We don’t need to get involved in discussions of whether children receive their souls from their parents to understand the transmission of sin. Adam received all the good things that God wanted to pass on to humanity. Unfortunately, when Adam lost what he received from God, he lost it not only for himself but for all of us. Why should even engage in the discussion of the transmission of the soul when we know that the qualities Adam lost were not only for himself but attributes of the whole human race? It is not irrational to believe that when Adam lost those good things from God that his nature was left destitute being defiled by sin. And Adam’s pollution by sin extended to all of his descendants. For example, from a corrupt root proceed corrupt branches which transmit their corruption to their saplings.

When parents give life to their children, they pass on the corruption of Adam which is also conveyed down to their grandchildren. Adam originally brought this corruption into the world. And it keeps getting passed down from generation to generation. The cause of the contagion of sin is not found in the make up of our bodies or souls. God originally made both of those “good” yet “lose-able” for Adam.

The false teacher Pelagius used to question the probably that a children could be corrupted from godly parents. Instead, he argued that children would enter the world as sanctified by their parent’s purity. Pelagius’ view is easily refuted, however. Children are not born by spiritual regeneration but through physical descent. Augustine says, “Both the condemned unbeliever and the acquitted believer create offspring which are not acquitted but condemned, because the human nature which creates more human nature is corrupt.”

Now, godly parents do contribute to the holiness of their children in some measure (1 Corinthians 7:14). Yet, this holiness is a blessing by God. This blessing, however, does not prevent the original and universal curse of the whole human race from taking effect. Guilt comes from human nature whereas sanctification comes from supernatural grace.

“Blogging the Institutes” is my on-going attempt to paraphrase John Calvin’s work, the Institutes of the Christian Religion. You can find out more about the series in the Introduction. For all the posts in this series, check out the Master List.