We are all born in sin. THAT IS Christianity 101.
Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psalm 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
Original sin is not taught in the Bible anywhere. That idea is generally credited to a
uninspired men and popularized by other
uninspired men as Calvin.
I cited Romans 4:15; 1 John 3:4 and Romans 7:8-9 which disprove the idea of OS making the idea of OS impossible. According to how the
Bible defines sin from just these 3 verses, for a person to be a sinner requires a law for if there is no law there is no transgression (Romans 4:15). It then requires a person to transgress that law for sin to exist (1 John 3:4). And only accountable, intellectually mature people who have learned right from wrong are capable of sinning, Deuteronomy 1:39; Romans 7:8-9:
Romans 7:8-9 "
For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died."
Paul says without law sin was dead, it has no power and Paul points out there was a time in his life when he was "
without the law" meaning there was a time that Paul, being "
without law", sin was dead to him, it had no power over him that time being when he was an infant/small child. As he intellectually matured learning right from wrong becoming accountable to God's law (Isaiah 7:15-16)
THEN sin sprang up in him later in his life
not at birth.
Notice how Paul uses the terms "alive" and "dead" in the verse referring to his spiritual state. He was born spiritually
ALIVE having been born without sin, born sinless, pure, innocent and was "without law" hence sin was dead to him as a infant. Yet as he mature intellectually learning right from wrong becoming accountable to God's law
THEN he sinned (then sin sprang up) and he then
DIED spiritually.
IF OS were true, the Paul would have been born spiritually DEAD and remained in that spiritually dead state until he became a born again Christian. Yet his going from being alive to dead easily refutes OS (It also refutes OSAS since it claims that it is impossible to go from spiritually alive to spiritually dead). OS tries to make one a sinner before one even sins, a logical, Biblical impossibility.
Neither verse you cite from Psalms say David was born a sinner nor would they contradict Romans 4:15; 1 John 3:4 or Romans 7:8-9.
Your first problem is Psa 51 speaks about
conception while Psa 58 speaks about
birth. Conception and birth are two distinct points separated by about 9 months. If one is conceived a sinner per Psa 51 then one cannot be born a sinner per Psa 58 because he already is a sinner. Yet if one is not a sinner till birth then he cannot be a sinner at conception. Pressing for literal language in these two verses causes a clear contradiction.
Again, the language David uses in both Psalms is poetic and
highly figurative so care must be taken not to place a wrong interpretation upon them.
Look at the language in Psalms 58:3-6, can new born babies go about 'speaking lies"? No. Are they born with teeth v6 or is David talking about literal lions v6? Since infants are compare to poisonous snakes should they be killed so not to spread their 'poison'? Note the verse says "they go astray" it does
not say they are born astray. Going astray shows personal culpability not how one was passively born against his will. Genesis 8:21 says culpability comes at "youth" not at birth.
Job 31:17-18 does this passage mean Job LITERALLY was helping orphans and widows from his birth? No, he could not help himself at birth. Job is figuratively pointing out that his life in general from his youth was characterized by helping widows not that he was literally born helping them. Likewise David is saying from his youth he began to sin and move away from God, utter lies and things he should not say, etc. Note again in Job 31:18 how Job uses a Hebrew parallelism in paralleling his "youth" to his birth/mother's womb. Hence Job is speaking about what he did from his youth paralleling it to his birth as is David. Psalms 139:14 David is NOT praising God for making him a vile, reprobate lost sinner. Albert Barnes, a Calvinist who believed in OS says of this verse "
Strictly speaking, therefore, it cannot be shown that the psalmist in this declaration had reference to the whole human race, or that he meant to make a universal declaration in regard to man as being early estranged or alienated from God; and the passage, therefore, cannot directly, and with exact propriety, be adduced to prove the doctrine that “original sin” pertains to all the race - whatever may be true on that point."
Likewise with Psa 51 using highly figurative language. Can hyssop purge sin v7? No. Contextually David is seeking forgiveness for his OWN sins ("
MY transgressions") not for sins he supposedly passively inherited from other people at birth against his will, Psalms 51:1
The OT clearly shows sins are not inherited (Ezekiel 18:20) just as righteousness is not something inherited. Verses I cited from the NT above also make OS an impossibility. Again, since the language is highly figurative one must take care with interpretation placed upon the verse. I know someone personally who took collegiate level courses in Hebrew and asked the Hebrew Professor about this verse. The Professors response is David was talking about the sin of his mother:
--in sin my mother conceived me
--in a drunken rage a husband beat his wife
Who was in the drunken rage? the husband. Who was in sin? the mother.
Since David was confessing his sin with Bathsheba, some commentators think David was speaking from the viewpoint of the illicit child of David's that Bathsheba gave birth to...in sin of adultery the mother, Bathsheba, gave birth to the child.
My personal idea is David is figuratively speaking about his being conceived in a world full of sin. The Bible speaks of the world being a wicked sinful place and David was conceived in sin, that is, conceived in that sinful environment, he was shapen in a wicked environment. The Hebrew word used here in Psalms 51:5 "in iniquity" is also found in Genesis 19:15 "
And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city." This does
NOT mean Lot inherited the sin of the city but that he was in an environment of iniquity and is being told to leave that sinful environment of the city else be consumed in that wicked environment.
Of course if Psa 51 proves OS, then Jesus would have been born with OS, Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 2:17; Philippians 2:7-8
(sorry for such a long post)
