THE MYTH OF ORIGINAL SIN
MUST WATCH: Mike Desario - Origins of The Doctrine of Original Sin Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBY4SeslAqA
Are Men Born Sinners?
http://www.gospeltruth.net/menbornsinners/mbsindex.htm
IS MAN BORN A SINNER???
The Savage Wolves of modern Religion
The Spirit of Error!
http://www.standingthegap.org/Wolves%20exposed.htm
Dr.Charles Stanley a wolf in sheep's clothing!(check out his original sin fallacies)
CHECK OUT THIS FALLACIOUS DEFENSE OF THE ORIGINAL SIN DOCTRINE
http://www.allaboutcreation.org/what-is-original-sin-faq.htm
http://www.allaboutcreation.org/doctrine-of-original-sin-faq.htm
CHECK OUT THIS PHD PASTOR WHO WAS CONVERTED TO THE ORIGINAL SIN MYTH
Million Dollar Questions for believers in the Original sin Doctrine
If man is born with original sin, where does a child who dies at two months go?? Hell or Heaven. If heaven, how can a sinner go to heaven.
When children are conceived in their mother’s wombs, does God give them souls that are infested with original sin from Adam ??
Do you know that the original sin doctrine originates from St.Augustine of Hippo, a roman catholic saint and so called doctor of the church??(You need to note that the catholic church baptizes infants so as to remove stains of original sin??).Remember the adage that they came from Rome but Rome came with them. This simply means that many protestant denominations came out rome with roman catholic doctrines such as original sin.
Do you know that the original sin myth is the foundation of the eternal security doctrine, predestination doctrine and Calvin’s so called TULIP? Pastors are teaching that a ‘born again’ rapist, murderer, porn addict, homosexual dies and goes to heaven. They teach that you are born in sin, get saved in sin and die in sin.
What the scriptures say?
Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matt18:2-4
But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven Matt19:14
Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. Deut1:39
Truly, this only I have found:That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.” Ecc7:29
Born in Sin!
http://www.standingthegap.org/Born%20in%20Sin.htm
The Problematic reasoning of what Christianity has called: ‘Original Sin’ is a Doctrine deeply ingrained into the church and VERY Difficult to break free of. Separating the Nature from the Will seems to be the basics of the delusion. If man is NOT Born with a Corrupted nature inherited from Adam, HOW do you explain the problems with children, Or the impossibility of finding anyone honest and upright? By appearances the ‘Sin Nature’ Doctrine holds creditability when you consider the condition of mankind. But it’s TRUTH we are looking for here, not conjecture. Therefore let’s take an honest look at Scripture.
What happened when Adam & Eve Sinned, according to the Scriptures?
1)He Died Spiritually, Cut off from God
2)The Ground was Cursed
3)His Burden of work was increased
4)The Pain of Child Birth would increase
5)They were expelled from the Garden (Gen3:1-24)
Nothing is said about their NATURE becoming Corrupted or being Transferred to their posterity. They would Continue to Produce after their own kind (a Flesh & Blood living Soul) Each succeeding generation then taking on the LIKENESS of the one before. This follows the Scriptures and sustains Free Will.
Thus Paul tells us in Rom5:12, that Through ONE Man Sin entered the world and Death (spiritual death) through sin, spread to all men, BECAUSE ALL SINNED!| ALL Sinned after the LIKENESS of Adam, FOLLOWED his example. Born with the Same Passions and Desires as their fathers! NOT Born with his Nature handed down to them. (God Does Not change anyone with the sin of their fathers, Ezk18:18-19. Nor would He Saddle mankind with the Nature of Adam!)
It Simply CANNOT be proven ANYWHERE in Scripture that Nature can be handed, down, imputed or inherited as though sin was lodged in our flesh like some kind of Disease. The Two New Testament Passages used in attempt to prove this are 1Pet1 and Eph2:
And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 1Pet1:17-18
among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Eph2:3
In the 1Peter Passage some Bible Versions Translate, ‘Received by Tradition’ to ‘Inherited’ Chancing the meaning of the passage. The CORRECT Translation is as shown. You Received your code of conduct by the Tradition of your fathers. You DID NOT inherit their Nature! That’s Impossible.
If you look up the Phrase, ‘By Nature’ in the Eph passage, you find it means essentially the same thing as Tradition. It is Behavior you learned by long practice or habit of doing. Just as the Gentiles are shown in Rom2:14 to DO ‘By Nature’ the things Contained in the law. It has NOTHING to do with something Inbred into man’s Flesh at Birth. It is Simply showing us that we LEARN to do bad things by the example of others or by our own foolish habits and desires.
The Major Problem with the Original Sin Teaching is that it Renders man incapable of Obeying God or Repenting and Stopping his sins. If he is Born Corrupted by Nature from Adam, then his sin is a malady, something he has no control over (like a genetic disease) Rather then a CHOICE he has made and is Personally Responsible for before a Holy God. Therefore the Salvation Message becomes a Remedy to Cover his on-going sinful nature, until it can slowly Sanctified out of him by process. Instead of a Clearing of Wrong Doing and New Life in Christ. (as the Scriptures Show)
By Necessity the church MUST Preach that you are Saved in Your sins! Because you are Born in them!
How is Free Will retained under this Scheme? It isn’t. If you are born Depraved or Corrupted in Nature, with a Natural inability to Obey God, the ONLY WAY you can be Saved is that God has to Somehow Liberate your ability to choose by the Holy Spirit. So Salvation becomes a Process of Confession and Trust, rather than following the Scriptures which show a Stopping of sin and Obedient heart. People become numb to the Truth while they sit in the churches ‘thinking’ they are saved and waiting for God to Magically Change them so they can sin less and serve Him more. (which of course NEVER happens because God doesn’t work in such manner!)
But Why do All men Choose to Sin if they are NOT Born Sinners?
