There are more attacks from the fans of Warren McGrew. This time they are arguing for an age of accountability in defense of Pelagianism. The position is that Original sin can’t be true because children cannot know that they are fallen in Adam. Firstly, it may not be necessary for one to know such because knowledge isn’t a necessary requirement to be held accountable. We may be unaware of whether we are doing something wrong and still be liable. Secondly, it may very well be the case that our knowledge of self includes such information.

I wish to take a brief look at some of the passages mentioned:

Deuteronomy 1

³⁷ “The Lord was angry with me also because of you and said, ‘You will not enter there either. ³⁸ Joshua son of Nun, who attends you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit it. ³⁹ Your children, who you said would be plunder, your sons who don’t yet know good from evil, will enter there. I will give them the land, and they will take possession of it. ⁴⁰ But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.’

This is about children that aren’t culpable of their parent’s unfaithfulness. They were not trusting that Yahweh would preserve them and their families (v. 31). In certain times, Israelites rebelled against God because they believed that they are their children would perish but the irony is that their children lived and inherited the land and they did not. Furthermore, the language isn’t so much about ignorance being a “get-out-of-jail-free” card, but that they lacked the ability to discern the moral status of their parent’s rebellion.

These children were not morally responsible when their parents chose to rebel against Yahweh. They did not know “good from bad” (cf. Isa 7:15–16; 8:4; Jnh 4:11). This phrase does not signify innocence but a lack of ability to discern morally. The prophets denounced those who knew better and who called “evil good and good evil” (Isa 5:20; cf. Mic 3:2; Am 5:14). The Lord told the Israelites who rebelled at Kadesh Barnea to turn around and head back the way they came. Yahweh closed the door of opportunity for them to enter Canaan.

Michael Alan Grisanti. Deuteronomy (Kindle Locations 2394-2401). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Along with Caleb, those children who were beneath the age of discernment (who today do not distinguish between good and evil) would be permitted to enter the promised land; their age freed them from any responsibility for the cowardly position adopted by the adults. It seems, too, that the adults had used the children (whom you said would become captives) as an excuse in their rebellion against the command of the Lord. Their concern for the children was valid, but it was misplaced since it implied that the Lord (“who carried you just as a man carries his son,” v. 31) was not able to protect his own people, young and old alike.

Peter C. Craigie. The Book of Deuteronomy (New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (Kindle Locations 2002-2006). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

We should also remain skeptical that this is meant to imply that they can’t morally discern anything whatsoever. The ages probably went from 20 years old and younger. Do you really suppose that a 20-year-old can’t be morally accountable for any action? Would you like to see crimes committed by 20 year olds and younger and guess whether they knew the difference between what was right and wrong? Would James Bulger agree with you?

The young people were not morally responsible for the sinful decision of their elders not to enter the land. The generation who will enter the land is defined as those who at the time was twenty years old or younger. It is this generation that Moses is now addressing on the plains of Moab.

John D. Currid, A Study Commentary on Deuteronomy, EP Study Commentary (Darlington, England; Webster, New York: Evangelical Press, 2006), 54.

Isaiah 7:15

15 He’ll eat cheese and honey, when he knows enough to reject what’s wrong and choose what’s right.

The language is similar to the previous passage and some commentators think they share the same idea:

before he knows how to reject evil and choose good has been interpreted in two ways. Some believe it refers to moral discrimination (as in Gen. 2:17; 3:5; Deut. 1:39; 1 K. 3:9; Isa. 5:20) and, in that light, suggest an elapsed time of twelve to twenty years. Others point to 8:4, where it is said that Isaiah’s son will not be able to speak clearly before Damascus and Samaria are plundered, and argue that this is the correct interpretation of good and evil here: distinguishing between what is helpful and what is harmful. (2 Sam. 11:35 is appealed to here since it appears that Barzillai is not speaking of moral discernment, but of his capacity to appreciate pleasure; cf. RSV.) Either idea would fit here.

Oswalt, John N.. The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 1–39 (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) . Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

The responses to the prior passage would also be useful for this passage, but we should also note that Original sin isn’t stating that children have the mechanism to know how they ought to act or not. We have no reason to think 2-year-olds can articulate the difference between manslaughter and murder. I don’t maintain that those before a certain age are actively committing sins. That is a different claim. The conversation is rather whether children are from when the are conceived innocent.

Romans 9:11

¹¹ For though her sons had not been born yet or done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to election might stand— ¹² not from works but from the one who calls—she was told, The older will serve the younger.

I don’t maintain that humans from conception are actively committing sins and this is talking about sinful actions. Once again, not relevant to original sin and no biblical contradiction of Rom. 5.

http://spirited-tech.com/2019/02/12/leighton-flowers-on-romans-8/

http://spirited-tech.com/2018/02/08/pots-potters-and-flowers/

1 Corinthians 14:20

²⁰ Brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your thinking, but be infants in regard to evil and adult in your thinking.

Paul is telling Christians that they ought to experience evil like infants. That means they aren’t supposed to commit sins because sin doesn’t grant wisdom. This is no different than the prior point that infants aren’t active agents of sin. That doesn’t mean they are born in a state of innocence.