Original Sin, Atonement

The many Christian legends in many languages about the lives of Adam and Eve have their origin in Jewish writings about the biblical first man and woman. The narrative runs from the fall to the death of Adam and Eve. The religious message in the story involves the repentance of Adam and Eve after their expulsion from paradise – and the description of their deaths does not show any traces of the idea of original sin, which was important in later Christian theology.

According to this doctrine, the sin committed by Adam (peace be upon him) of disobeying the command of God, passes on to all human making them sinner by birth. So; “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Roman;12:19). The inheritance of sin of ancestor by the descendants is against all ethics, morality and common logic. It is against the explicit pronouncement of God in Bible: “The soul that sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffers for the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.” (Ezekiel;18:20-21). “He pardons the believing sinners if they repent and seek His forgiveness: “I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”(Isiah;43:25); “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.”(Jermiah;31:34); “that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”(Jermiah;36:3); “To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness;”(Daniel;9:9); “But there is forgiveness with thee, That thou mayest be feared”(Psalms;103:4).

Repentance & Forgiveness in New Testament:

The concept of repentance and forgiveness also exist in New Testament: “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”(Luke;15:7), “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”(Luke;15:10), “And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to make merry.”(Luke;15:21-24); “And forgive us our debts,”(Mathew:6:12, Luke;11:4).

Personal Responsibility, Accountability:

God has repeatedly emphasized the personal responsibility and individual accountability: “No bearer of a burden will bear another’s burden, and if a heavy laden person cries out for help, none will come forward to share the least of his burden, even though he be a close relative. O Prophet! You can only admonish those who fear their Sustainer- though they cannot see Him – and establish Prayer (Salah). He that purifies himself does so for his own good. To God is the destination of all.”(Qur’an;35:18); “He that seeks guidance, shall be guided to his own advantage, but he that goes astray does so to his own loss. No bearer shall bear the burden of another on the Day of Judgment. And during your worldly life, We do not inflict punishment until We send forth a Messenger to make truth distinct from falsehood.”(Qur’an;17:15); “Say: “Should I seek another Sustainer besides God when He is the Sustainer of everything?” Every soul will reap the fruits of its own deeds; no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another. Ultimately you will return to your Sustainer, and He will resolve for you your disputes.”(Qur’an;6:164)

The last Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him, prophesized in Bible by Moses and Jesus) said, “Every child is born with a true faith (i.e. to worship none but God Alone) but his parents convert him to Judaism or to Christianity or to Magainism” (Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith, 2.440, Narrated by Ibn Shihab). God says: “The pure God’s Islamic nature (true faith i.e. to worship none but God Alone), with which He has created human beings.” (Qur’an;30:30).

According to Islamic Doctrine; every one is accountable for his deeds, Adam (peace be upon him) committed the first sin, he repented, thus was forgiven by God; “..thus did Adam disobey His Lord and allow himself to be seduced (by Satan). But his Lord chose him (for His Grace): He turned to him and gave him guidance.”(Qur’an;20:121-122).  To attain salvation, a person must combine faith and action, belief and practice: “As to those who believe and work righteousness verily We shall not suffer to perish the reward of any who do a (single) righteous deed”.(Qur’an;18:30). “Then those whose balance (of good deeds) is heavy they will attain salvation” (Qur’an;23:102).

Views of Christian Scholars:

Renowned scholar Steve A. Johnson writes: “In Islam the notion of original sin is regarded as inconsistent with the justice of God. How could a Just and Loving God make an innocent child responsible for, or at least bear the guilt for the sins of a distant ancestor?” Major Yeats-Brown, in his “Life of a Bengal Lancer”, summarizes the Christian Doctrine of the  Original sin and Atonement in just a single sentence: “No heathen tribe has conceived so grotesque an idea, involving as it does the assumption, that man was born with a hereditary stain upon him: and that this stain (for which he was not personally responsible) was to be atoned for: and that the creator of all things had to sacrifice his only begotten son to neutralize this mysterious curse.”

Rejection of ‘Law’ against Mission of Jesus:

Paul insisted that there was no need for converts to Christianity to accept Jewish dietary restrictions: “…there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteems anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” (Romans;14:14). The circumcision, which was instituted by God (Genesis;17:9-10) and enforced by the law (Leviticus;12:3; John;7:22) was opposed by Paul, thus he was denounced (Acts; 21:21); “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;”(Ephesians;2:15). He did not insist to conform to the rituals of the Mosaic Law, because to him, obedience to the Law alone cannot provide salvation. Paul wrote: “But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.”(Romans;7:6).

This is deliberate outright rejection of the mission and teachings of Jesus (peace be upon him) who said: “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever thenrelaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”(Mathew;5:17-20). Hence it is logical to conclude that ‘Christianity’ as generally practiced today has nothing to do with Christ except that the name. It is based on the doctrines devised by Paul, who claimed to be his disciple and apostle long after his accession to heaven, though Jesus said: “The disciple is not above his master”: (Luke;6:40).

Basing on the Doctrine of Original Sin, the doctrine of “Vicarious Atonment” was developed by likning the alleged crucifiction of Jesus Christ as ransom for the Original Sin. The atonement is a doctrine found within Christianity , Judaism and Islam. It describes how sin can be forgiven by God. In Islam and Judaism, Atonement is said to be the process of forgiving or pardoning atransgression. This was originally accomplished through rituals performed by a high priest (Kohen) on the holiest day of the Jewish year: Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). In Christian theology the atonement refers to the forgiving or pardoning of sin through the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion which made possible the reconciliation between God and creation. Within Christianity there are three main theories for how such atonement might work: the ransom theory, the satisfaction theory and the moral influence theory. As evident from above Biblical refrences, this doctrine does not get any solid support from the  scripture.

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atonement_(satisfaction_view)