The Calvinistic doctrine of Total Depravity maintains that all men have inherited the sin of Adam through their parents. As such, they are morally unable to choose to follow God and be saved because of their own depraved, sinful nature, which extends to every part of their personality. Hence, according to this doctrine, at birth\u2014even prior to birth while still in the womb\u2014every person is stained by Adam\u2019s sin and in a lost condition. This distorted thinking led to the necessity of infant baptism in order for a child to be cleansed of Adamic sin, which allegedly adheres to the soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Contrary to such thinking, the New Testament plainly disputes the notion of Total Depravity. In the first place, Paul clarified the onset of sin in every human being. Using himself as a prototype, he explained:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u2026I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, \u201cYou shall not covet.\u201d But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. I was alive once without the law<\/strong>, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me (Romans 7:7-11).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Paul remained uncondemned and unspotted by sin while in the womb and thereafter following his birth. He recognized that he was not guilty before God prior to the point at which he could understand God\u2019s commandments and realize his amenability to keep them. Prior to that point, he was too spiritually immature to be responsible for his actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The term rendered \u201crevived\u201d1<\/sup><\/a> does not mean that sin existed previously and then reasserted itself. Taking \u201crevived\u201d in that sense would mean that Paul had a period in between that was sinless\u2014which does not support the notion of Total Depravity. When would that have been?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, Paul was saying that, prior to his coming to a realization of his sin and the application of God\u2019s law to his life, he was not amenable to God\u2019s law and, therefore, not counted sinful by God: \u201cfor where there is no law there is no transgression\u201d (Romans 4:15). Practically speaking, for children there is no law\u2014except the law of their parents. Though children may violate God\u2019s law, e.g., lie to their parents, God\u2019s laws do not apply to children until they reach an age of accountability.2<\/sup><\/a> At that point, children reach a level of spiritual maturity and become responsible before God for their behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These observations lead us to draw this conclusion: the very idea that our spirits, in the womb and in post-birth infancy, are stained with sin is an indictment of God\u2019s justice, impartiality, and infinite goodness. Yet, the following biblical affirmations contradict the notion of Total Depravity and exonerate God for such injustice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
- Solomon forthrightly declared that our spirits came from God Himself<\/strong> (Ecclesiastes 12:7).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- This bestowal occurred at conception: \u201cThus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him<\/strong>\u201d (Zechariah 12:1; cf. Hosea 9:11; Luke 1:36).3<\/sup><\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- When Paul addressed the Athenian philosophers on Mars Hill, he declared: \u201cfor in Him we live and move and have our being\u2026. Therefore, since we are the offspring of God…<\/strong>\u201d (Acts 17:28-29).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/strong>: Since our spirits came directly from God at conception, making us the offspring of God, to suggest that the human spirit in the womb and at conception is stained with the guilt of Adam\u2019s sin makes God guilty of creating<\/strong> depraved human beings. But the Calvinistic doctrine of Total Depravity is incorrect. All human beings begin life with a spirit from God that is pure and clean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Endnotes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1<\/sup><\/a> \u1f00\u03bd\u03ad\u03b6\u03b7\u03c3\u03b5\u03bd from \u03b1\u03bd\u03b1\u03b6\u03ac\u03c9 can mean \u201cto revive, in the sense of to become vigorous\u201d and \u201cMetaph. to live a better life\u201d\u2014Charles Robson (1839),\u00a0A Greek Lexicon to the New Testament<\/em>\u00a0(London: Whittaker & Co.), pp. 25-26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2<\/sup><\/a> Dave Miller (2002), \u201cThe Age of Accountability,\u201d https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/the-age-of-accountability-1202\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3<\/sup><\/a> For a discussion of the commencement of life, view this video: Dave Miller (2023), \u201cWhen Does Human Life Begin?\u201d https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/video\/when-does-human-life-begin\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Calvinistic doctrine of Total Depravity maintains that all men have inherited the sin of Adam through their parents. As such, they are morally unable to choose to follow God and be saved because of their own depraved, sinful nature, which extends to every part of their personality. Hence, according to this doctrine, at birth\u2014even… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":31595,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,11],"tags":[],"kids-category":[],"people":[273],"bible-book":[],"language":[168],"age-group":[173],"publication":[248],"class_list":["post-31580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-calvinism","category-doctrinal-matters","people-dave-miller-phd","language-english","age-group-adults","publication-reason-revelation"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Total-Depravity-DM-02.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31580"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31581,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31580\/revisions\/31581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31595"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31580"},{"taxonomy":"kids-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kids-category?post=31580"},{"taxonomy":"people","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/people?post=31580"},{"taxonomy":"bible-book","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible-book?post=31580"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=31580"},{"taxonomy":"age-group","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/age-group?post=31580"},{"taxonomy":"publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apologeticspress.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication?post=31580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}