The Complete History of Mankind

We have reviewed the first two great biblical doctrines of inspiration of the Bible and the divinity of Christ. The other great Bible doctrines are based on these.

In this chapter we begin to study the next three great Bible doctrines together because they form a set:

• The Doctrine of Original Goodness
• The Doctrine of the Fall of Man
• The Doctrine of the Restoration or Reconciliation of Man to God

These three doctrines could be summarized as follows: In the beginning God created the universe and man to be good. Man disobeyed God and consequently was separated from God and made subject to suffering and death, along with all creation. Since then, God has acted in human history in a dynamic way in order to reconcile man to Himself through Jesus Christ.

Original Goodness

The first of this set of three is the doctrine of original goodness, and it is found in Genesis chapters one and two.

Man is created in the likeness of God. This explains his potential and ability for doing what is good, creative, etc. It also explains why the most evil of people have some good. For example, Hitler was a painter, and terrorists love their families. Man's basic character begins as good.

Man is God's partner in the management of creation and he is good at it. So man's purpose and work are good.

Man is given a moral code in order to define his limits. This moral code gives substance to his relationship with God. Man has free will but was not free to disobey God; this is the limit of his freedom. The ethical code given to man awakened the conscience part of his being and provided the perspective as to the difference between himself and God.

We have heard of the saying, "I think therefore I am" (René Descartes). Well, the reason I think is because God gave me the ability to choose. The ability to choose provides the moral tension that enables man to experience self-awareness and a primary experience of God.

A perfectly suitable partner was given to man in order to share in the joy of life and management of creation. Mankind's life and enjoyment was good.

The biblical view of man is that he was designed as a holy, godly being and his task was to choose (as a conscious act of his will) to remain good, holy and obedient to God. Without this ability he is like the animals, aware only of himself, but not of God.

This, then, is the third major doctrine of the Bible: the doctrine of original goodness of man.

• He was created to have a relationship with God.
• He was created with the ability to manage creation and produce a society.
• He was created with the capacity to choose good and avoid evil.
• He did not just know God's will, he had the ability to do it if he chose to.

The Fall of Man Through Sin

The fourth major doctrine of the Bible, and second in our subset of three, is man's fall from grace through sin.

The original position of Adam and Eve at creation saw them having an intimate relationship with God as well as a perfect natural, emotional and spiritual balance between themselves, the creation and their creator. This prefect balance was destroyed when they fell through their disobedience to God.

Through deception and seduction woman and man are tempted to disobey God, and they do. God's command establishes what is right and wrong, violating His will constitutes sin and always has negative consequences. This, in essence, is the substance of the fourth great biblical doctrine. Man has been given the ability to choose and choosing to obey will result in maintaining his position. Choosing to disobey will result in a fall, and this fall is the subject of this doctrine.

Note how this passage describes the results of their fall:

• Rebellion (disobedience)
• Shame (hiding)
• Anger (this woman you gave me)
• Loss of innocence and love (defensive attitude)

In addition to these, note the unbalancing of the social, natural and emotional order that existed between God and man, man and woman, and man and creation. This disruption ultimately resulting in physical and spiritual death.

The doctrine of the fall of man through sin is mirrored throughout the entire Old Testament: Cain and Abel, the sinfulness leading to the flood, the cycle of destruction that follows the Jewish nation throughout history; all reflect the fall of man through sin.

Misinterpretation of Major Doctrine

The fourth major doctrine has been misunderstood and improperly taught to the point that entire doctrinal systems have evolved around the incorrect application of its core ideas. One teaching that misrepresents the doctrine of the fall of man is the doctrine of "Original Sin."

Original sin

This doctrine was originally formulated by Augustine, a 4^thcentury theologian, who mixed Christian doctrine with Greek philosophical ideas. He taught that Adam's fall produced two things:

1. A human nature which was unable by itself to choose good or to respond to God in faith. This idea, later developed by Protestant thinkers (Calvin/Presbyterianism) as "total depravity" said that without the direct intervention of the Holy Spirit a person was not able to obey God.
2. The second idea Augustine promoted was that original sinfulness and its condition of moral helplessness was passed on (or imputed) to every descendant of Adam. In other words, every child born afterwards was not only born guilty of Adam's sin, but helpless to do anything about it.

