Di bagian ini dari buku The Institute-nya Calvin terdapat cara Calvin memahami "Sin" dan "the works of flesh" atau "the fruits of sin". Di bagian ini juga terdapat keterangan bahwa Calvin melihat bayi2 berdosa bukan karena mereka telah melakukan pelanggaran, tetapi semata-mata karena sebagai keturunan Adam yg telah berdosa, mereka hanya (akan) jadi mahluk2 penghasil fruits of sin atau "a seed-bed of sin".
Original sin, then, may be defined a hereditary corruption and depravity of our nature, extending to all the parts of the soul, which first makes us obnoxious to the wrath of God, and then produces in us works which in Scripture are termed works of the flesh. This corruption is repeatedly designated by Paul by the term sin145 (Gal. 5:19); while the works which proceed from it, such as adultery, fornication, theft, hatred, murder, revellings, he terms, in the same way, the fruits of sin, though in various passages of Scripture, and even by Paul himself, they are also termed sins. The two things, therefore, are to be distinctly observed—viz. that being thus perverted and corrupted in all the parts of our nature, we are, merely on account of such corruption, deservedly condemned by God, to whom nothing is acceptable but righteousness, innocence, and purity. This is not liability for another’s fault. For when it is said, that the sin of Adam has made us obnoxious to the justice of God, the meaning is not, that we, who are in ourselves innocent and blameless, are bearing his guilt, but that since by his transgression we are all placed under the curse, he is said to have brought us under obligation. Through him, however, not only has punishment been derived, but pollution instilled, for which punishment is justly due. Hence Augustine, though he often terms it another’s sin (that he may more clearly show how it comes to us by descent), at the same time asserts that it is each individual’s own sin.147 And the Apostle most distinctly testifies, that “death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,” (Rom. 5:12); that is, are involved in original sin, and polluted by its stain. Hence, even infants bringing their condemnation with them from their mother’s womb, suffer not for another’s, but for their own defect. For although they have not yet produced the fruits of their own unrighteousness, they have the seed implanted in them. Nay, their whole nature is, as it were, a seed-bed of sin, and therefore cannot but be odious and abominable to God. ......
..........For our nature is not only utterly devoid of goodness, but so prolific in all kinds of evil, that it can never be idle. Those who term it concupiscence use a word not very inappropriate, provided it were added (this, however, many will by no means concede), that everything which is in man, from the intellect to the will, from the soul even to the flesh, is defiled and pervaded with this concupiscence; or, to express it more briefly, that the whole man is in himself nothing else than concupiscence.
Saya rasa dari kutipan-kutipan di atas kita sudah bisa menarik kesimpulan ttg bagaimana Calvin memahami kerusakan manusia akibat original sin.
Thread ini ingin membahas bagaimana perbedaan antara total depravity dan absolute depravity, setelah dikatakan bahwa total depravity tidak sama dengan absolute depravity. Saya rasa perlu ada pendefinisian dulu. Dng modal kutipan2 di atas, saya lihat:
Total depravity adalah berkenaan dng "orientasi jiwa/spirit" (tadinya berorientasi pada Allah, sekarang berorientasi pada non-Allah).
Absolute depravity adalah berkenaan dng keseluruhan elemen2 fungsional manusia (fisik, intelektualitas, emosi). Artinya, kalo absolute depravity ini terjadi maka manusia bukan lagi manusia.
Dengan definisi seperti itu, maka memang dapat dikatakan bahwa total depravity tidak berarti absolut depravity.
Gitu kali.....(masih menunggu rekan2 reformed)
Cheers
