Origin of Sin Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Origin of Sin - Thesis Example It is not always that people come up with one agreed upon explanation on the origin of whatever they were trying to address. For again, it is human nature to disagree, and this explains why there are very many views that try to explain the origin of a single phenomenon. There are those who believe that the world was created, while others believe that it evolved. Every side of the debate is backed by what they believe to be irrefutable evidence to back their claims. The same applies to the debate that surrounds the origin of evil. It is a fact that evil exists in our society. To understand it, it is important to first discern its origins. Many views exist on the origin of evil. The most notable ones are the Christianity and scientific views. Christian or what is commonly referred to as Augustinian view contends that when God created the world, it was good and perfect, devoid of evil. But something happened down the line that polluted the serenity of the universe. This school of thought credits the devil as been the source of all evil in the world. The second school of thought believes that there is a gene that causes men to behave wickedly. It is what they refer to as the evil gene. This paper is going to compare and contrast these two views. Augustine, and in extension all those who subscribe to this view, base their explanation on the writings to be found in the bible. ... "To know the truth about origins, we have to consult the bible".1 This is to be found in the book of genesis, where the story of the creation is told. According to MacArthur, the first and second chapters of the book of genesis explain on the origin of the universe2. This means that these two chapters explain the story of the creation. But the chapter that is of interest when it comes to origin of evil is the third one. In genesis Chapter 1, we read "everything God has made was very good. He rested on the seventh day of creation"3 (verse 31). This goes to show that God had created an evil free universe. But that is not the case today. We live in a world where evil reigns. So what happened If God, the creator of all things, did not create evil, where did it come from The answer to this question is to be found in chapter three of the same book. We read here that Satan took the form of a serpent and convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. This was where the evil began, since the tree was banned for the duo's consumption by God. By eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve went against the will of God. This was the original sin, the cradle of all evil. From this reading, we can see that evil originated from Satan. The problem with the story of creation when it comes to explaining the origin of evil is that God is the creator of all things. This is well captured in the bible. The reasoning progresses through three premises. The first is that "God created all things"4. The second premise is that "evil is a thing"5. The third premise connects the previous two by stating that "God created evil"6. If the previous two premises hold, then it is only logical that the third premise is also true.