Shmuel Silberman
A fundamental doctrine of
Christianity is Original Sin. This is the belief that all people inherit a
condition of depravity from the sin of Adam and Eve. Man is a slave to sin,
cannot reach holiness by his actions, and must be "saved" from
inherent damnation. Writes Dr. Brown, "We believe that by nature, we are
hopelessly prone to sin, and thoroughly entangled with sin (Answering Jewish
Objections To Jesus, Volume Two, p. 198)."
This contradicts the
Jewish belief that man is born innocent and and can live a G-dly life by fulfilling
His commandments (mitzvot). Brown's task is to demonstrate that Original Sin is
a Jewish idea from the start.
Brown is correct that (a)
humanity has an internal tendency toward sin and that (b) this tendency is
inherited from the sin of Adam and Eve. He is also right that it is easier to
follow the evil inclination than the good inclination. At issue is whether
Jewish Scripture teaches the concept of Original Sin maintained by
Christianity. What are the supposed Biblical sources for Dr. Brown 's thesis?
Brown cites Psalms 51:5
which reads, "Behold, in iniquity I was fashioned, and in sin my mother
conceived me." Psalms 51 is King David's expression of remorse for his
indiscretion with Bath-sheva. He is not exonerating himself. He is pleading for
mercy on account of the impulse to sin that is passed on to each child at
birth. He does not say that his sin was inevitable or that he is consigned to
sin generally. The same King David said, "Be happy in G-d, and rejoice O
righteous. Cry out in joy, all upright of heart" (Psalms 32:11)."
Clearly King David believes righteousness is within reach.
After the Flood in Noah's
time, G-d declares, "I will not continue to curse again the ground on
account of man, since the inclination of the heart of man is evil from his
youth" (Genesis 8:21). Dr. Brown cites this as a proof text, but it is
not. The reference to "youth" is because children are predominantly
selfish until they mature. Maturity coincides with the development of the good
inclination, at which point Man is considered responsible and possessing free
will. Job 11:12 says, "man is born a wild mule" but adults can do
better.
Proverbs 20:9, we are
told, reflects Original Sin. King Solomon says, "Who will say,' I have
cleansed my heart, I have purified myself from sin'." Brown ignores 20:7,
which reads, "He who walks in innocence is righteous, fortunate are his
sons after him." How do the two verses interrelate? An honest person can
find a misdeed in his past. However, innocence and righteousness are not
fictional.
Dr. Brown cites Jeremiah
5:1, which says, "Walk about in the streets of Jerusalem, see now and
know, and seek in its squares; if you find a man, if there is one who practices
justice and seeks truth, and I will forgive her [the city]." No man is
subsequently "found." Ignored by Brown is Psalms 79:2, which
describes the siege of
Another verse from
Jeremiah (13:23) is cited as evidence of Original Sin: "Can an Ethiopian
change his skin, or a leopard his spots? Can you who are accustomed to evil do
good?" This is clearly an exaggeration, meaning that change requires
serious effort. Anyone who believes there are no exaggerations in Scripture he
will have great difficulty understanding it. In light of Jeremiah's statements
in every chapter that the people are to correct their behavior, a missionary
reading of this verse is unjustified.
The genealogy of Adam's
offspring confirms Original Sin, in Dr. Brown's view. While Adam is created by
G-d in His image, Adam (after his sin) begets Seth in Adam's image (Genesis 5:1-2).
Supposedly, the Divine image was negated, or at least overwhelmed, by Original
Sin. The implication of these two verses is ambiguous, and is hardly the basis
for any doctrine. It makes more sense to explain 5:1-2 to mean the opposite:
Seth partakes of the same Divine image of his father. This fits into the words
and is consistent with the entire Biblical view of the dignity of mankind.
Omitted by Dr. Brown is
Genesis 6:5, which says (after the Flood!) that the image of G-d is the reason for
the prohibition of murder.
