The document explores the concept of 'original sin' as presented by Augustine and Calvin, framing it as a foundational worldview rather than merely a doctrinal stance. It critiques the 'toxic infection' model of original sin and contrasts it with alternative views, particularly emphasizing personal agency and relational dynamics in understanding sin and redemption. Ultimately, it advocates for a 'creation gospel' that redefines the problem space away from a focus on sin towards the inherent goodness and purpose of creation.

1. Radical Humanism
& Evangelism
Part 3: Original sin?? Did
Augustine lead us on the
wrong path?
Radical Humanism
& Evangelism

2. “Original sin”
A worldview not just a doctrine
2
Hamlet “We are arrant knaves all – crawling between heaven and earth”

3. “Original sin”
Origins in Augustine…
3
Confessions – Chapter 8
I was bound by the chain of my own will. The enemy held fast my will
and had made of it a chain and had bound me tight with it. For our of
the perverse will came lust, and the service of lust ended in habit,
and habit, not resisted became necessity. …. The chain of sexual
desire by which I was so tightly held and the slavery of worldly
business.
How can there be such a strange anomaly? ..the will commands itself
to will yet what it commands is not done. But actually the will does
not will entirely; therefore it does not command entirely…this is
actually an infirmity of the mind…

4. Calvin turns up the heat
4
Calvin Institutes Book II chapter one
The heavenly image was obliterated (in Adam) …he also entangled and
immersed his offspring in the same miseries. This is the inherited corruption
which the church fathers termed ‘original sin’….therefore good men
(Augustine above the rest) labored to show us that we are corrupted not by
derived wickedness, but that we bear inborn defect from our mother’s
womb. … therefore all of us, who have descended from impure seed are
born infected with the contagion of sin. In fact, before we saw the light of
this life, we were soiled and spotted in God’s sight.
Adam by sinning, not only took upon himself misfortune and ruin, but also
plunged our nature into like destruction. … he infected all his posterity with
that corruption.
Thus when Adam was despoiled, contagion crept into human nature. Hence
rotten branches came forth from a rotten root, which transmitted that
rottenness to the other twigs….

5. “Original sin”
The ‘toxic infection’ model behind the doctrine
5
Allied Doctrines
Confession ritual & practice
Cycle of altar calls/ asceticism
Sanctification as ‘detoxification”
Implied Anthropology
Misanthropy
Sin defined diagnosis of behaviours
Mistrust of motives, agency
“No good thing…”

6. The competing theories of sin -
Built on the same worldview….
6
Augustine/Calvin
Original Sin =
Toxic Infection model
Pelagius/Julian
Free choice =
“God judges you for
your sins…”

7. The great debate:
Original Sin v ‘Free to choose’??
7
Augustine/Calvin Pelagius/Julian/Celts
Gap? Large – Morality as the
unit of measure
Small – Emphasis on image of God
Attributes as unit of measure
Creation
Theory
Emphasis on Gen 3 Fall v
Goodness of creation
Emphasis on Goodness of creation v
Fall
Anthropology Depravity emphasised
over image of God
Image of God emphasised over
depravity
Choice Depravity must mean ‘not
free to choose’
Babies die & go to hell
Retained image must mean we are
free to choose.
Babies not condemned
Augustine/Calvin feared that ‘free to choose’ opened the door to salvation by
works or merit. Hence the nasty alliance that developed between grace on the
one hand and hard line predestination on the other hand.

8. Sin based gospel
How it frames the gospel – into a corner
8
Makes ‘sin’ the problem space for the argument – the starting
point of any evangelical conversation
Real consequences for SRE – have the critics got some justice in
their claim that the sin based gospel is a form of abuse??

9. “Original sin/sin” emphasis
It cripples the Faith/work movement
9
A sin based gospel turns our public contribution into ‘audit
police’ of the universe…. We are a one product line company – we
need to grow our revenues
Companies want innovation but are
structured for the status quo – and so can’t
innovate
How do we collaborate across silos?
Our customer service is terrible – call
centres just use scripts and it shows
Management needs to be turned upside
down – it is too command and control
(hierarchy)
Complexity of information is overwhelming
us
Will machines and computers destroy more
jobs than they create

10. “Original sin”
The anthropology of the two natures
10
Two warring parts of me – ‘flesh/sinful nature’ and ‘spirit’
Distorts and confuses reading of Romans/Galatians
Most occurrences of ‟sinful nature” have become ‟flesh.”
Especially in Paul, Sarx can mean either part or all of the human body or the human
being under the power of sin. In an effort to capture this latter sense of the word, the
original NIV often rendered sarx as ‟sinful nature.” But this expression can mislead
readers into thinking the human person is made up of various compartments, one of
which is sarx, whereas the biblical writers’ point is that humans can choose to yield
themselves to a variety of influences or powers, one of which is the sin-producing
sarx The updated NIV uses ‟flesh” as the translation in many places where it is
important for readers to decide for themselves from the context whether one or both
of these uses of sarx is present

