Okay 
I’m going to stir the pot so to speak, First of all, we need to address what this tendency to sin is. If that sin is just a moral pointer to doing wrong, we have to ask what the wrong is and to what degree do we have to understand the wrong and where it comes from. So in other words, who is making the determination to what is sin?
I wonder how many Pelagians, semi Pelagians & wannabe Pelagians are posting in this thread:
“Pelagianism, also called Pelagian Heresy, a 5th-century Christian heresy taught by Pelagius and his followers that stressed the essential goodness of human nature and the freedom of the human will.” (Brittanica.com)
Evidently it is in disagreement with Christian churches & history in general, not just Reformed.
Yep Pelagius fell afoul of Augustine and Co.’s Romish rule, being duly declared a heretic by the orthodoxy of the day… there was plenty of Rome the likes of Calvin still clung to.
Paidion, being the child of an alcoholic myself, I have no problem whatsoever with alcohol. I also have four siblings who likewise have no problem with alcohol. On the other hand, I know people who have drinking problems, whose parents never touched the stuff. I can only conclude from this that these scientists are wrong in their assumptions. If two sinful parents produce a sinful child, then it would logically follow that two righteous parents would produce a righteous child. However, I don’t see this being the case. Neither is this the case with Adam and Eve. Abel was righteous and Cain was not. Adam and Eve were human, just like the rest of us, and as such, we do not know all things because we are not God. Although a baby is born with legs, he/she does not jump out of the womb and run; nor does the child start doing calculus in kindergarten. The same goes with the spirit. We all have the spirit, but we must grow in that spirit.
I believe as it says in the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these Truths to be self- evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
We were made to exist as sovereign individuals, coming together collectively as a whole; in other words being a king amongst kings in union with the One true King(God) or I am at the right hand of the great I AM. Did you ever notice when you’re talking to someone, if you are sitting while they’re standing, or vice versa, it is very uncomfortable. The same goes with other things. I feel weird when people don’t make eye contact when speaking to me. If I go shopping with a friend, it doesn’t seem right if I’m buying and my friend is not. I can hardly stand being at the same table and eating in front of someone who is not eating. I think such things are inherent in us. We don’t like inferiority. I am a firm believer in teaching a man to fish. This is why I’m adverse to any doctrine or teaching that does not teach you of the Spirit of God that is in you and fails to build you up in the Spirit as an equal. (As an added note, I don’t believe this has anything to do with material possessions.) So to me, the doctrine of total depravity just doesn’t meet the criteria. Likewise, saying that we have inherited sin from our parents leads one to believe that he is incapable of doing anything about it. Jesus showed us otherwise.
Does this apply to zombies also 
That depends.
If the sin is an extremely powerful force, but one that can be resisted by the will alone (or by the will in co-operation with the grace of God), then created beings are capable of doing something about it.
OTOH if created beings in slavery to sin are like dead corpses in their graves, can they do anything to resurrect themselves?
1As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” 3Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
For God has imprisoned everyone in disobedience so he could have mercy on everyone.
19For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
That must really grate against and get stuck in the throat of the Calvinist of any consistency as their doctrine of ‘election’ makes it plain and clear… all men are NOT created equal.
That’s a damn good point.
You’re a bit off your game, Randy? That was NOT a zombie, unless they are paying more attention to personal hygiene these days.
If a non-believer is immoral by birth but becomes moral by belief what does that say about said belief when that now moral person behaves immorally? Apart from the arrogance underpinning the basic belief of TD it is only ignorance that then tries to pin it on God’s chest.
Thanks Randy 
This is big. 
George MacDonald “followed Plato in thinking that evil was. to a large extent, a result of deprivation and not depravation. Human beings sinned because they did not see the truth clearly, and to have a clear vision of God would mean that they would be so overwhelmed by his love, that all wrongdoing would be immediately set aside. Seeing right was the beginning of acting right, and Christ was the clearest picture of God given to humankind”
-http://www.george-macdonald.com/articles/theology.html
Pelagianism would have been condemned in any day, whether that of Origen or St Paul.
It is my view that each of Adam’s descendants has inherited from Adam and Eve a nature that has a tendency to sin (or do wrong), but CERTAINLY HAS NOT inherited a nature that is totally depraved and can perform no righteous acts.
Last edited by Paidion on Mon Oct 16, 2017 2:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I believe scripture says we inherited mortality from Adam but from Adam sin came into the world (in general). So this proclivity to sin has been in man from the beginning IMHO.
Since the fall of man, then, it has been mankind’s dilemma that no human can restore his nature to union with God’s grace; it was necessary for God to effect another change in human nature."
I don’t want to get sidetracked but the expression “fall of man” is not a biblical description. Neither is “restore his nature to union with God’s grace” although it sounds lovely.
There are certain choices of belief we must make regarding Christ and God like Jesus is Lord,son of God,died for our sins and rose from the dead for us to be saved.
I really can’t imagine why we s/b incapable of making this kind of choice since it benefits us dramatically? In the bible you can occasionally find expressions that Calvinists use to support “total depravity” but usually they have a local context or it’s hyperbole to make a point.
Two things are worth noting…
1) the “proclivity to sin” WAS clearly there BEFORE it was actualised. 2) For something to gain entrance (in this case “sin”) presupposes its prior existence.
I agree. I think people try to make Adam into something more than he was. As if God left it up to this one man to decide whether all mankind would be sinners or saints. To me he was simply a man, just like the rest of us. Yes,I believe God did leave the choice up to one man whether to be a sinner or a saint, and that one man is you, yourself.
Those who have become mature in the Spirit are to teach and instruct others in the ways of the Lord. A teacher who tells his/her students that they have no brains, should not be a teacher. Likewise, a spiritual teacher would not say, “You have no spirit.”, but instead nurture and teach of the spirit that they have.