Did “Sin” originate with God? According to a post yesterday on Reclaiming The Mind, R. C. Sproul, Jr. may be taking a position that evil originates with God. Hmmmm. Apologetics writer Paul Copan says the younger Sproul didn’t get that from R.C. Sproul, Sr. who “has been much more tentative and modest about the question of sin’s starting point; he basically concludes that this is a mysterious matter…” Here’s a quotation from the older Sproul’s classic Chosen By God:
“Herein lies the problem. Before a person can commit an act of sin he must first have a desire to perform that act. The Bible tells us that evil actions flow from evil desires. But the presence of an evil desire is already sin. We sin because we are sinners. We were born with a sin nature. We are fallen creatures. But Adam and Eve were not created fallen. They had no sin nature. They were good creatures with a free will. Yet they chose to sin. Why? I don’t know. Nor have I found anyone yet who does know.” [p.30]
While this may seem like dry theology to some of you, the fact remains that the quotation above allows for what Copan calls “a libertarian understanding of free will in Eden, which itself is a departure from Calvinism proper.” But instead of following in Dad’s footsteps, the younger Sproul apparently believes in a Calvinism that is pushed to the limit, that requires God to be the author of evil. Copan gives three reasons why Sproul, Jr’s position is untenable. (Check out the full article, linked in the first paragraph above.)
TAKE AWAY PRINCIPLE: Some doctrines are like a pendulum. A pendulum swings to two extremes, but eventually slows down into a place of balance in the middle. The most debated doctrines have people on extreme sides, but I truly believe there is rest and safety in finding that middle ground position where you take the best of the concepts from either side, but also discard the worst consequences of each doctrinal position. This is an example of some “worst” that can develop when you’re at one edge of the pendulum swing. If we try to force our doctrinal predispositions on the entire compendium of systematic theology, we’re left with a theological train wreck. And sometimes, like Sproul, Sr., we have to say, “I don’t know.”