1)First they are Born in the Likeness of ‘Sinful Flesh’ (meaning passions and desires)
2)Next they are Born into a World VOID of Light and Truth
3)Men Love Darkness, Can’t Comprehend it, Won’t Come to it! Jh3:19-21
4)The god of this age, Prince of Air is at Work influencing man’s passions and desires
5)False Teachers run the Churches and Control the Platforms
6)By his Own Free Choice his Pride rebels against God!
Note: The Rom8:3 Passage that States Jesus was Born in the Likeness of Sinful flesh, is further proof that no Nature of sin exists in the flesh. Otherwise Christ would have possessed this Nature!
Thus a Person is Born 100% Neutral into the World, a Clean Slate, innocent, having done nothing right or wrong. (Ecc7:29, Deut1:39, Matt18:24, 19:14, Rom9:11) He DOES NOT Possess the Holy Spirit at Birth nor the Divine Nature of Christ! But he DOES Retain the LIGHT of God in his soul that ‘Lights’ EVERY MAN that comes into the World! (John1:9) Which is the Conscience of God and natural ability to Know right from wrong when he reaches maturity. (Rom2:14-15)
From Youth his Passions and Desires are under the assault of Principalities and powers of the spirit realm. (Eph6:12) And the influence of Touch, Sight, Emotions and hearing. The Perfect Law of Love (or do unto others as you would have them do to you) is NOT present in the World around him, but rather the necessity of Aggression to fulfill selfish desires of the flesh. On top of this in our modern world we have the electronic media from all sides, images everywhere, people with all sorts of vile habits, rough language, poor behavior and selfish inclinations. Children are especially sensitive to hypocritical behavior in adults, the ‘say and not do’ rules they impose that make no sense to them. They quickly pick up on bad habits and a poor attitude. Plus all human being are created by God with individual personality traits and temperaments, no two people are the same. There is an exception to every rule, good and bad.
Given these things, in all honesty WHO could expect ANYONE to grow to accountability and NOT Sin?
WHERE and HOW is the person going to find God in all this? He Must be Told the Truth and then SHOWN by Example what is necessary to Serve God. His Common environment is NOT going to provide any of these things, in fact, the VERY Opposite! At School (even ‘Christian’ School!) at Play, around other adults, average daily life, is all Anti-God and opposed to His Truth. Top all this off by sending him to church, or bible school for kids and you have the formula for disaster.
Man doesn’t Need another excuse for sinning! And Certainly NOT the PERFECT excuse that sin is part of the Nature he was Born with! People know the Difference between Right and Wrong and often CHOOSE to DO what is Right even without God in their lives. No One can deny the fact that human beings do Good things for their fellow man. Who hasn’t heard of Fire or Police personal risking their lives for others, or Soldiers in battle dying to save their fellow combatants! Are these the selfish acts of Depraved Sinners?
The Church would have you believe such and go to great lengths to attribute any good deed done to some kind of ‘Special’ Grace bestowed by God to off set man’s depravity JUST enough so he can perform the deed, but NEVER enough for him to overcome his sin! The Stain remains and only the passing of time and influence of the Holy Spirit has any possibility of changing him to the better.
We can conclude then that the effect of Adam’s sin was to bring about a world VOID of virtue and Truth. (for the most part) Man followed the Passions of his flesh and rebelled against all that was good. His Continued actions had the accumulate effect of making the world a Dark and sinful place.
God preserved His Presence and the Witness of His Truth, in Several Preachers of Righteousness through out history. Few heeded their warnings to Stop sinning and many perished in their sins. Now the False Religious establishment is firmly in place and the Message is that NOTHING you Do matters.
So Darkness and Error reigns supreme throughout the entire world and billions are in the clutches of a Strong Delusion. Although man is FULLY Capable of Obedience to God and Stopping of Sin, Very FEW make any effort whatsoever to Seek out the Truth or even care about the Judgment to Come. Our Societies are in Moral Decay, the Christian Churches in La La Land and the Preachers clueless. There is hardly anything remaining to Hold Back the lie.
The only hope you have as a Parent of young children is to MAKE SURE your home is God Fearing and your LIFE is in line with His Truth! Remember: Children learn by Example, as the Bible clearly shows. Their Nature is Neutral at birth, but they are still created in the Likeness of Flesh, complete with the passions and desires common to every person. Your life-style will have the Greatest influence on them as they grow to maturity. If you want to them to Choose Right over Wrong, YOU lead the Way! It’s a heavy Responsibility and you will find little assistance in the world. Stay OUT of the Churches and Contend always for the faith!
Where Did the Doctrine of Original Sin Come From?
http://www.standingthegap.org/Where%20did%20doctrine%20of%20origin.htm
You have been Duped! The Doctrine of Original Sin is NOT a Biblical Teaching. Although many believe wholly they can Prove the existence of this doctrine in the pages of Scripture, the evidence is dubious and laced with conjecture. The Origins of this Doctrine can be Traced Directly to Fourth Century Rome where they were blended into Christian Teaching from the Pagan Philosophies of the Gnostics and Manicheans.
The Problem is however that these ancient teachings are so removed from our present day thinking, NO ONE can imagine how they could effect what we believe in our churches. But they do! The Doctrine of Original Sin is the bases of all Evangelical dogma and has a DIRECT effect on HOW the Gospel is Preached and What brings about True Salvation. Therefore it is Extremely important to understand Where this teaching originated and WHO invented it.
Augustine of Hippo: The Man in the Shadows!
Born in 354, in Thagaste in North Africa, under the Roman Empire. The Empire had embraced Christianity as the official State Religion since Emperor Constantine consolidated his power base in the West in 311. This made each succeeding Emperor himself the head honcho of the Church. Nothing could be done without him or against him. He held the power of life and death over all the inhabitants in his Empire.
Underneath his reigning authority were the Bishops, who often opposed one another over systems of belief and Doctrine. Into this world of controversy and schisms Augustine was born and grew to manhood. It is very likely he was quite aware of the brutal persecutions against the Donatus by Emperor Constantine to silence their opposition of his Catholic Authority and knew very well that these factions still existed in the church. But Augustine was not a professing Christian in his youth, although his Mother was a member of the Catholic church, his father was pagan and had high expectations for his son in Roman Society.
