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Doctrines on the universality of sin

[From chapter 1]. The doctrines on the universality of sin are attempts to give theological explanations for the empirical and historical evidence of the universality of sin. They are attempts to explain why it is that each and every person that enters this world has a bias towards sin ; why such a highly organized, intricate and majestically complex being like man, the crowning glory of the created realm in every case has this weakness we call sin ; why it is that after 6,000 years of the history of mankind the present generation is as plagued with this malfunction as the first; why it is that sooner or later all of us commit sin in one form or another. Indirectly these doctrines also seek to protect God's uniqueness and oneness against the dualism of evil and good and following from this second reason are attempts to explain the presence of sin within the good creation of God. However, these attempts are fraught with difficulties and invariably each explanation that is offered raises other pertinent issues that the Christian thinker does not wish to accept as side effects to his answer. This has resulted in scholars over the ages attempting to modify or reinterpret previous doctrines in order to allow for these issues to be taken into account. There has, therefore, as we shall discover, been much diversity and debate as to the form and contents of these doctrines.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:rhodes/vital:1288
Date January 1975
CreatorsVan Rensburg, Lee
PublisherRhodes University, Faculty of Divinity, Divinity
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis, Bachelor, BDiv
Format58 leaves, pdf
RightsVan Rensburg, Lee

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