The Truth About Salvation — Page 20
Hazrat Mirza Bashir-ud-Din Mahmud Ahmad 20 Therefore, this particular Christian belief is without foundation. ATONEMENT AND INHERITED SIN When it is put to Christians that human beings are responsible for their own sins, they say that whereas people can be forgiven for their own wrongdoings, they cannot save themselves from inherited sin unless they believe in atonement. However, this notion is flawed; the offence from which inherited sin emerged was committed by Adam as and for which the following was suggested as a punishment: The Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. ’ To the woman he said, ‘I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. ’ And to the man he said, ‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree