Question:

I have one question which was also asked to me by person when I was studying the Bible with him.  Why does Bible say that we are born sinners?  In Psalms 51 David says I am sinner even in the mother’s womb?  Could you please tell me what it is really taking about?  Are not the children innocent creations of God himself?  

Answer: 

The Bible does NOT say that we are born sinners!!! Definitely not. "Original Sin" is not good biblical doctrine or theology.  When interpreting the Bible, it is important to remember what kind of literature one is reading.  For example, Romans is a completely different kind of literature from Psalms.  The former is a theological/doctrinal treatise, while the latter is poetry.  We must not interpret the psalms principally for doctrine. Instead, it should help us to understand the emotional/personal aspects of our relationship with God.

David uses imagery, symbolism and hyperbole. Hyperbole is a technical literary word for purposeful exaggeration. For example, we say, I was so cold, I thought I would die. Of course, this is an exaggeration to make a point. When David says, in an emotional exclamation, "surely I was a sinner from birth," this should not be taken as a doctrinal statement. As far as I know, no reputable Bible scholar believes we should take this emotional crying out of David over his sin with Bathsheeba as a proof text for Original Sin (unless, of course, they are predisposed to proving a doctrine and are not doing unbiased biblical research). What David is talking about is that he feels really bad about the sin he committed against Uriah, against Bathsheeba, and most importantly, against God. Notice that in this psalm, David says "against you and against you only have I sinned." This, too, is not correct "doctrine." David sinned against God, for sure, but he also sinned against his children, Uriah and others. This is proof that weakes  should be extremely cautious to extract doctrine from highly emotional prayers of David.

John O