Anonymous (via GotQuestions)
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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
The age-old question of where and how sin began has been explored and debated by some of the greatest minds of history, yet no one can give a completely definitive or satisfying answer. Some, quoti...
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Seth Freeman
Supporter
God can be properly defined as a maximally perfect being. He is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, omnibenevolent, absolutely perfect in every possible way. Everything that God creates is good. Everything that God does, is good. His interaction with His creation are done to bring Him glory. He is holy, infinitely wise, just, gracious, loving. But, and this is important - only God is these things (on a perfect level). Any creation of God is going to necessarily be less than him. God has no potential (because He already is perfect), and God can never be greater than He is (He is already maximally great), therefore, God can never desire to be anything other than He is. But the same is not true for what He creates, if He creates it with the ability to think and desire on its own. Any created being with a free will, necessarily has the freedom to desire more than it is. This is what happened with Lucifer. He became jealous, and, blinded by his own pride, believed that He could become God. So if the questioner is asking when the very instance of evil/sin occurred, then first recorded instance that we know of with a creation of God doing something contrary to what God would have would be the fall of Lucifer. If the questioner is asking what the origin of sin in mankind is, then it would be when Adam and Eve fell in the garden. Humanities inherited sinful nature comes from Adam and Eve, the first created humans that inhabited this earth.
Frank Scimeca
Supporter
Here is a simple way of looking at sin as not being created or originated. When you shut a light off in the room and it goes dark, did you create darkness or is it an effect of the absence of light? Just like that the absence of God in His wholeness is evil/sin. Not created, but rather a cause and effect.
JD Abshire
Supporter
Ezekiel 28:14 "Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire." Ezekiel 28:15 "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. " Ezekiel 28:16 "By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. " Ezekiel 28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Ezekiel 28:18 " Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee." Ezekiel 28:19 "All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more." Isaiah 45:7 " I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things."
Nils Jansma
Supporter
What is the origin of sin? As has been stated, the origin of sin occurred when Satan told the first lie if not sooner. (Genesis 3:2-4; John 8:44) However, that first lie did not result in the inheritable sin found in humankind. The inheritable sin that victimizes us all began when Adam took a bite of the Forbidden Fruit (FF). There appeared to be a physical change in both Adam and Eve’s bodies after eating the FF. This is referred to as being that their eyes were opened. (Genesis 3:6-7) It is my opinion that God pre-programmed a genetically designed package in the FF that would provide a strong desire of self-preservation in Adam and Eve and their descendants. C.S. Lewis suggested that the sin of selfishness was directly or indirectly the primary motivation for sin today. Some modern behaviorists describe this as being the “animal or Id nature” that seems to be present in our bodies. Such a nature is described by the Apostle Paul as being the inherited law of sin in his flesh that is “waging war against the law of [his] mind” which desires to be sin free. (Romans 7:23) God knew that humankind would need strong survival traits if they were to make it on their own outside of His care and supervision. Thankfully, humankind can escape this sin nature by becoming a “new creature” though faith in Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
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