Original Sin Addendum

Recently I wrote these two posts on "original sin" in response to what Pat Donahue wrote on the subject:

"Romans 5:12 and "Born in Sin" (here)

"Answering Donahue on Original Sin" (here)

In the former post I gave Donahue's view, which is the Pelagian view, that says that all men are made sinners, per Romans chapter five, by their imitating Adam and committing sin. I gave several reasons why that is clearly not what Paul intended to communicate. I should have added another argument however. I will do so now in this addendum.

If the imitation view is correct, you would think that it would be Eve, not Adam, who would be the one through whom all the human race becomes sinners. After all, she first sinned and after sinning then came to her husband Adam and led him to eat the forbidden fruit and sin also. Therefore, Adam was imitating Eve. So, Romans 5: 12 should read "As by one woman sin entered into the world and death by sin for all have sinned." Sin did not enter the world through Eve, however. If the sinning of all occurs as a result of imitating the first sin, then sin would have entered the world through Eve. But, Romans chapter five says it entered the world through Adam. Why? Because Adam was the head and representative of the human race, and not Eve. He was therefore "the figure of him who was to come," i.e. Christ, the second or last Adam.