Augustine’s parents used their connections to secure a University education for their son in Carthage.
As a student he engaged in much loose behavior and soon had a young son from one of his affairs. This lead to a life long obsession with lust that would impact his doctrinal beliefs greatly. While in the city he joined the Manicheans, a syncretistic Gnostic religion founded by a medium called Mani in third century Persia. As a youth, Mani had received revelations by a spirit being he called his “Twin”. Since its foundation, Manichaeism had spread like wildfire through the ancient world, finding many followers, some of them being influential people in Roman society. The Manicheans spoke of Jesus too, as a prophet, alongside Buddha and Zoroaster, but reserved the title of “Last Prophet” or “Seal of the Prophets” for Mani himself.
Where Did the Concept for Original Sin Come from?
The world view of Manichaeism was dualistic: one side was a world of light, inherently good and on the other the material world, inherently evil. Each world was presided over by a god. As everything material, the incarnate part of the human was evil by nature from the day of his conception and was drawn towards sin. Only the immaterial soul, belonging to the world of light, was pure and could not be defiled, not even by the grossest sins of the body. The worst sins in Manichean thinking were the sexual sins, because they resulted in more souls of light becoming imprisoned in evil bodies. According to Manichaeism, mankind was divided into three separate groups of people: the Sinners, the Hearers and the Elect. The Elect were obliged to refrain from all things that bound them to the material world: certain foods, sexual intercourse and manual labor. They were certain to obtain salvation once they died. The Hearers had to observe the same restrictions only on Sundays. They would have to go through more cycles of incarnations before they, too, would reach salvation. Augustine himself was a Hearer.
Manichaeism offered a world view that eliminated the fear of judgment by offering hope for salvation while still living in sin. It also gave an explanation for sin according to which nobody could be singled out as a sinner since all men were born sinners. It’s easy to see how attractive that must have been for Augustine, guilt-ridden as he was over the ongoing fornication in his life. The Manicheans called themselves Christians, which made it easier for someone raised Catholic to see himself as an adherent of something that was really Christianity. The Roman Manicheans were very well connected, so opportunities opened up for Augustine he otherwise wouldn’t have had. In 384, aged 30, he became professor of rhetoric at the imperial court in Milan. This was a very prestigious job that brought him close to the Emperor himself.
Given Augustine’s fame in the annals of Christianity, where he is considered the Greatest theologian of Christian Doctrine in all history, it is EASY to see where he derived the bases of his teachings. His background in the Pagan Philosophies of the day set the stage for what would become his understanding of Grace, Faith and Salvation. NO ONE Before Augustine taught that man was Born a Sinner or that his Free Will was in bondage to his flesh. Such Teaching came from the Gnostics!
You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. Ezk28:15
Truly, this only I have found: That God made man upright, But they have sought out many schemes.” Ecc7:29
The Following is a few Examples of what the early church fathers taught:
We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, and chastisements, and good rewards, are rendered according to the merit of each man’s actions. Since if it be not so, but all things happen by fate, neither is anything at all in our own power. For if it be fated that this man, e.g., be good, and this other evil, neither is the former meritorious nor the latter to be blamed. And again, unless the human race have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions, of whatever kind they be. Justin Martyr, c. 160
We were not created to die, but we die by our own fault. Our free-will has destroyed us; we who were free have become slaves; we have been sold through sin. Nothing evil has been created by God; we ourselves have manifested wickedness; but we, who have manifested it, are able again to reject it. Tatian, c. 160
“Woe unto them!” he says, “for they have gone in the way of Cain.” For so also we lie under Adam’s sin through similarity of sin. Clement of Alexandria c. 195
“If thou wilt be perfect.” Consequently he was not yet perfect. For nothing is more perfect than what is perfect. And divinely the expression “if thou wilt” showed the self-determination of the soul holding converse with Him. For choice depended on the man as being free; but the gift on God as the Lord. And He gives to those who are willing and are exceedingly earnest, and ask, that so their salvation may become their own. For God compels not (for compulsion is repugnant to God), but supplies to those who seek, and bestows on those who ask, and opens to those who knock.
Clement of Alexandria c. 195
Regardless what you THINK the Bible says about Free Will and Original sin, you MUST ask yourself WHY these Disciples (Direct Descendants of the Apostles) Affirmed that man was born innocent with FULL Freedom of choice! WHO taught them these things?
It Certainly appears that their understanding of Scripture was Radically Different than what the Present day churches are teaching. Somebody has it Wrong. Will the Real Heretics please stand up!
In 381 the reigning Emperor started putting pressure on the Manicheans in order to put an end to their influence. Fearing for his life, Augustine turned to pagan Greek philosophy. He delved deep into philosophical thought, especially into Neoplatonist philosophy. Neoplatonism was the most religious branch of pagan Greek philosophy. It believed in one God and theorized about the qualities of this “ineffable and transcendent One”. An example of Neoplatonist reasoning would be: God is perfect and to someone who already has perfection change could only be to the worse - therefore God can´t change, he´s immutable. To them, God was beyond any human likeness. The main pursuit of the Neoplatonists - and this would remain Augustine´s pursuit through his entire life - was the pursuit of happiness. In this, a higher source of happiness had always to be preferred over a lesser, the best source being one that was immutable. An augmentation to finding an immutable source of happiness was only thinkable if the receiving of that happiness was not contingent upon the potentially changing will of the recipient.
Augustine’s conversion to Catholicism came shortly after this through listening to a the preaching of a man named Ambrose, who interrupted the Old Testament Scriptures in a way that Augustine found intriguing. His diversion to Christianity was especially the apparent image of a God who CHANGED His mind revealed in the Old Testament. Augustine’s Neoplantonist thinking could not abide with that. God was ‘immutable’ (He did not change!) Ambrose presented an alternate view that the Old Testament was
allegorical not literal Thus the stories of God interacting with man and changing His Mind was not factual and did not truly represent the Divine Nature.
