Why the Christian view of humanity is wrong

"Evolution does not account for the extremes of our violent behavior, but the Christian worldview fits the data exactly - humans are basically evil until transformed by the renewing power of Jesus Christ."

"God created humans in order to have a personal relationship with them, which He had with Adam and Eve before they sinned... A personal relationship, characterized by the possibility of love, is only possible if created beings are given free will. If God had created the universe with no possibility of evil or sin, then the created beings would have had no free will, and, as such, would essentially be programmed computers. Such beings would be incapable of love, since love involves making a choice - which requires the ability to choose not to love... God created the universe for the express purpose of allowing free will spiritual beings the opportunity to have fellowship with Him (and likewise, reject Him)."

"In Israel's earliest traditions, the presence of evil in the world is taken for granted as a reality that is philosophically non problematic. There is no terminological distinction between moral evil and calamity, for the same Hebrew word... is used for both. Evil is anything that is unpleasant, repulsive or distorted (Gen 41:3-4)..."

"God perceived the world as "very good" (Gen 1:31), even though it also includes the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, along with a subtle serpent who encourages the consumption of its fruit..."

"Although God subdues evil in the cosmos, a number of texts in the Hebrew Bible are not reluctant to identify God as the source of the Evil (e.g. Isa 45:7, Jer 4:6, Amos 3:6, Mic 2:3, Eccles 1:13, Job 2:10)..."

However: "Evil is not an intrinsic feature of the physical world, for everywhere in the Hebrew bible creation is seen as good and submissive to the will of God... It is therefore not surprising that later gnostic thought, which perceived the world to be inherently evil, rejected the God of the Hebrew Bible as an evil being..."

That said: "The notion that evil can characteristically be associated with a supernatural being opposed to god and God's people has its roots [later]... in the Hebrew Bible... But only becomes common in the New Testament..."

In summary: "Evil as a philosophical problem is never really addressed in biblical literature. Attempts in Judaism and Christianity to resolve the logical problem of the existence of evil in a world created by a compassionate, just, omnipotent and omniscient God belong to postbibilical reflections on the text."

"We are not punished for the sin of Adam And Eve. However, like all good parents, they pass on their propensity for sin to their children. In other words, your parents taught you how to sin, and you found that sin "worked" so you adopted it into your lifestyle and teach it to your children. Is it fair that your parents taught you how to sin? Maybe not, but it was a choice that they made..."

"The original sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, and as dutiful parents, we have spread this sin to our children. Nothing more, and nothing less. You are not under God's judgment because Adam sinned, but rather because you yourself engage in the same things..."

"[The suggestion that]... Christians believe that we are judged because of humanity's original sin... is not Christian doctrine! If you are attempting to go down this road... you had better cite some evidence from the Bible!"

"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".

"Original sin. "Our first parents being the root of all mankind, the guilt of their sin was imputed, and the same death in sin and corrupted nature were conveyed to all their posterity, descending from them by ordinary generation." Adam was constituted by God the federal head and representative of all his posterity, as he was also their natural head, and therefore when he fell they fell with him (Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:22-45). His probation was their probation, and his fall their fall. Because of Adam's first sin all his posterity came into the world in a state of sin and condemnation, i.e., (1) a state of moral corruption, and (2) of guilt, as having judicially imputed to them the guilt of Adam's first sin."

"We cannot simply assume that children are "innocent" and are therefore exempt from the penalties of sin. The Bible teaches clearly that infants are in a state of sin and need to be regenerated. They, like all humanity, can be saved only through Christ..."