After a time, several practices grew out of this false thinking:

Infant baptism and baptism for the dead

Those who accepted this idea of original sin reasoned that if people were born guilty, they were then condemned at birth and needed to be saved immediately. They also reasoned that if you could impute (pass on) guilt, you could also impute faith. The idea was that if Adam's sin transferred to you, it seemed reasonable that your parent's faith could be transferred to you as well in order to save you.

From here it was easy to conclude that if you, as a baby, could be saved without being conscious of it, you could also be saved after you die (i.e. baptism for the dead).

Another false idea that grew out of this incorrect interpretation of the doctrine of the fall of man is that of predestination/arbitrary election.

Predestination / Arbitrary Election

The doctrine of total depravity created a problem. If one was unable to respond to the gospel because sinners were too depraved to do so, how could one be saved? In answer to this question Augustine, and later some of the Protestant Reformers, taught that God chose, in advance, those who would be lost and those who would be saved. The rationale was that since you were helpless to choose or obey, the only way to be saved was if God arbitrarily chose you for salvation.

Now another question that arises at this point is, "If God chooses me, how do I know that I have been chosen?" Evangelicals (Baptists, Community Churches, etc.) see God's choice of themselves for salvation by observing the progressive improvement of their moral character as a confirmation that one has been chosen. This is why there is a "watch and see" period before baptism, and why they teach that baptism is not essential for salvation (you have already been chosen, baptism is only a symbolic ritual).

The idea of "once saved, always saved" comes from the teachings on original sin. After all, if God chooses you, you cannot refuse (irresistible grace) and you can never fall (once saved, always saved).

Charismatic and Pentecostal churches see the ability to speak in tongues as the sign of election by God. It is the way they know and are sure of God's choosing of them.

The teaching of the incorrect idea of original sin was a departure from the biblical doctrine of the fall of man. It said that by his fall, Adam spread the guilt for sin to all men. It said that because of this guilt, man became unable to choose correctly (depraved) or to respond to God in faith. It taught that God arbitrarily chose some for salvation and others for condemnation; and once the choice was made, nothing could change it.

Eventually this led to modern religious groups looking for signs of improved moral living or special spiritual gifts as an assurance that they were the chosen. This is why Evangelicals say, "I accept Jesus as my Savior." They accept because they cannot choose. Roman Catholics respond to this doctrine by baptizing babies. Since babies cannot save themselves, the parents save them based on their transferred faith.

We will examine these departures again later, but for now let us go back to our discussion of this set of major doctrines.

The first two doctrines in this set of three teach us about man's original goodness when created, and the consequences of his fall through the sin of disobedience.

The second doctrine (fall through sin) has been used to establish a variety of other doctrines such as original sin, total depravity and election, as well as certain religious practices like infant baptism.

However, in its original form, the doctrine of the fall of man simply explained that from the beginning man had the power to choose right from wrong, and even after the fall, continued to have this ability, even if it was weakened by a sinful nature. This is where we, in the Churches of Christ, differ from most Protestants and Evangelicals.

The Bible clearly teaches the idea that each is responsible for their own sins:

It is the individual's sins that condemn him, not those of others.

The gospel appeals to man's intellect and requires a choice based on faith. Something only an adult can do. Baptism is a ritual that expresses obedient faith.

God requires that all men be saved, not just a few, not just those chosen for this.

Man still has the capacity to accept or reject Christ. His spiritual destiny is in his hands where God originally placed it at the creation. Christ died for all men and all those who believe in Him, repent of their sins and are baptized will be saved (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 2:37-38). Man's spiritual destiny is in his own hands.

Summary

If we could read the Bible in one sitting, we would note how naturally and seamlessly these three great doctrines follow each other. The first two describe and explain man's original goodness followed by his sin, his fall and the consequences of these. The third major doctrine in the set explains the wonderful story of how God restores man to Himself (restoration of sinful man).

The word reconciliation means to bring into harmony or to re-align. The history and the method that God used in reconciling man with Himself after the fall is what the rest of the Bible is about and the subject of the fifth major doctrine (and the third in this set of three).

This reconciliation between God and man is explained in the ten sub-doctrines of:

1. Election (biblical)
2. Predestination (biblical)
3. Atonement
4. Redemption
5. Regeneration
6. Adoption
7. Justification
8. Perfection
9. Sanctification
10. Salvation

The next several chapters of this book will be a study of the sub-doctrines that explain God's plan and purpose in reconciling fallen mankind to Himself.

We will look back at what these mean, why God did it this way and how these impact our Christian lives.