Again ANYONE can see that these beliefs are the bases of Present Day Christian Doctrine! If God is immutable or does not change His Mind, then Election and Predestination are Mandatory. Since man is Born into sin, according to these Pagan teachings, and morally incapable of making a Right Choice, its God who Decides who is saved and who is not saved. Man attributes Nothing to the Process of Salvation. In this is the fatalistic understanding that man is merely a pawn and nothing he does nor doesn’t do can make any difference toward the outcome of his salvation.
The Philosophers and scholars of the Roman Empire occupied many positions of power and were able to weld great influence over Roman Society. When the Emperor declared Christianity as the only legitimate national religion, many of them quickly changed their strips and joined up with the Catholic church. However they ALSO brought with them a variety of pagan teachings and blended them into the church, as we have shown. Among these supposed Converts Augustine would become the lead interrupter of Scripture that would dictate the future of Christian Doctrine to this VERY DAY!
Augustine was an avid writer in Latin (he could not read or understand Greek) and literally volumes of his works have been copied and re-copied throughout history and studied in all the leading Bible colleges in the world. The Westminster Confession of faith, framed by the reformers in 1600 England is ENTIRELY Augustinian. Nearly the entire ‘Christian’ world without exception firmly embraces section VI of this Confession that affirms the existence of Original Sin.
One may ask, ‘Can we Not hold to the Doctrine of Original Sin and STILL preach the Gospel of Grace?’
By No Means! The Doctrine itself renders the Gospel ineffective! By Necessity this Doctrine creates a System of lies to support it. Most devastating to the Process of Salvation it Destroys man’s Free Will and turns God into a Tyrant by making Him Demand something we are incapable of Doing! Therefore man’s will is in Vain, unless God’s Wills for him. Thus this necessitates a re-interruption of Scripture. So God CANNOT Render According to each man’s Deeds, Rom2:7, (and all the Prophets affirm!) BUT Chooses whom He wills to be saved and the others damned.
Again, this is Pure 100% Augustinian Hogwash! Blended into Christianity in Fourth Century Rome and handed down to us by the Reformers. Under this System man is Born as a Lump of Sin, morally inept and unable to choose the Right way. (YET all the early Fathers said the VERY opposite!) If he is to be Saved according to this teaching, its IN HIS SINS, NOT OUT of them! So Repentance is null and void, or a mere confession, or agreement with God that you are born a sinner. No Clearing, Zeal, Diligence, Conviction, godly sorrow for sin or Vindication!
God’s Will is then ‘Irresistible’ as His Nature is ‘Immutable’. No Matter what the Bible Shows! Only the Elect will be finally Saved and NOT according to anything they Do or Don’t do. Christ Died for the Elect, NOT the Entire World (as Scripture says!) and No One can question His Wisdom or ask Why.
Here’s a Brief Exert of Augustine’s teaching of Grace:
Quote: This however is certain: our will is in vain, if God doesn´t have mercy on us. But I don´t know how one could say: in vain God has mercy, if we aren´t willing. Because if God has mercy, we are willing. It´s part of God´s mercy that we are willing, for it is God who works in us to will and to do according to his good will. If we ask whether the good will is a gift of God or not, it would be surprising if somebody would dare to negate that. But because the good will doesn't precede the calling, but the calling the good will, therefore it is right to attribute our good will to God who calls us, but it can´t be attributed to us that we are called. The sentence : “it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy” is not to be interpreted as to mean that without God´s help we cannot achieve what we want, but rather that without his call we don´t have the will.
All men are – because, as the Apostle says: “in Adam all die”, from whom as the origin the offence of God spread to all humanity – one lump of sin who deserves to be punished by the highest divine justice. The punishment being executed or being remitted, both is no injustice.
But if anyone is troubled by the fact that nobody resists his will – because he helps whom he wills and he deserts whom he wills – and that the one whom he helps and the one whom he deserts belongs to the same lump of sin, and that, even though both deserve punishment, it´s executed on the one and remitted to the other – if anyone is troubled by that: “O man, who are you to talk back against God?”
How was Augustine, one man, able to pass this off as Christian teaching in his day when it directly contradicts the Bible and is so obviously influenced by Neoplatonist and Manichean thought? HOW is it possible that the Church would accept such statements as man is born as ‘a lump of sin’ or that his will is in Vain, when NOTHING of the sort had ever been taught by anyone before? WHY wasn’t he exposed as a false teacher with his cohorts and banished from the church, rather than adopted into the mainstream and foundation of subsequent doctrine developed in the years to come?
Could it be that the spirit of the age, (the spirit of error, 2Thess2:2-11) being at work in the hearts of men found the PERFECT Vessel in Augustine to introduce the Strong Delusion of error? The Stage had already been set in fourth Century Rome to fully corrupt the early church and get the focus off Repentance, Faith, Obedience and holiness. When Augustine stepped up to the plate Everything was neatly in place for him to spread his Gospel of Sin throughout the Empire. His opponents were few in number and easily eliminated over the preceding years. By the time the Roman Empire finally met its demise, the Heathen and Pagan hordes were setting up shop and craving out a new Empire of their own. The Greek Language fell into obscurity, as did many of the ancient teachings of the Church. But Augustine’s legacy remained intact and as the history entered into the Dark Age of religious superstition his Philosophies brought about brutal wars, persecutions, inquisitions and mass ignorance.
When the Great Reformation came along in the 1500’s, many broke away from the brutal tyranny of the Catholic church, but they DID NOT abandon Augustinian Doctrine! The System they founded was then laced with error and spoiled from the beginning. The Doctrine of Original Sin REMAINED the Foundation Block of Christian Dogma and Continued to Re-define the Message of Repentance and Faith. It has been handed Down to this Very Day and has Rendered the Gospel COMPLETELY Ineffective to Redeem anyone from the Corrupting influence of sin.
The Evidence against Augustine is Overwhelming. He is the VERY SOURCE of the False teaching Deceiving Millions today in the modern churches! If you are Still Compelled to embrace his teachings as Biblical truth, God help you at the Judgment! Coming Out will be of Great Cost to you personally, BUT a
refusal will incur the Greater Condemnation later. It’s your choice to make.
