[lit-ideas] Re: The Problem of Evil
- From: JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2006 14:15:17 EST
But the Christian notion of original sin isn't just that the sins of the
fathers are visited upon the children. It's that when the original sin was
committed, it fated all of mankind to bear the quality of sinfulness ... sort
of
like a DNA thing. Judaism asserts that each individual from the beginning
of time has a choice to sin or not to .... that they are not inherently
tainted with the inability to not sin. My question to my local rabbi friend
has
always been, if every single human has had the choice not to commit evil, why
has not one single one chosen that.
Julie Krueger
========Original Message======== Subj: [lit-ideas] Re: The Problem of
Evil Date: 3/9/06 11:31:01 A.M. Central Standard Time From:
_andreas@xxxxxxxxxxxx (mailto:andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx) To:
_lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx) Sent on:
> ... the question of original sin. Christianity teaches it, Judaism
refutes it.
The christian idea of "original sin" is based on the concept of
"generational curse" (or
"generational punishment.") In modern society, a man robs a bank, he goes to
jail (well,
actually, he becomes a White House appointee to Iraq). In biblical times, he
would be
punished, and his family as well for the next seven generations. The sons of
sons of the
sons would be punished for the errors of the grandfather.
Classical China had this as well. If someone was found guilty of a crime, he
would be
executed, along with all male sons over the age of 16, and the females and
under-age sons
would be turned into slaves and given the military. The family estates would
be confiscated,
and if the crime was severe, the ancestor shrines would be destroyed and the
bones of
ancestors disinterred and exposed to the weather.
The most extreme example of generational punishment is of course the
christian god's curse
on humanity: all of Adam's offspring (all humans) are collectively punished
for Adam's
error.
So, to refute orignal sin, one only needs to remove the idea of generational
punishment. Why
should I be punished for an act by somenone else? We don't accept
generational punishment
anymore, so the idea of original sin has no basis as well.
yrs,
andreas
www.andreas.com
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