But before addressing Mr. Hutchinson’s comments, I would like to make obvious why Bible apologists are doomed to failure in every instance. 1Cor 2:14 states, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” This verse is really saying that you have to get into a particular mind-set, a certain mentality and then you will see the Bible as the Word of God. That is circular reasoning. This is tantamount to saying, “If you accept it as true, you’ll see it is true and if you see it is true then you’ll accept it as true.” All I can say to that is since Christianity teaches that all humans start out life as natural men and are born unsaved, how then is it possible for ANYONE to understand the things of the spirit and become ‘born again’ while in this natural state? The only possible answer is that God grants people spiritual knowledge through divine intervention. But that is equivalent to saying that it takes a miracle from God for one to believe in God or Jesus. (Christians in the minority have a doctrine for that and it is called “predestination” confirmed by over one-hundred verses.) If that is the case, then those who are spiritually ‘undiscerned’ and who think themselves to be believers or ‘born again’ as they prefer to call it were actually pre-selected by God to believe in him and had no choice in the matter! In other words, man cannot become saved by his own volition by mere belief but only by God’s whim. Perhaps there are trillions upon trillions of people (past and present) who accepted Jesus by their own volition but were not pre-selected by God. How would one know? What a dilemma! If God is a perfect God, then we would have to lean toward the righteous side of him and appreciate the fact that he will not tolerate sin from the people that he wants to associate with and he gives his “elect” the ability to be sinless. Therefore, sinless perfection can ONLY be achieved by predestination by God. If man chooses Jesus by his own free-will, he will continue to sin. How many people live sinless lives? Allow me to prove my point. 1Jn 3:8-10 states, “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” This verse flat out claims that a person born of God will NEVER commit sin – NEVER, NEVER, NEVER! The first seven verses of 1st John, Chapter One describes God as light and all who believe also walk in the light. Having laid out that premise, verses 8-10 completely reverse what was just written in the previous seven verses which causes me and most other rational thinkers to believe that it is an interpolation to facilitate another agenda. Obviously nothing is more despicable to God than so-called Christians (or anyone) who sin. One only has to read the third chapter of Revelation to figure that one out. If someone considers God sacred and holy, why on earth would they dishonor him by sinning? Such hypocrisy can only be met with contempt and damnation by a holy God! Also Jesus said you must hate your brother (Luke 14:26) in order to be his disciple which contradicts the last sentence of 1Jn 3:10!
Some (actually most clergy) would claim that all of God’s rules (commandments) were not meant to be followed but were put in the Bible to prove to all of mankind that there is no way to “earn” your way into Heaven and that it is impossible to obey God’s laws but for the propitiation to be found in Jesus. There is no basis for that assumption to be found in the Bible. Apologists will say that 1Jn 1:9 will cleanse you of all sin following conversion to Jesus, but if you continuously commit the same sins over and over and over again, and who among us does not do this, (even Mr. Hutchinson admits to this) how can there be forgiveness? Where is the repentance? The Bible tells those who choose to believe that at the very least repentance must display an inward repugnance to sin necessarily followed by the actual forsaking (not doing) of it. In light of 1Jn 3:8-10 clearly stating that those of God CANNOT sin, of what use is 1Jn 1:9 following conversion? No clergyman will tell you that 1Jn 1:9 is meant for the purpose of “blanket absolution” because you insult a perfect being every time you repeat a sin. There can be no saving faith without true repentance. Therefore I am of the opinion that there are very few people on this earth who are true “repenters” and Matthew certainly proves my theory correct when you read these words: “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Mt 7:14). I don’t know what your definition of “few” is, but I venture to say it is far less than the 1/3 of the world’s population who claim to be Christian! By any definition, “few” couldn’t be more than two or three out of one-thousand and that’s probably being generous because a casual reading of Mt 7:14 indicates that few (in the sense of throughout all time) achieve life. Given this, I can confidently say that there is no way to appease a perfect God in any way, shape or manner, either by our own device or by substitution unless God “picks” you and removes sin from your life thereby totally negating free-will.
The crux of the matter boils down to this and is a quote from Dennis McKinsey, author of Biblical Errancy, Prometheus Books: “In summary, then, Scripture clearly shows that predestination is an inseparable part of biblical theology. Interestingly enough, according to the Bible no Biblicist is a Christian because none abide in Christ. Since none abide in Christ, how anyone can ever be saved becomes a logical question. Why can't people abide in Christ? Because everyone commits anti-social behavior, or what Biblicists refer to as sin, and that excludes them summarily: Obviously, then, no one has ever been born of God since all Biblicists continue to sin, regardless. Until someone can demonstrate sinless perfection, abiding in Christ remains illusory.”
