Original Sin and the Seventh-day Adventist Church

“Original sin,” like “Trinity,” is not a biblical but a theological term. Yet, it expresses what most Christian theologians believe is a biblical concept. The universality of sin is clearly stated in Scripture: “‘There is none righteous, no, not one.’ . . . For all have sinned” (Rom. 3:10, 23).1 An additional proof is the fact that all persons are subject to death, the penalty for sin (6:23). But what is meant by original sin? Is it simply Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden?

The Intensiveness of Sin

The Bible generally defines sin as an act (1 John 3:4). However, a great number of texts in both the Old Testament and the New Testament refer to sin as a state, or tendency of the heart. David in Psalm 51 expresses the thought that he was born a sinner, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Ps. 51:5). Not that his mother did anything wrong in connection with his conception or birth; she was an honorable woman, but he recognized that he was born with a sinful nature. The same thought is expressed in Psalm 58:3, “The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.”

The New Testament is even clearer and more emphatic on these matters. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks of the inward disposition as evil (Matt. 5:21, 22, 27, 28). To the Pharisees he said: “‘Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks’” (Matt. 12:34). Thus, sin is an act and a state into which we are born, because of Adam’s sin (Rom. 5:12).

The only sinless human being in Scripture is Jesus. Of Him alone we read that He “knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21), that He was “separate from sinners” (Heb. 7:26) and that no “guile was found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22, KJV). Thus, He could be the lamb “without blemish and without spot” (1:19).

Total Depravity

“Total depravity” is the phrase used to describe the comprehensive effect of sin. It does not mean that human beings are as bad as bad can be, or that there is no trace of goodness left in them. The word total simply refers to the fact that the whole person is infected with sin; no part is exempt. Their entire body is affected by sin (Rom. 6:6, 12; 7:24; 8:10), their mind or reason is also involved (Rom. 1:28; 2 Cor. 3:14, 15; 4:14), their soul and  emotions have been perverted (Rom. 1:24–27; 2 Tim. 3:2–4). Finally, also the individual’s will is affected by sin. The unconverted person does not really have a free will; he or she is a slave to sin (Rom. 6:17).

The Doctrine of Original Sin in History

In the history of Christianity, three views dominated the history of the doctrine of original sin: (1) The Pelagian View: Adam transmitted neither corruption nor guilt to his descendants. He simply was a bad example. All incurred eternal death by sinning after Adam’s example; (2) The Augustinian View: Adam transmitted both corruption and guilt to his descendants; (3) The Arminian View: Adam transmitted corruption but not guilt to his descendants.

The Doctrine of Original Sin in Adventism

The fledgling Seventh-day Adventist Church was reared in the New England context and was initially influenced by the idea that sin is not viewed as a state, but solely as an act, original sin was identified only as Adam’s sin.

Early Adventists believed that our sinful nature was acquired more by imitation than by inheritance, for it is not sin or guilt that the head of the race passed on to his children but simply death, and a dying nature.2 Ellen G. White, however, from the 1880s on, clearly identified it with the inherent natural depravity of the heart. “Because of sin his [Adam’s] posterity was born with inherent propensities of disobedience.”3 And “There is in his [man’s] nature a bent to evil, a force which, unaided, he cannot resist.”4

Following Ellen G. White’s lead, E. R. Jones, a minister from Healdsburg, wrote, “‘By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners’ (Rom. 5:19). None will deny that this refers to the inherited depravity, the sinful nature and tendency in which, through disobedience, every single soul of Adam’s race is born.”5

Our Present Position

The book Seventh-day Adventists Believe explains: “The human heart’s corruption affects the total person. . . . David said, ‘Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me’ (Ps. 51:5). And Paul stated that ‘the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God’ (Rom. 8:7, 8). Before conversion, he pointed out, believers were by ‘nature children of wrath,’ just like the rest of humanity (Eph. 2:3).”6

Furthermore, we are told, “Although as children we acquire sinful behavior through imitation, the above texts affirm that we inherit our basic sinfulness. The universal sinfulness of humanity is evidence that by nature we tend toward evil, not good.”7

Thus, we inherit a sinful nature (SIN) which, unless checked by the Holy Spirit, entices us to commit individual acts of transgression (sins). The clearest expression of the hereditary nature of our innate sinfulness is found in Psalm 51:5 (see above). The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary observes concerning this text: “David recognized that children inherit natures with propensities to evil (see Job 14:4; Ps. 58:3; PP 61, 306; MH 372, 373; GC 533). He did not seek to excuse his sin, but sought to stress the still greater need of God’s mercy because of his inborn tendency to do evil (see PP 64).”8

Sin as Separation From God

The underlying cause of our sinful state (our original corruption) is our separation from God. The first action of our first parents after their first sin was to hide (Gen. 3:8). And humankind has followed in their footsteps ever since. Through the Fall, the close fellowship which Adam and Eve had enjoyed with their Maker was destroyed. In sinning human beings broke their relationship with God.

