Deep Dive into Christian Theology by Millard J. Erickson - The Source of Sin

Several theological perspectives presented in the sources explicitly deny or significantly move away from the traditional concept of innate human sinfulness or depravity.The view associated with Harrison Elliott directly denies that humans are sinful by nature. Elliott argues that humans are a-moral at birth and that sin is not innate but learned, defined as excessive, ruthless, competitive struggle.Frederick Tennant's perspective denies the doctrine of the historical fall from original righteousness. He posits that sin arises from inherited animal impulses from humanity's evolutionary past. These impulses were not originally sinful, but their persistence and resistance to moral development after the rise of moral consciousness became sin. Sin is thus the misuse of inherited tendencies rather than innate depravity from birth.Paul Tillich rejects a literal historical fall and denies that nature changed from good to evil at a moment in time. He states that actualized creation and estranged existence are identical. While humans exist in a state of estrangement, sin is the personal act of becoming estranged through free and responsible actions at every moment, distinct from inheriting a state of sinfulness from birth.Finally, Liberation Theology defines sin primarily as social, political, and economic oppression. By emphasizing that problems and "sins" result from inequitable distribution of power and wealth that determine human behavior, this view shifts the focus away from an internal, innate condition as the primary source of sin.These perspectives contrast with the inclusive biblical teaching presented, which affirms that human beings since the fall are sinful by nature and have an inherited bias toward sin ("the flesh").Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv-reformed-theologianPatreon: patreon.com/edi_reformed