Not So Innocent After All
Posted by Hank on July 2nd, 2007 filed in SinI was at the DesiringGod blog today and I found a link to this article. It amazes me how true the Bible really is. When God told Noah in Genesis 8:21
, “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth,” He actually meant it. Now even secular psychologists are supporting this text. May be there is something more to this Total Depravity thing than some might realize?
July 26th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
However, the article stresses that the “evil” behavior is learned, not innate. Furthermore, it is from youth, not creation that the intention of people’s hearts is evil. Both go against not innate inclination towards sinning, but against there being actual sin on our records when we are created.
July 27th, 2007 at 9:29 am
Who taught the babies how to do this? Did the parents? Siblings? It might be learned, but something they learned to do themselves, not learned from some one else.
Something you might consider in understanding the word “youth” in that text. The Septuagint translation uses a Greek term that means “infant,” not just “youth” as in an early age.
July 27th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Two things – 1) infant is still not created (but at least is earlier than the usual age of accountability) 2) I don’t view the Septuagint as inspired, only the original writings.
July 27th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Okay,
I don’t understand what you mean by “infant is still not created”. And there is no Scriptural warrant for “the age of accountability.” If anything, the age was like twenty in the Pentateuch (Numbers 1:3
).
I don’t view the Septuagint as inspired any more than the ESV, TNIV, NASB, or KJV. But the LXX does help give insight as to how we should understand the Hebrew, as well as the Greek New Testament.