Adam and Eve’s removal from the Garden of Eden was symbolic of that broken relationship. From then on, they had to exist distant from God. And every human being, except one, has been born into this state of separation from God. Therefore, “babies die, not because they have actually sinned or are punished by God, but because they are now part of this alienation from the source of life. All men are born self-centred, not God-centred.”9 As any parent knows, children are by nature selfish, everything belonging to them and revolving around them; children have to learn to share, to be altruistic in their actions. As Heppenstall pointed out: “Original sin is not per se wrong doing, but wrong being. So, there is a causal connection between the first sin of the first man and the self-centredness of his posterity. The consequence of Adam’s sin was total. Accordingly, original sin is a state of the whole self in relation to God. It is never simply a physiological or biological problem. Trying to locate sin or the transmission of sin genetically simply misses the real problem. The issue is a spiritual one and not something in a gene. Sin is not transmitted genetically from parents to children.”10

The last part of this quote makes an important point. SIN is a spiritual problem, not a physical defect, though our physical degeneration is certainly one result of Adam’s sin. But “bad habits and practices are developed, they do not come via the genes.”11 Whatever inherited character defects we may have, like death they are the result of the Fall—the outgrowth of our separation from God. Our sinful nature is located primarily in our mind, not in our bloodstream. Thus, Ellen White wrote: “In order to understand this matter aright, we must remember that our hearts [minds] are naturally depraved, and we are unable of ourselves to pursue a right course.”12 In another place she wrote, “Through sin the whole human organism is deranged, the mind is perverted, the imagination corrupted. Sin has degraded the faculties of the soul. Temptations from without find an answering chord within the heart, and the feet turn imperceptibly toward evil.13

The most important effect Adam’s sin had was humanity’s separation from God. Cut off from the tree of life, man’s physical nature began to die. Cut off from the presence of holy beings, humankind’s spiritual nature (mind) became deranged. Human beings became self-centered and proud (“the pride of life,” 1 John 2:16); their eyes, which had beheld the glory of creation, now showed them what they desired to own and to control (“lust of the eyes,” vs. 16); and because of the close interrelationship between body and mind, the natural drives like sex and appetite turned into the unnatural perversions of the flesh (“lust of the flesh,” vs. 16). Death, sickness, and our corrupt and depraved nature are all the results of humanity’s separation from God.

Early Adventists identified original sin only with Adam’s transgression. Ellen G. White’s writings from the 1880s on slowly directed the church’s view toward a more biblical understanding. By the end of the century, it was recognized that Adam’s legacy was not simply physical mortality leading to the first death, but also spiritual depravity, because of the separation from God, deserving the second death.

Seventh-day Adventists today generally define sin as a lack of conformity to the will of God, either in act or state. They believe that children are born with a sinful, depraved nature as a consequence of Adam’s sin and the resulting separation from God. This sinful state means that if a baby dies a few hours after birth he or she is subject to the second death, even though he or she has never broken any commandment.

The term “original sin” is used by Adventist authors “not in the sense of inherited guilt, but of an inherited disposition to sin. It goes back to an original source, the sin of Adam and Eve, the first parents of the human race.”14 For the sake of clarity and to avoid confusion, I suggest that we use the term “original sin” for the Augustinian concept of imputed guilt and corruption; and the term “original corruption” for the state of sin into which each member of the human race is born.

While some believe that sin is only a wilful or negligent violation of God’s will, Scripture shows that sin is also a state into which we are born (original corruption). This sinful state will remain with us until the Second Coming, though by God’s grace we can overcome every temptation to sin.

The study of original sin and corruption should lead to a greater awareness of our need of Christ’s righteousness—that we need a Savior the day we are born, not only after we have transgressed God’s law.

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references in this column are quoted from the New King James Version of the Bible.

2. J. N. Andrews, “Institution of the Sabbath,” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 16:1–2 (May 29, 1860): 10.

3. Letter 8, 1895, reprinted in F. D. Nichol, ed. Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1978), 5:1,128.

4. Education, 29.

5. E. R. Jones, “In the Flesh,” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 67:1 (January 7, 1890): 2.

6. Seventh-day Adventists Believe (Silver Spring, Md.: Review and Herald, 2018), 103, 104.

7. Ibid., 104.

8. F. D. Nichol, ed., “Psalms,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1954), 3:755.

9. Edward Heppenstall, Salvation Unlimited: Perspectives in Righteousness by Faith (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1974), 12.

10. __________, The Man Who Is God (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald, 1977), 122.

11. Ibid., 124.

12. Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 544.

13. The Ministry of Healing, 451.

14. Heppenstall, The Man Who Is God, 107.