Augustine:
Born a Lump of Sin
No Free Will
God Never Changes, Immutable
Grace only to Elect, God Decides
Just War, Persecution of heretics
Bible:
Born Innocent
Free & Independent Will
God interacts with man, alters His course
Grace to Whosoever Will Come, Died for All
Love your enemies,
(For more Information and further quotes, see: ‘The Myth of Original Sin’, ‘You should rule over it’ and ‘Man in the Shadows’ at: www.standingthegap.org )
DEFENDERS OF THE ORIGINAL SIN MYTH
What is original sin?
http://www.allaboutcreation.org/what-is-original-sin-faq.htm
Original Sin was the decision Adam and Eve made to follow Satan’s blandishments instead of God’s Word (Genesis 3:1-5). From that initial mistake, all other sins have derived, including war, illnesses, diseases, and the wrath of nature we mistakenly call “acts of God” (including death -- the ultimate result of sin in this world) including condemnation, the ultimate result of unforgiven sin in the next world.
With far more grace than Adam, Eve ruefully admitted that the serpent deceived her (Genesis 3:13); she didn’t intend to fall. However, the historical biblical account contains a truth we can’t overlook: she allowed Satan to diminish the distinction between God and humanity so she could be tempted to eat the fruit. Falling to the lie that no unbridgeable difference existed between her and the Creator, she believed that wisdom could be gained where only knowledge accrued. Satan’s continuing success in diminishing God by elevating mortals explains the basis of temptation and the fountain of sin.
Sin is first and foremost rebellion against the God who is different from all His creation (Psalm 51:4).
Is the doctrine of original sin biblical?
http://www.allaboutcreation.org/doctrine-of-original-sin-faq.htm
The doctrine of original sin is the identification given to the concept of the entrance of sin into the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve. God had prepared a perfect place for man and then gave them the gift of volition (the act of practicing free will). Volition comes with responsibility and consequences. God had placed trees in the midst of the garden. Adam and Eve could freely eat the fruit from any tree except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. “But the LORD God gave him this warning: 'You may freely eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of its fruit, you will surely die' (Genesis 2:16-17).
The Hebrew literally says, "dying you shall die." Adam and Eve did not physically die when they ate of the tree but they were spiritually separated from God, which meant an eternal separation -- death. With the choice to disobey God's command came the first sin, and the consequences of that sin was spiritual separation and eventually physical death. Because of their sin, all those who were born into their union were sinners and that has continued to the present. The only offspring that human beings can bring into the world are children with the sin nature and that requires a remedy. God in His grace provided Adam and Eve a covering (Genesis 3:21) made from animal skins as the first picture of the sacrifice that had to be made continually to cover sin looking forward to that day, in the fullness of time, when the promised Redeemer would come (Genesis 3:15).
This doctrine of original sin is cemented in the New Testament through the writings of the Apostle Paul to the church at Corinth. “So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man, Christ. Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, the first man. But all who are related to Christ, the other man, will be given new life” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).
“The Scriptures tell us, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living person.’ But the last Adam -- that is, Christ -- is a life-giving Spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45).
What is being taught here is the "headship of Adam" versus the "headship of Christ." All in Adam are born dead or separated from God spiritually and eventually die physically. However, the remedy for original sin and the consequences of separation are found in the "second Adam"; the Lord Jesus Christ. When the sinner trusts in Christ and in His "once for all sacrifice" then we are "crossed from death unto life." "I assure you, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life” (John 5:24).
The sin of all those who trust in Christ are not just covered, but paid for once and for all. There is no other sacrifice needed to satisfy a just and holy God. The believer's "headship" is changed and we are no longer spiritually separated from God. Because of Christ's victory over physical death in the resurrection, so shall all born again believers receive victory over death in our resurrection from physical death. “When this happens -- when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die -- then at last the Scriptures will come true: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
The question, "Is the doctrine of original sin biblical?” is answered by a confident yes. Our thanks is to God that His love and grace did not leave us in our original state, but gave us an opportunity to use the gift of volition to choose eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Original Sin: Why Creation and Evolution Cannot Coexist in Christianity
“Original Sin” is one of the core theological reasons that a Christian cannot embrace the theory of evolution. Regardless of the scientific issues that now plague the evolutionary belief system, the whole message of Christianity starts with mankind’s fall from paradise into death through Adam’s sin. With evolution, we envision millions and millions of years of death, decay and disease before Adam even came on the scene. However, this picture is not consistent with the “very good” earth created by God. More importantly, as one can thoroughly investigate, death before sin is theologically inconsistent with the rest of Christian doctrine.
Original Sin: An Atheist Evolutionist Got it Right
“Original Sin” and its relation to evolutionary theory was discussed by an outspoken evolutionist, Richard Bozarth, in the American Atheist magazine. The following excerpts come from “The Meaning of Evolution” (September 1979, p. 30):
"Christianity is - must be! - totally committed to the special creation as described in Genesis, and Christianity must fight with its full might against the theory of evolution. And here is why.
In Romans 5:12, we read that “sin entered the world through one man, and through sin - death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned.”
The whole justification of Jesus' life and death is predicated on the existence of Adam and the forbidden fruit he and Eve ate. Without the original sin, who needs to be redeemed? Without Adam's fall into a life of constant sin terminated by death, what purpose is there to Christianity? None.
Even a high school student knows enough about evolution to know that nowhere in the evolutionary description of our origins does there appear an Adam or an Eve or an Eden or a forbidden fruit. Evolution means a development from one form to the next to meet the ever-changing challenges from an ever-changing nature. There is no fall from a previous state of sublime perfection.
Without Adam, without the original sin, Jesus Christ is reduced to a man with a mission on a wrong planet!"