Having said all this, let us get down to what Mr. Hutchinson wrote. The first point I would like to make is Mr. Hutchinson’s entire article is based on a premise that has absolutely no foundation. He assumes that Adam was a real person! There is no proof that there was an Adam. Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman in their book, The Bible Unearthed, The Free Press, 2001, through archaeological investigation prove beyond any doubt that not only did Adam not exist, but neither did Moses nor the whole Exodus thing! Putting that aside for the moment, Mr. Hutchinson states, “Because of that first sin, Adam experienced spiritual death. By this, we mean that his relationship to God was severed.” Oh, really? Where does it exactly say that except in the minds of the disillusioned? How can one differentiate physical death with spiritual death by what is said in the context? How could one actually know if he was spiritually dead? Mr. Hutchinson further writes, “Adam’s sin separated him from God and destroyed the relationship that he had with God. As a consequence, everyone since Adam has been separated from God and that includes us today.” To say that Adam and by association all of his progeny are spiritually dead is naive speculation; not even sanctioned by God himself! Certainly God spoke to Cain after he murdered his brother. Did Cain offer a sacrifice or an act of contrition to merit a conversation with God? Did Moses? Did David? Did Abraham? Did Elijah? Did Jacob? Did Noah?
Mr. Hutchinson goes on to say, “Any person may petition God to enter His rest. Each person has the opportunity at any time in his life to seek out God and reestablish that original relationship first enjoyed by Adam.” That is certainly true if one believes in God and is in fact vouched by many Old Testament verses. I must logically ask then, of what need is there of Jesus other than to create a new religion that reaps more money for a new breed of fat-cats than anyone could realize? A reading of Acts clearly demonstrates how a lazy clergy fleeced the wealth of their followers – that is nothing less than Communism - and isn’t it convenient for modern-day Christians that the practice isn’t followed today?
Mr. Hutchinson further states, “Once he ate the fruit, Adam knew that he would no longer live forever.” How could Adam know that? He did not have any concept of death that was revealed in Scripture. In any event, if Christians believe (and they do) that spiritual AND physical death resulted from Adam’s indiscretion, that has to be a good thing. Could you imagine what this world would be like if nothing ever died? There’s barely enough food to support those living now; how would it be possible to feed the trillions and trillions and trillions of humans and animals that never died? Where would there be room to live? If animals didn’t die, we’d all have to be vegans. What a horrifying thought!
Mr. Hutchinson must get over his “preacher” ways and stick with facts. The only facts he has to go on are contained in a flawed book replete with hundreds and hundreds of contradictions. He states that I am confused by the disparity of Gen 1:29 and Gen 2:17 but it is he and those of his ilk that are confused. Hutchinson and all apologists in general introduce that word “context” when they are lost and attempt to confuse the uninitiated. The fact is Gen 1:29-30 clearly states, “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Surely the Garden of Eden was created before the conclusion of the sixth day but the chapter ends with no mention of a forbidden tree. Since the seventh day is a day of rest, Chapter 2 makes absolutely no sense. God had to expound on his previously inspired word? God created the Garden of Eden on his day of rest and in that garden, planted the forbidden tree? God created woman after he created Adam and the garden? (Gen 1:27 clearly states that man and women were created simultaneously.) The disparity between Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 would indicate TWO AUTHORS which I don’t doubt, but Christians certainly do. Chapter 1 says Adam can eat of every tree; Chapter 2 cites an exception. This is a contradiction and any attempt to reconcile it would be an act of desperation doomed to failure.
I stand by every statement I made in my original article despite Mr. Hutchinson’s ineffectual protestations. Original Sin is a ruse perpetuated by people afraid of "real" work whose sole purpose was to create a new religion in order to live a life of ease. Christians freely admit that without the concept of Original Sin, there would be no need for redemption, thus no need for a savior, thus no need for Jesus. “Reformed” ex-father Peter Martyr said that “Were this Article of faith (Original Sin) be taken away, there would be no Original Sin; the promise of Christ would become void, and all the vital force of our religion would be destroyed.” In retrospect and much to the joy of modern day exploiters the creators of Christianity proved to be very brilliant men; they created a problem that only their new-founded religion could solve. It’s like a doctor cutting off your arm so he can save you by reattaching it! Do not forget for one minute that the very concept of Original Sin comes ONLY from the New Testament Bible itself. Christianity offers to solve a problem of its own making! Forget the fact that redemption was in your own hands before the Christian “forgers” came upon the scene! Dan Barker puts it well in his book, Losing Faith in Faith, FFRF, 1992 when he writes, “What is more joyful, ‘I am guilty but forgiven,’ or ‘I was innocent all along?’ Sin is an insulting lie. It keeps people subservient. Even Jesus was supposed to have said, ‘They who are not sick need no physician.’”
Like so many aspects of Christianity, the notion of Original
Sin is not even original to Christianity. Indeed other religions that
predate Christianity espoused the entire Garden of Eden episode
complete with talking snake and expulsion from a garden.
