, ⁷And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment; ⁸He that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man, ⁹Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD. ¹⁰If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things, ¹¹And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour’s wife, ¹²Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination, ¹³Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him. ¹⁴Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father’s sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like, ¹⁵That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour’s wife, ¹⁶Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment, ¹⁷That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. ¹⁸As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity. ¹⁹Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. ²⁰The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

Genesis 3:1–24

¹Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? ²And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: ³But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. ⁴And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: ⁵For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. ⁶And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. ⁷And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. ⁸And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. ⁹And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? ¹⁰And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. ¹¹And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? ¹²And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. ¹³And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. ¹⁴And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: ¹⁵And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. ¹⁶Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. ¹⁷And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; ¹⁸Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; ¹⁹In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. ²⁰And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. ²¹Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. ²²And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: ²³Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. ²⁴So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

1 Corinthians 15:20–22