Original Sin: A Genetic Defect we all Share
Original Sin is the genetic defect we all inherited from Adam and Eve. Through this genetic defect we all inherited death -- both physical and spiritual – and were separated from God. Through Jesus Christ, we all have the ability to conquer this genetic defect – sin and death – and be reconnected to God eternally. Paradise was the original state of Adam’s garden on God’s “very good” earth, not millions and millions of years of death, decay, disease, and naturalistic trial and error. Jesus Christ picked the right planet – and thank God for that!
PREDESTINATION
by Shaun Willcock
The biblical doctrine of Predestination is simply this: that God, from all eternity, ordained whatsoever would come to pass in his creation, from its very beginning to its very end. He foreordained all things – including who would be saved, out of the race of mankind.
In our times, professing Christians shrink from this doctrine in horror. “It cannot be!” they cry. “It's a monstrous doctrine! A false doctrine!” Very well, then: let us consider the alternative.
If Predestination is not true; if God did not, before the foundation of the world, ordain, down to the minutest detail, whatsoever comes to pass; then what would we have? In a word – chaos. We would have a universe that operates according to its own laws. We would have a God who (if he exists at all) does not control his own creation.
And it is no good reasoning that God, because he is God, simply knew what was going to occur throughout all ages, but did not ordain all things. For he could only know, if he had ordained all things! It is only the one who has the power to decree, with absolute certainty, what will occur in the future, who can know, with absolute certainty, what will occur in the future.
This universe is NOT a chaotic universe. It is a universe of order, from the smallest object to the largest galaxy in the heavens. Creation is not in chaos. With this, no doubt, most of those who oppose Predestination will agree. “But,” they will then say, “man has a free will. And therefore, although God may control all other events, he has not sovereignly ordained who will be saved, and who will not.”
The trouble with this view is that if just one part of God’s creation does not operate according to divine Predestination, there cannot be any order, or harmony, in the whole. We all know how the most carefully-laid plans can be upset by one small snag which we had not taken into consideration. God is either in full control of all events, or he is in control of none. He cannot control partly. If mortal men can frustrate the purposes of the Lord, then God is not God.
As with all things, the duty of the Christian is to discover what the Scriptures teach. Away with man’s feeble and foolish views and opinions! To the Word of the living God!
Jesus said, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father” (Matt. 10:29). A sparrow is a small bird; and yet, even the falling of a sparrow to the ground does not occur but by the Father’s decree. Such is his sovereign control over his vast creation.
“Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?” (Isa. 40:12). From the expanse of the heavens, to the very dust of the earth: the Lord’s sovereign hand is over all. Nothing is unknown to him. Nothing is left to chance.
When he created the world, he had predestinated all that would ever occur on it. This must be true, if God is God! If any creature has the power to act outside of divine Predestination, then God is not all-powerful. God is then not God.
He is working to a definite, predetermined plan. Any wise master-builder would do the same. Let us not suppose, then, that the all-wise God would work without one! Since everything in the whole of creation was made by him, it follows that everything that comes to pass, does so in accordance with his foreordained plan.
Nations are under his sovereign control: “the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will” (Dan. 4:17). It is God who “removeth kings, and setteth up kings” (Dan. 2:21). “All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity” (Isa. 40:17). It is God who “hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their [the nations of men] habitation” (Acts 17:26): where each nation would dwell, the extent of their territories, who would rule over them at any given time.
But nations are comprised of individuals. And God is in absolute control of all individuals who have ever lived, or who are living now, or who will yet live. In Acts 18:9,10, the Lord spoke to Paul and said, “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.” How could the Lord have said this to Paul, if he had not foreordained whatsoever would occur in that city? It was not only that the Lord foreknew that no-one would touch Paul to harm him; but the reason none would harm Paul was because, as the Lord said, “I am with thee”. Precisely because the Lord was with Paul, controlling all events down to the minutest detail, he could say, “No man shall hurt thee”. Yes, the Lord foreknew; but Foreknowledge and Predestination go hand in hand. I cannot be absolutely certain of what will happen to me tomorrow, unless I am able to control all the events of tomorrow down to the smallest detail. This, of course, I am unable to do (Jas. 4:13-15). But God is in full control of tomorrow; and not only of tomorrow, but of every day that is left until this world ends, and of eternity beyond.
Pilate said to Jesus, “knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?” To which the Lord replied, “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above” (Jn. 19:10,11). Yes, the Bible plainly teaches that everything that takes place in the whole of creation, does so because of divine Predestination. And we cannot raise our voices in feeble protest and say that this is true of everything except the matter of who shall be saved.
Even the fall of man was part of God's plan. This is clear from at least two facts. First, the Scriptures speak of the death of Christ as being “foreordained before the foundation of the world” (1 Pet. 1:18-20). When Adam sinned, he did not catch God off-guard! His fall did not startle God, forcing him to hastily formulate the plan of redemption in Christ. No! If the death of Christ was foreordained before the world began, then it is clear that even the fall was part of God’s plan. Oh, let it be plainly understood: God is not the author of sin. Yet he did permit sin to enter the world. If he had not permitted it to enter the world, it could never have done so.
Second, the Scriptures tell us that God “hath chosen us in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world... having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself” (Eph. 1:4,5). Quite obviously, then, if God, before the world began, actually chose some of mankind to salvation in Christ, the fall of man into sin was part of God’s plan.
The Lord has NOT left salvation to man’s “choice” – an act of his “free will”. This is something the Bible makes abundantly clear. Salvation is NOT the choice of man, it is the GIFT of God. And it is a gift that is not given to all, but to those whom the Lord elected unto salvation from eternity.
“For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Rom. 9:15). Does he have mercy on all? No; for vs.18 says, “whom he will he hardeneth.” Pharaoh was one whom the Lord hardened (vs.17; see also Exod. 7:3). Some are “vessels of mercy”; and some are “vessels of wrath fitted to destruction” (Rom. 9:22,23); men, in the inspired language of Jude, “ordained to condemnation” (Jude vs.4).
Do you rebel against the Word of the Lord, reader? I tell you, this doctrine is true, whether you like it or not. It is true, regardless of your opinion about it. Some rage against this plain truth with all the malice that is in them; but all their rage does not alter it.
