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/kj2000'>2Sa 1:9, 'soul' Nu 5:6), and is withdrawn at death (Ec 12:7).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 the LORD 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 looked upon 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 life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in your womb, and two manner of people shall be born of you; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
And he said, your brother came with subtlety, and has taken away your blessing.
And you shall say unto Pharaoh, Thus says the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy 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, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Keeping mercy 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, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty;
He said unto me again, Stand, I pray you, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me.
Remember, I beseech you, that you have made me as the clay; and will you 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 who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?
The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life.
God judges the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
[To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.] The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that does good.
For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passes away, and comes not again.
For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
I, even I, am he that blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember your sins.
Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sins, it shall die.
And has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Who are Israelites; to whom pertains 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 as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?
Since then the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;