Am I my brother’s keeper? Recently someone asked, “why do good people have to suffer?” I replied, “Because of original sin.” To which they said, “I know that, but why do I have to suffer when it was Eve who ate the apple, and not me?” The answer to this question is neither straightforward nor fulfilling. First off, the fall was not the result of Eve, because the covenant was made through Adam. Recall that when Eve ate the apple nothing happened, but when Adam ate the apple, the whole world fell apart. But that aside, Adam and Eve only committed one sin; how many have you committed? Besides, if we refuse our share of the sin of the first Adam, then we are also denying salvation of the second Adam.[1] This all began because Adam failed to do what he was created to do – till and keep the garden.[2] And as descendants of Adam, we must all answer for his negligence. Why? Because we are all mystically and inextricably linked and whether we… Read More »Post #12
Sin
(NOTE: This is chapter four of my book “The Sinner’s Survival Guide“) Temptation I was hounded by temptation for most of my life. I resisted it plenty of times but many other times I gave into the temptation. But it didn’t matter. Whether I resisted or not, I always felt guilty. Guilt from temptation is something I struggled with greatly. For example, I used to read Mathew 5:28 in a very self-condemning way: But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Taken at face value, to me this meant that if I even looked at a woman and noticed she had hair like my wife’s or had a pretty dress or face that that was it! I’d sinned. I was doomed. It was as plain as anything – I looked at a woman, noticed something particular about her and because of this I was going to hell. I could have just gotten out of the confessional, simply looked at a woman… Read More »Temptation