But here let me add this: this doctrine is NOT a monstrous one. ALL have sinned – not so? (Rom. 3:23). ALL are dead in sins from their mothers’ wombs (Psa. 51:5). There is none righteous, no, not one (Rom. 3:10). God is not the author of sin. MAN sinned against God. HE rebelled.
Out of a world of sinners, God saves some. He saves those whom he elected in eternity. Is this unfair? Not at all. Man sinned! God does not take good men, and make them evil. ALL are sinful! And from a world of sinners, the Lord saves some. This is not unfair. Since man rebelled against God, God was under no obligation to save any. He was not duty-bound to save a single human soul. He is free to do what he wills with his own. He could have saved all, or none, or some. He elected to save some. Is this unfair? No. He would have been entirely just to leave all to die in their sins, and drop into hell. The fact that he saves some, is an act of his grace and mercy alone. If he had saved all, his mercy would have been displayed; if he had saved none, his righteous wrath would have been displayed; but he elected some to salvation, thereby revealing his mercy towards them, and showing his wrath in the damnation – the just damnation – of the rest (Rom. 9:22,23).
Predestination must be rightly understood. God does not take a righteous man, and make him unrighteous, so that he can damn him. God originally made man upright; but they sought out many inventions (Eccl. 7:29). MAN rebelled against God. All that God does, is he leaves already-wicked men to go on in their wickedness, following their own lusts, until they die. He withholds the grace which alone can save them; grace, let it be remembered, which he is under no obligation to bestow upon any.
Nor must it be thought that, if a man cries out for the Lord to save him, the Lord will not do so if he is not one of the elect. Oh, how men have stumbled at this point! They have this picture in their minds of a poor, wretched sinner, broken-hearted over his sins, crying out to the Lord for mercy and pardon, and the Lord refusing to extend mercy to him because he does not happen to be one of the elect. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Word of God says, “whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). If any broken-hearted sinner calls upon the name of the Lord, he will be saved (Rom. 10:13). However, the only ones who ever truly call upon the Lord are the elect! This, too, is plainly taught in God's Word. Jesus said that he that comes to him will always be received; but in the same breath he had declared, “ALL that the Father giveth me shall come to me” (Jn. 6:37). And a little later: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him” (vs.44).
If a sinner, conscious of his dreadful state, truly calls upon the Lord to save him, that sinner is one of the elect. No others will ever truly come to him.
But does this truth make man a robot? Not at all. It boils down to this: if all are dead in their sins, then unless God gives life to some, none will ever live. How can a dead man choose life? Impossible! One who is dead cannot “decide” to live. So with the spiritually dead. They cannot “decide” to live. But when, in regeneration, God gives life, then they are able to see what they were never able to see properly before. They see their own vileness, and they see the beauty of Christ; and willingly, without any compulsion, they flee to him for salvation. God first gives the will to come; and then they come freely.
Is there any need to preach the Gospel, then? Absolutely! For “it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1 Cor. 1:21). “Go,” said the Lord, “and preach” (Mk. 16:15). This is the God-ordained way. The doctrine of Predestination is not a hindrance to evangelism; it is a spur to it. Preaching is the means the Lord uses. And he who understands this is the one who will be the most zealous in evangelism.
Predestination is not a monstrous doctrine! If Predestination were not a fact, NO MAN would ever be saved! Rather than being a dreadful doctrine, it is a most glorious one. Every true child of God has reason to praise the Lord that he was predestinated unto eternal life. Since all men are absolutely dead in sins (Eph. 2:1), heaven would not have one human soul in it if it were not for God’s predestinating some unto eternal life. Those who are elect, are elect only because of God’s good pleasure, and not because of anything in themselves; and thus they can only praise him for his grace. And those who die in their sins cannot accuse God of unrighteousness; for they were not forced to sin.
Without divine Predestination, the universe would be chaotic, not one soul would ever be saved, and God would not be God.
The TULIP
is Not the Only Flower in Scripture!
by Shaun Willcock
You will not find tulips mentioned in the Bible. But TULIP is a very useful acronym, and it stands for the five doctrines which together comprise what are known as the Doctrines of Sovereign Grace. Here are the doctrines of the TULIP:
T stands for Total Depravity;
U stands for Unconditional Election;
L stands for Limited Atonement;
I stands for Irresistible Grace;
P stands for Perseverance of the Saints.
This acronym is most helpful. It enables one to remember these beautiful and scriptural doctrines. Man is totally depraved, dead in trespasses and sins; but God, in eternity, elected a vast number of mankind to salvation, and did so unconditionally, meaning His election was not conditioned on anything foreseen in men, but was by His free grace alone; Christ died only for the elect, and so in this sense His atoning death was limited; each one of the elect is drawn, by God’s irresistible grace, at the appointed time, to Christ for salvation; and the elect, having been saved by the Lord, never again are lost, but persevere to the end.
These are precious truths; scriptural truths. And let me be quite clear: I love these doctrines of grace as much as anyone. I love them, I preach them, I believe in them with all my heart. But the TULIP is not the only flower in Holy Scripture! And as precious and important as these doctrines are, there is almost (I say it with caution) an over-emphasis on the doctrines of grace in some circles today. I do not mean that the false doctrines of man’s supposed “free will” – the doctrines known as Arminianism – have any validity, for they are false and ought to be firmly opposed, and the scriptural truths known as the doctrines of grace ought to be fully and frequently proclaimed; but I mean that, as important as these scriptural truths are, they are not the only doctrines in the Bible, and yet in some circles they are being treated as if they are. More is being written about them, and more is being said about them, than any other scriptural doctrines, by those who reject Arminianism. Judging by the volumes of literature being churned out on the subject, one is left to assume that many preachers and writers are under the impression that there are no other doctrines in the Bible! Or at least, that there are no others worthy of their notice.
