| IN SHORT... Jews do not believe in the existence of Original Sin. The concept of Original Sin simply states that because Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they brought Death into the world. Every human being dies because Adam and Eve committed a sin, and for their sin, all humans are punished with death. However, the Bible describes something entirely different. Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden because if they remained, they could eat the fruit of the Tree of Life, which would make them IMmortal. If Adam and Eve had to eat the fruit of the Tree of Life to become IMmortal, then they were created mortal to begin with. They did not bring Death into the world, and we don't die because they sinned. As a matter of Biblical fact, the answer to Question One shows that one person cannot die as the punishment for the sins committed by another. We die because Death is a natural part of existence, and has been since from the moment the first human beings were created. That is why God told the animals, before Adam and Eve ate the fruit from The Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil, to be fruitful and to multiply, since they needed to replace themselves. God also told the same thing to Adam and Eve before they ate that fruit as well. |
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FULL EXPLANATION... The Christian concept of Original Sin is
that since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, all human beings are born
not only with a tendency to sin, but they are also born with the guilt of Adam
and Eve, and for this guilt, all human beings die (see I Corinthians 15:21-22).
In other words, Adam and Eve brought death into the world as a result of their
sin, and because of this sin, all human beings die.
This is simply UnBiblical. The Biblical text tells us that Adam and Eve were not removed from the Garden of Eden because they sinned. (Please note that the first time the Bible uses the term, "sin," it is NOT in reference to Adam and Eve, it is in reference to the jealousy of Cain against Abel in Genesis 4:7.) Rather, Adam and Eve were removed from the Garden of Eden because there was another tree in the Garden from which God did not want them to eat. That tree was the Tree Of Life.
But think about this logically! If Adam and Eve had to eat the fruit of the Tree Of Life to become IMmortal, then God made them mortal to begin with. Adam and Eve were created in such a way that Death was a natural part of their existence, from the moment of their Creation!
The Biblical text of Genesis 3:22-24 tells us that Adam and Eve were almost like God and the Angels. They were almost like God and the Angels because they knew the difference between Good and Evil. Both God and the Angels know the difference between Good and Evil, but both God and the Angels are IMmortal as well. Because Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit of The Tree Of the Knowledge Of Good And Evil, they, like God and the Angels, knew the difference between Good and Evil. However, Adam and Eve were not yet IMmortal because they had not yet eaten from the Tree Of Life. Therefore God separated Adam and Eve from the Tree Of Life by kicking them out of the Garden. This means that Adam and Eve did not bring Death into the world! We Human Beings do not die because of their sin, we die because God made Death a part of life from the moment of Creation. There is no such thing as Original Sin!
And the Etrnl God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the Tree Of Life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Etrnl God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the Tree Of Life. [Genesis 3:22-24]
Remember also that no one else can die for your sins. This is discussed in Question 1. This means that even if one believed that Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden (which they didn't), their descendants cannot die, and do not die, for the sin of Adam and Eve.
Copyright held by Rabbi Stuart Federow 2003
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