Dr. Brown admits there
are saints, but they are exceptions that prove the rule: "Of course it is
possible to point to outstanding moral individuals, such as the Chafetz
Chaim...[but] Why do men like this stand out in their generation? (p. 205).
The example of the
Chafetz Chaim actually works against Dr. Brown. Surely he would maintain that
the Chafetz Chaim also inherited Original Sin. How, then, does even one
individual become saintly? The question becomes stronger considering that the
Chafetz Chaim never accepted Jesus, the only one believed to be capable of
redeeming a person from sinfulness.
Missionaries will never
accept one Chafetz Chaim, or even billions like him, as evidence against
Original Sin. They would insist that as great as the Chafetz Chaim was, he must
have had one slight flaw. Brown quotes from King Solomon, " There is no
righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins (Ecclesiastes
7:20)." The missionary assumption is that unless one attains absolute
perfection (which he cannot), all is lost. Brown should read the verse again.
It says, "There is no RIGHTEOUS person..who never sins." The person
who does a sin is still righteous!
One of the verses most
devastating to Original Sin is Genesis 4:7, where G-d tells Cain that he can
overcome temptation. Cain is envious of Abel because G-d accepts only Abel's
sacrifice. Cain is tempted to murder Abel. G-d says, "if you do not do
good, sin crouches at the entrance. Its desire is for you, but you can rule over
it."
G-d's majestic statement
of man's ability to overcome evil is brushed aside by Dr. Brown, and his answer
is terrible: "But it is one thing to overcome a particular sin. It is
another to be free from the grip of sin in general (p. 193)." If Cain can
free himself from this sin, why can't he free himself from any sin? Also, what
is meant by "the grip of sin in general"? If he means that no one is
51% righteous, this is manifestly not true. Must one be 70% righteous (or 80%,
or 90%) to transcend "the grip." Perhaps Dr. Brown believes that a
99% righteous person is under "the grip of sin", but would he justify
a teacher who failed a student with a 99 average?
This belief that absolute
perfection is required is the real backbone of Original Sin, as Dr. Brown
admits that people can do much good. What is the Scriptural proof that only
perfection earns G-d's favor? There is none whatsoever. It can be asserted only
by a faulty reading of Deuteronomy 27:26. It says, "Cursed is one who does
not uphold (yakeem) the words of this Torah to do them." Since no one
fulfills Torah with total perfection, all are damned and require
"salvation." This missionary interpretation cannot make sense of the
eleven curses (applied to eleven specific sins) that appear before this verse.
If 27:26 sets a curse for any single violation of Torah, the eleven prior
curses are totally superfluous (Samuel Levine).
Missionaries also make a
subtle but devastating grammatical error. While y'kayaim means to fulfill,
yakeem is a different construct meaning "cause to stand up",
"confirm", "uphold". This verse is not saying that unless
one fulfills Torah flawlessly, he is cursed. One who does not accept the
mitzvot, in whole or in part, fails to "uphold" the Torah, but the
commission of a specific sin is not the subject here. This reading is faithful
to the grammar and is totally consistent with Torah's frequent injunctions to
choose good and make amends for wrong behavior. The missionary viewpoint paints
G-d as an anti-Semite who curses
At no point does Dr.
Brown attempt to integrate the verses he cites with the many hundreds of verses
that stress free will, the opportunity to do good and amend wrongs, and
descriptions of righteous people who earned G-d's favor. Let us cite only one
of them: "It is not in heaven, to say 'Who will go up for us to heaven,
and acquire it for us, and teach it to us, and we will do it?' Nor is it across
the sea, to say 'Who will cross the sea, and acquire it for us and teach it to
us, and we will do it?' For the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and
in your heart, to do it (Deuteronomy 30:11)."
Dr. Brown provides not a
single verse to support Original Sin. There is also no support that one must be
a perfect individual to earn G-d's favor. Original Sin was unknown before
Christianity, not because ancient Jews did not read carefully but because
Original Sin is not in the Hebrew Bible at all.