But the fact is that the five doctrines which are known as the doctrines of grace are not the only doctrines in the Bible! And there is a great danger, into which many have fallen, of thinking that the proclamation of these doctrines is the proclamation of “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27); that these five doctrines are essentially all there is to “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints,” for which we must contend (Jude 3). This is a great mistake with serious consequences, but tragically it is one which many are making. There are many who can wax eloquent about the doctrine of Election, who are unable to properly expound or explain or defend such doctrines as (to name just a few) Justification, or the Trinity, or Christ's eternal Sonship – all of which are doctrines just as important as the doctrine of Election!
The “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) is not the TULIP! Many people are so busy studying this TULIP, dissecting it, exclaiming about its beauty, etc., etc., that they do not fully see “the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys” (Song of Sol.2:1)! The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys – a rose for His beauty and His blood, and a lily for His whiteness or purity – and certainly He is the centre of the doctrines of grace; but there is so much more to be known about Christ than is revealed by the doctrines of grace! And yet so many seem to want to hear nothing more, learn of nothing more, than these five doctrines! Many who can speak eloquently of the doctrine of Election can say little about such glorious truths as the divine and human natures of the One who is “altogether lovely” (Song of Sol.5:16), “fairer than the children of men” (Psa.45:2); or about the names and attributes of the thrice-holy God; or about the relationship between the three divine Persons of the Trinity; or about the Incarnation of Christ; or about His active and passive obedience; or of His ministry as Prophet, Priest and King; or about Justification by His imputed righteousness; or about the vital doctrine of Sanctification. They can say little about these and many other precious truths, because they have not been taught: the books they read, and the magazines, and the sermons they hear, are full of Predestination and Election, but devoid (for the most part) of other biblical truths. Christ Himself is “the plant of renown” (Ezek.34:29), and yet to hear many speak, one would think they believed the TULIP acronym to be this plant.
Yes, the TULIP is a very important “flower” in Holy Scripture, but there is much more to Scripture than this TULIP. Consider the following, to put it into perspective:
For clarity’s sake, Christian Theology is divided into various branches. One of those branches is what is called Systematic Theology. However, Systematic Theology itself consists of various branches: for example, the doctrine of the Bible; the doctrine of God; the doctrine of Christ; the doctrine of the Holy Spirit; the doctrine of Creation; the doctrine of Sin; the doctrine of Salvation; the doctrine of the Church; the doctrine of the Last Things. It can readily be seen, then, that the doctrine of Salvation is just one of the branches of Systematic Theology. But this doctrine, in turn, consists of various branches; and the doctrine of Election is just one of those!
Thus, Election is one part of the doctrine of Salvation, which in turn is one part of Systematic Theology, which in turn is one part of Christian Theology.
As Ronald Cooke, in his book, Understanding the Sovereignty of God: Paralysis or Power? correctly says: “When one looks at the whole gamut of theology it helps him to keep a better perspective of the various branches of theological studies and see how they are all interrelated. Rather than emphasizing, all out of proportion, one small area to the exclusion of all others. He aims for a full-orbed theological system. In fact, this is the value of the study of theology. Not to go out on some limb and chop it off; but to get some perspective of the vastness of the subject, by which we crucify the tendency to monomania, and keep a balance between theory and practice.” (pg.28).
Now, it is certainly true that not all aspects of theology deserve equal emphasis. What the Bible says about angels, for example, while of course very important, is not something that needs as much emphasis as what the Bible says about how sinners can be saved from their sins; and thus, although the doctrine of Salvation is only one branch of what we call Systematic Theology, it certainly deserves far greater emphasis than certain other doctrines, vitally important though they all are. And the doctrines of grace are most definitely a part of the doctrine of Salvation, and therefore ought to be emphasized far more than certain other doctrines. But, as stated above, the doctrines of grace are, nevertheless, only parts of the doctrine of Salvation, and the other parts need equal emphasis – but tragically, are not getting it in the books and magazines and even sermons of the day! What do Christians, knowledgeable about the TULIP, know about the other great doctrines of the faith?
And then there is the doctrine of God Himself, in His three Persons: this is a doctrine which deserves immense emphasis at all times, for it is the LORD who saves us, and false views about the Lord will lead inevitably to false views about salvation. And yet, why is it (for example) that a man can deny the doctrine of the Eternal Sonship of Christ, and yet be received as orthodox by many, because he happens to hold to the doctrines of grace? I will tell you the reason: it is because so many who can wax so eloquent on the doctrines of grace are thoroughly ignorant of the doctrine of the Eternal Sonship of Christ – a truth that is absolutely vital to proper views of the Trinity, and therefore of salvation itself!
You can’t pick and choose, brethren! You can’t spend all your time studying the doctrines of grace, and yet remain ignorant of so many other precious and vital doctrines of the faith! The TULIP is not the totality of Scripture! This is not knowing, or holding to, “the whole counsel of God”! It is merely latching on to one aspect of divine truth and saying, in effect, “I understand this, I love this, and I’m satisfied with it. I'm content. I’ll delve no deeper.”
There is an abysmal ignorance in our day among professing Christians about so many aspects of biblical truth – so many doctrines of God’s Holy Word. The teachers are often not moving much beyond the doctrine of Election, and the flocks are often under the mistaken impression that if they understand Election, they understand all that really matters. How wrong they are! And how little they really know!
More emphasis is being given to the doctrines of grace today than to many other important doctrines of God’s Word – including ones which are just as foundational to the faith! My brethren, these things ought not so to be!
Election is NOT the entire Bible! And for this reason it should NOT be virtually the only doctrine which men preach, or delight in. The Lord Jesus Christ gave this commission to His servants: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt.28:19,20). Paul said to the elders of Ephesus, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). The doctrine of Election is found on page after page of the New Testament, but even so it is not the only doctrine found there, and while it must be taught, and taught often, and taught fully, it must not be taught solely!
As important as it is, the TULIP is certainly not the totality of biblical doctrine, and those who desire to speak, or hear, about little or nothing else reveal that they are doctrinally shallow and spiritually immature. The Bible is an inexhaustible mine of truth, and the children of God should delight in searching out its manifold treasures, and not confine themselves solely to certain favourite topics, no matter how important and precious these are.
