Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1883-03-15
[Origlnal.
ORIGINAL SIN.

Sin is defined in an old standard theolog-
ical work ito be any want of conformity
unto, or transgession of the Law Of Cod"
If this be objected to, the following may be
given as. the Bible definition, "Sin is the
trans ,resSc:on of the law" I. John 81 4.
The original word which is rendered trans
erosion, means mot in accordance with
law" Sin then is, according to this detini-
ton, an act, word or thought, not in accord
ance with the law Of God. In other words,
whatever does not conform to the law of God
is sin. There is, and no doubt always Will
be, want of agreement among the human
family as to how all men became sinners.
About the fact itself there is no dispute.
In some way or other, all men, or men uni
versally-the whole human family-are not
what the law of God requires them to be.
They are not according to law. 1t is not to
be wondered at, that by unassisted reason,
we cannot reach satisfactory conclusion
with regard to either the introduction or the
propagation of sin. There are other things
of far less Importance and infinitely less diff
ficult, that the human mind cannot account
for. No one knows certainly how the peo-
ple that are called Indians reached the
American continent. No one knows GER
tainly from what country they came, who
were their ancestors, or how long they have
been roaming over the forests on the west
ern side of the Atlantic. 1t is barely posi-
BILE that there are in some old manuscript,
written in forgotten dialect, some records
which may throw light on the early history
of the American Indians. If such records
do not exist, or if they exist and are never
found, no man will ever be able to say know
ingly anything about the origin of the
American Indians.
With regard to the introduction ofsin into
our world, we know more, or have; the
means Of knowing more, than we know or
have at present, the means of knowing, re-
specting the origin of the first inhabitants
of America. The source of all our knoWl-
edge concerning sin is the Bible. We are
no more able to discover, byreasoning, how,
where or under what circumstances, sin en-
tered the world, than we are able to discover
by reasoning how the Indians reached
America. All thatwe are able to do with
respect to either of these subjects, is conjec-
ture.
With regard to the origin of sin the Bible
contains enough to satisfy the most inquisi-
tive mind. In Romans 5:12, we find these
words, "By one man sin entered into the
world, and death by sim" Language could
not more plainly express the idea that
through one man, or, as it is elsewhere ex-
pressed, through one mans Offense sin en-
tered into the world, and that death entered
by sin.
From the above quoted passage of Scrip
ture and from hundreds of other passages,
we learn that all men were made sinners by
one man. That one man was Adam. All
his descendants were equally involved with
himself in the results of his disobedience.
None of the human family, since the fall of
Adam havebeen possessed of the righteous
ness in which Adam was created. On the
contrary, they are all involved in the guilt
of Adams .transgression, their natures are
wholly corrupt, and they are opposed to ev-
erything that is good, and wholly inclined
to all evil, 80 s-r-s--,~--. '.-.-..' -'''''. - ~
This is what the Bible teaches. 1t is by
no means pleasant to human pride, but that
all men have gone out of the way, that all
men are altogether Improbable, that all
men do evil and none" do good, are state
ments which may be denied, but always in
the face of facts. This ruin which fell upon
all men on account of Adams taansgression
is commonly called original sin.
From original sin proceeds all actual trans
erosion. The sin of Adam is the source
from which proceeds all the sin of every
kind and character, which is committed by
each and every individual member of the