Are Men Born Sinners? - Library of Theology

infants, who have no knowledge of right and wrong. A moral agent is a moral agent only
because he has an understanding of the moral character of his actions. Infants, therefore,
cannot be sinners.
Liberty, or freedom, is another attribute of sin. Without liberty there could be no such
thing as sin. It is affirmed that babies are born sinners. Have they had the liberty to make
a choice about this? Are they free to choose not to be born sinners? If not, then they
cannot be born sinners. To speak of them being sinners involuntarily and by a law of
necessity is to talk utter nonsense. Liberty, or freedom to choose (free moral agency), is a
necessary attribute of sin, and if there is no liberty, there can be no sin.
The very idea of sin implies free choice. It implies that the sinner is free to do good
instead of evil, and that he is able to avoid sin. If his actions are not free, and if his
actions are necessitated, his deeds cannot have moral character and he cannot be a sinner.
To talk of being born a sinner is the same nonsense as to talk of a wicked gun. If man is a
sinner by birth, he can no more be wicked or sinful than the gun which is used to commit
murder can be wicked or sinful. A sinner is a sinner only because his actions are free.
Without free choice, sin cannot exist.
Voluntariness is an attribute of sin. Children cannot be born sinners because their birth is
involuntary. They do not choose to be born. Their birth is completely involuntary. An
involuntary sinner, a sinner by birth, is a contradiction because one of the attributes of sin
is voluntariness. It is a contradiction of terms to speak of being born a sinner. The term
sinner implies liberty, voluntariness, and intelligence. So to speak of being born a sinner
is to speak of an impossibility. It is to use terms which contradict each other.
By necessity the attributes of sin are liberty, intelligence, and voluntariness. Any doctrine
that assumes, as does the doctrine of original sin, that sin can be predicated of unfree,
involuntary, and unintelligent action is absurd. There can be no unfree, involuntary, and
unintelligent sin. All of these attributes pertain to physical law, rather than moral law, and
completely negate the idea of sin.
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Appendix B
The "Age of Accountability"
The term "age of accountability" is not used in the Bible. Nevertheless, the doctrine of an
age or a time when men become accountable for their actions is clearly taught in the
Bible. What is meant by this term is that children cannot be accountable for their actions