Questions for Advocates of Inherited Sin
1. Why did Jesus never teach that man was depraved or blamed mans sin on Adam? Rather he always held each man responsible for his own sin.
2. If every newborn is "utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil", then
How do we account for the goodness of the "unregenerate" like Cornelius, Acts 10:1-4, 22, or anyone else today?
- How do we account for all the good things that non-Christians do?
- "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse" (2 Tim. 3:13). If they are already totally depraved, how can they get any worse?
3. Why is the Greek word "sarx" (English=flesh, Mistranslated "sinful nature" throughout the NIV) which Calvinists say teaches the inherited depraved sinful nature of man, also used in scripture of Jesus in Heb 2:14; 1 Pe 4:1; 3:18; 1 Jn 4:2?
4. Why would Jesus not inherit the guilt of sin and depravity from his mother Mary?
5. If Mary was "conceived sinless" so that Jesus would not get inherited sin then:
Wouldn't Jesus' brothers and sisters also be born without inherited sin?
- Wouldn't all the children of Christians today (wholy depravity has been removed) be born without inherited sin?
- If we can inherit the corrupt nature of our parents, then why can we not inherit the righteousness of our parents?
- If God could conceive Mary without sin, why did He not simply conceive Jesus without sin?
6. Then there are those who would say that inherit depravity is passed from the father and therefore that is the reason for the virgin birth. Needless to say, the Scriptures do not say the reason for the virgin birth was so Jesus could escape having a sinful nature. The Bible is clear it was to be a "sign." Some people would even make the meaning of "virgin" as referring to a "young woman." If this is a sign that a young woman is pregnant, then this sorry sign is happening every minute of the day. We are told in Isaiah that the miracle is a "virgin would conceive." Now that's a sign!
Supposedly since original sin passes through the man only and not the woman, thus the reason for virgin birth, if this were true, then why does the favorite proof-text of those that teach original sin say, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps. 51:5)?
Which is it? Is inherited depravity from the mother or the father?
7. What is the difference in "nature" between Adam before his sin, Mary who was "immaculate," Christians who have their depravity removed, and Jesus?
8. If baptism removes the depraved nature of man, then why does he continue to sin afterward?
9. If a depraved man has Christ and is said to now be a partaker of the divine nature, why does he continue to sin afterward?
10. If Adam became depraved only after he sinned, then why did he sin before he was depraved? We sin, it is said, because we are "wholly inclined" towards evil and "utterly indisposed" towards good. That may explain why we sin, but why did Adam sin? Adam was totally hereditarily righteous, yet he still sinned!
11. If Adam choose to sin while dead to sin, may we not also choose to do right while dead in sin?
12. If "non-elect" infants do not die in infancy (as E.K Garrett, primitive Baptist taught, using Job 21:7 as his proof text) then were all the babies killed in the flood and in Sodom and Gomorrah elect and predestined to be saved?"
13. In Romans 7:9, Paul (representative of people in general) was alive before sin came, but then he died. How is this possible if people are totally depraved since birth? (cf. v11)
14. Some people obey God's word when they hear it because they have a "good and honest heart" (Luke 8:15). How is this possible if they are totally depraved?
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