Reference: Heredity
Hastings
HEREDITY, which may be defined as 'the hereditary transmission of qualities, or even acquirements,' so far as it is a scientific theory, is not anticipated in Holy Scripture. That men are 'made of one' (Ac 17:26 RV) is a fact of experience, which, in common with all literature, the Bible assumes. The unsophisticated are content to argue from like to like, that is, by analogy. But the modern doctrine of heredity, rooted as it is in the science of biology, involves the recognition of a principle or law according to which characters are transmitted from parents to offspring. Of this there is no trace in the Bible. Theology is therefore not directly interested in the differences between Weismann and the older exponents of Evolution.
1. In the OT, which is the basis of the doctrine of the NT, there is no dogmatic purpose, and therefore no attempt to account for the fact that 'all flesh' has 'corrupted his way upon the earth' (Ge 6:12), and that 'there is none that doeth good' (Ps 14:1). A perfectly consistent point of view is not to be expected. Not a philosophical people, the Hebrews start from the obvious fact of the unity of the race in the possession of common flesh and blood (Job 14:1; 15:14), the son being begotten after the image of the father (Ge 5:3; cf. Heb 2:14). This is more especially emphasized in the unity of the race of Abraham, that 'Israel after the flesh' (1Co 10:18), whose were the fathers and the promises (Ro 9:4-5). But the Bible never commits itself to a theory of the generation or procreation of the spirit, which is apparently given by God to each individual (Ge 2:7; 7:22; Job 33:4) constitutes the personality ('life' '/2-Samuel/1/9/type/asv'>2Sa 1:9, 'soul' Nu 5:6), and is withdrawn at death (Ec 12:7). This is the source of Ezekiel's emphasis on individual responsibility (Eze 18:4), a criticism of the proverb concerning sour grapes (v. 2), which was made to rest on an admitted principle of the Mosaic covenant, the visitation upon the children of the fathers' sins (Ex 20:5). This principle involves corporate guilt; which, though sometimes reduced to a pardonable weakness inseparable from flesh (Ps 78:39; 103:14; Job 10:9), and therefore suggestive of heredity, yet, as involving Divine wrath and punishment, cannot be regarded as a palliation of transgression (Ex 34:7; Ps 7:11; Ro 1:18). Sin in the OT is disobedience, a breach of personal relations, needing from God forgiveness (Ex 34:6-7; Isa 43:25); and cannot therefore be explained on the principle of hereditary transmission. Moreover, the unity of Israel is as much one of external status as of physical nature, of the inheritance of the firstborn no less than of community in flesh and blood (Ex 4:22; cf. Ge 25:23; 27:35). Similarly Adam is represented as degraded to a lower status by his sin, as cast out of the garden and begetting children in banishment from God's presence.
2. Such are the materials from which NT theology works out its doctrine of original sin, not a transmitted tendency or bias towards evil, but a submission to the power of the devil which may be predicated of the whole race. [See art. Sin.]
J. G. Simpson.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry land, died.
And Jehovah said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, And two peoples shall be separated from thy bowels. And the one people shall be stronger than the other people. And the elder shall serve the younger.
And he said, Thy brother came with guile, and hath taken away thy blessing.
And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith Jehovah, Israel is my son, my first-born:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them, for I Jehovah thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation of them that hate me,
And Jehovah passed by before him, and proclaimed, Jehovah, Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty , visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.
keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty , visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.
Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, so as to trespass against Jehovah, and that soul shall be guilty;
And he said unto me, Stand, I pray thee, beside me, and slay me; for anguish hath taken hold of me, because my life is yet whole in me.
Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast fashioned me as clay; And wilt thou bring me into dust again?
Man, that is born of a woman, Is of few days, and full of trouble.
What is man, that he should be clean? And he that is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
The Spirit of God hath made me, And the breath of the Almighty giveth me life.
God is a righteous judge, Yea, a God that hath indignation every day.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works; There is none that doeth good.
And he remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
For he knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.
and the dust returneth to the earth as it was, and the spirit returneth unto God who gave it.
I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake; and I will not remember thy sins.
Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
and he made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation;
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness;
who are Israelites; whose is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God , and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
Behold Israel after the flesh: have not they that eat the sacrifices communion with the altar?
Since then the children are sharers in flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;