Original Shame or Inherited Shame?

Another thought - provoked by "Reframation": at the Nazarene Theological College we talked about how Inherited Depravity made more sense than Original Sin; then we looked at the idea of Inherited Deprivation (deprived of the Holy Spirit).

How about if we looked at Original Shame? That is what we find in Genesis 3. When Adam hears the sound of God walking in the garden he hides because he was naked and ashamed. He doesn't hide because he feels guilty!

So that age-old problem of how sin is transmitted down the generations disappears and is replaced with shame being transmitted down the generations, and that is easy, because no one had perfect parents (not even you!)

We inherit shame from our parents ("Shame on you" is what we hear, not "Guilt on you"); ("You should be ashamed of yourself", not, "You should feel guilty".)

In the Old Testament 'guilt' and its derivatives is found 145 times and 10 times in the New Testament. 'Shame' and its derivatives is found 300 times in the Old Testament and 45 times in the New Testament.

So maybe we don't have to make people feel guilty for breaking a Law that wasn't intended for them after all. Maybe we just point to Jesus, hanging naked on a cross for us, and realise that He took all our shame onto himself.

Adam hid because he was naked; Jesus was exposed to the world naked!