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[Busy Bee]

Could there have been an alternative to inherited sin?

Agnostic here. Apologies if this seems naive or misinformed but I'd like to ask folk who have spent time and energy thinking this through.

God created the garden of Eden, albeit in a non corruptible state to allow for free will. But why do we have inherited sin? For example, in a class of twenty children, four are unruly and are sent to the head teacher. The others are free to continue their studies. In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, God decided to punish the inhabitants but spared the rest of the world.

However, whilst writing this, it has struck me that perhaps inherited sin is necessary because without it, Adam's descendants wouldn't have been able to make the choice to follow God.

Could someone enlighten me please?

[jimwalton]

The Bible never talks about sin as being inherited. Romans 5.12 says, "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." So Adam and Eve's disobedience brought sin into the world. There's never a mention that now it is inherited. The Bible says we are born in sin, but there's no reason to think of it as biological. Sin is part of our spiritual nature that plays itself out in our everyday lives.

> God created the garden of Eden, albeit in a non corruptible state to allow for free will.

There's nothing in the Bible that describes Eden as a "non-corruptible state." Instead, it was just the opposite. It was very corruptible, and God warned the humans not to choose in that direction.

> God created the garden of Eden

The Garden of Eden is never described as a Paradise or a place of perfection. Instead, it was where the people could meet with God to have a relationship with Him.