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/isv'>2Sa 1:9, 'soul' Nu 5:6), and is withdrawn at death (Ec 12:7).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
So the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground, breathed life into his lungs, and the man became a living being.
After Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son just like him, that is, according to his own likeness, and named him Seth.
God looked at the earth, observing how corrupt its population had become, because the entire human race had corrupted itself.
Everything that breathed and everything that had lived on dry land died.
"Two nations are in your womb," the LORD responded, "and two separate people will emerge. One people will be the stronger, and the older one will serve the younger."
Isaac replied, "Your brother came here deceitfully and stole your blessing."
You are to say to Pharaoh, "This is what the LORD says: "Israel is my firstborn son.
You are not to bow down to them in worship or serve them, because I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the guilt of parents on children, to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
The LORD passed in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and filled with gracious love and truth. He graciously loves thousands, and forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. But he does not leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of the ancestors on their children, and on their children's children to the third and fourth generation."
He graciously loves thousands, and forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. But he does not leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of the ancestors on their children, and on their children's children to the third and fourth generation."
"Instruct the Israelis that whenever a man or woman does something contained in the list of the sins of man, thereby acting treacherously against the LORD, then that person stands guilty.
He begged me, "Please come stand here next to me and kill me, because I'm still alive.'
""Please remember that you've made me like clay and you'll return me to dust.
Human beings born by women are short-lived and full of trouble.
"What is mankind, that he can be blameless? Or does being born of a woman mean he'll be in the right?
"The spirit of God fashioned me; and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
God is a righteous judge, a God who is angry with sinners every day.
Fools say to themselves, "There is no God." They are corrupt and commit evil deeds; not one of them practices what is good.
For he remembered that they were only flesh, a passing wind that doesn't return.
For he knows how we were formed, aware that we were made from dust.
then man's dust will go back to the earth, returning to what it was, and the spirit will return to the God who gave it.
"I, I am the one who blots out your transgression for my own sake, and I'll remember your sins no more.
Look! Every living soul belongs to me the father's as well as the son's. So pay attention! The person who keeps on sinning is going to die."
From one man he made every nation of humanity to live all over the earth, fixing the seasons of the year and the national boundaries within which they live,
For God's wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of those who in their wickedness suppress the truth.
who are Israelis. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises. To the Israelis belong the patriarchs, and from them, the Messiah descended, who is God over all, the one who is forever blessed. Amen.
Look at the Israelis from a human point of view. Those who eat the sacrifices share in what is on the altar, don't they?
Therefore, since the children have flesh and blood, he himself also shared the same things, so that by his death he might destroy the one who has the power of death (that is, the Devil)