11. “Original sin”
The anthropology of the two natures
11
Platonic model not a Christian one (borrowed from Egypt??…
“Of the nature of the soul, let me speak
briefly and in a figure of speech – a pair of
winged horses and a charioteer.
Now the winged horses and the
charioteers of the gods are all them noble
and of noble breed, but those of other
races are mixed.
The human charioteer drives his in a pair;
one of them is noble and of noble breed,
and the other is ignoble and of ignoble
breed, and the driving of them of necessity
gives a great deal of trouble”

12. An alternative paradigm…
The “Lost Office” model
12
1 Covenant (or systemic) view of reality
Individuals live in systems – God ordained
modality of life (Authority zones)
A System is a set of relationships working
towards a higher goal
What if the core relationship is withdrawn?
(Like ‘gravity’ being withdrawn from cosmos)
2 Core relationship sustains life and
goodness
Withdrawing the relationship withdraws life
Broken relationship is
irrevocable like a smashed vase
Solidarity model completes the
analogy
Like the ambassador acting on
behalf of the family/community

13. 13
Romans 5 is critical to the ‘Lost
office’ model & our view of sin
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death
came to all people, because all sinned—
13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s
account where there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of
Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the
one to come.
15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much
more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the
many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed
one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will
those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life
through the one man, Jesus Christ!
18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act
resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man
the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made
righteous.
20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased
all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to
bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

14. How Romans 5 changes original sin
14
“Sin” is conceived in terms of
relationships/conversations not
properties of an individual
(from ontology to function)
Death is inevitable & inherited =
“God judges you for Adam’s one sin…”
“Lost Office”
Adam lost the CEO job for the
earth/cosmos (Ps 8)

15. How Romans 5 positions Christ & grace
15
“Life” is conceived in terms of
relationships/conversations
WITH GOD – “Righteousness” =
Right relationship NOT
Internal purity/holiness
Eternal life is inevitable & inherited =
“God glorifies you for Christ’s one act of obedience…”
“Regained Office”
Christ won the CEO job for the
earth/cosmos (Ps 8) that Adam lost
The “Lost Office” view of sin radically reshapes/enlarges our view of Christ and grace

16. This takes us back to the two trees in
the Garden
16
We were
‘condemned’ to live
under the rule of
morality –
knowledge of good
AND evil not
knowledge of evil…
Framework of
opposites through
which we look at all
reality…
‘Tree of life’ has no
opposites … Life does
not understand an
opposite like ‘evil’ (God
cannot be tempted by
sin, or cannot tempt
anyone with sin. James
1:13)
We lost the ‘tree of life’
– cannot comprehend a
‘life based/ life infused
paradigm of creation
and reality

17. So we live in the reign of death –
Ichabod = ‘system of corruption’
17
“Life” in garden of Eden held the promise of ‘eternal life’
but not the actuality…
Adam and Eve had the potential for eternal life… but they
lost it
So we have the experience and the domain of ‘life without
life’ (death with the promise of eternity = human
condition)
In Biblical terms we have lost ‘glory’ – ie eternal life
inhabiting and ruling created life
God’s character and qualities inhabiting creation…
This is far bigger than moral redemption… it is
the redemption of space and time. How does
‘eternal life’ inhabit and govern
‘change/variety/ matter….

18. The ‘Glory Gap’ v the Morality Gap
18

19. 19
Augustine Pelagius/Julian/Celts
Gap? Large – Morality as the
unit of measure
Small – Emphasis on image of God
Attributes as unit of measure
Creation
Theory
Emphasis on Gen 3 Fall v
Goodness of creation
Emphasis on Goodness of creation v
Fall
Anthropology Depravity emphasised
over image of God
Image of God emphasised over
depravity
Choice Depravity must mean ‘not
free to choose’
Babies die & go to hell
Retained image must mean we are
free to choose.
Babies not condemned
Creation gospel today
Large - mortality is unit of
measure
Emphasis on frustrated
purpose of creation
Image of God foreshadows
incarnation
It’s a dance…
The great debate:
Creation gospel offers a third way

20. Creation thinking reframes the gospel – into a
much bigger space
20
The ‘reign of death’ becomes the problem space for the
argument – the starting point of any evangelical conversation

21. How we might frame the ‘problem
space’ of the creation gospel?
21
The Universe is framed by purpose and meaning – in fact by love
Humanity is unique and special – distinct from animals and all else in creation
– not just an animal and we differ from animals in kind not just degree
Creation’s purpose is challenged by the death and corruption
Jesus recapitulates or defines all reality and meaning and purpose in himself –
he is king of creation and the answer to all of our questions.
We believe that mind is greater than matter – we are not mere chemical
compounds, although that is a key part of us; the emergent property is ‘mind’
or ‘spirit’.

22. How the Bible frames the problem
space? Isaiah…
22
Isaiah 55 - Thirst and hunger: “Come all you who are thirsty, come to the
waters; and you who have not money come, buy and eat. Come buy wine
and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is
not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me
and eat what is good – and you will delight in the richest of fare”
Isaiah 55 – The glory/knowledge gap; “My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and my ways are not ways” declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts.”
Isaiah 59 – Justice and the system broken: “So justice is driven back, and
righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty
cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found and whoever shuns evil becomes
a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased, that there was not justice. He saw
that there was no-one, he was appalled that there was no-one to
intervene…so his own arm achieved salvation”

23. “Design” becomes the new theology
23