Original Sin - Some Ruminations

In reading the chapter on "Original Sin" in the Piper and Taylor volume, "A God Entranced Vision of All Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards," I've learned many new things. One of those things that prompted a brief, and surely inept, "theological flurry" was the remark that Edwards and Calvin disagreed (though to keep this fact in right perspective, I should call it a "minor" disagreement) regarding Adam's condition before the fall.

I invite comments and questions with the hope that we could develop a robust theological discussion.

My thoughts: "It seems to me that Edwards argument for Adam's original state as "original righteousness" is right as opposed to Calvin's description of Adam as "weak, frail and liable to fall." The question, however, that gets at the heart of the debate regards the nature of man given to Adam and Adam's posterity. It would seem hard to admit that Adam was "weak and frail," admitting then some defect in his nature, since we can claim (and I assume it here without argument) that God is not the author of evil. In other words, Adam was not created with a "weak" or "sinful" disposition, but as Edwards puts it "a righteous disposition." But neither can we assume that Adam was perfect in his nature because we are clearly presented with his sin and "the fall of man" in Adam. I believe then that the point of clarification regarding Adam's original nature, and Adam's posterity or all subsequent humanity, is found in the distinction between Creator and creature. Being created by virtue of its plain sense meaning shows not neceassarily imperfection, but (and here is where Calvin convinces me that Adam was "liable to sin"), that the perfection of anything created requires that the creature partake in the only source of perfection, the Creator. This seems to be common-sensical logic that Christians can admit to, namely that something perfect in all respects has no dependence upon another. Hence, God is perfectly self-sufficient and self-satisfied and in need of no other for any reason. Adam and all men, however, being created are thus inherently dependent. They can't by the very reason given above be dependent upon other creatures for their satisfaction and thus must be dependent upon their Creator. Adam's sin then and thus the sin inherited by all men is a result of their nature, namely that they are utterly dependent. Adam then was created without sin, but to continue in such a state he had to remain perfectly and wholly dependent on God. Adam's sin in the garden then reveals his nature, reiterating, namely that he was created. He could never have remained completely dependent upon God because truly complete dependence admits of perfection in that very dependence and creatures by definition possess perfection in no respect. Thus, Adam was never able to save himself so to speak by willing his own perfect dependence upon God, but required as all men do a Savior. Thus, God tells Adams and all men in Genesis 3:15 that salvation will come through Christ. By reflecting on Adam's sin and our own sin nature, we also make sense of God's plan of redemption as revealed in Scripture. Jesus Christ, not being created, but eternally begotten of the Father, is the only man (literally the Word made flesh, God incarnate, being both God and man) to reveal in his life, death and resurrection, a perfect obedience to God and thus the right to the "name above every name" and to stand as the mediator between man and God."

I would appreciate others thoughts.