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Volume 7 Hamartiology – The Doctrine of Sin.

Table of Contents

Volume 7 Hamartiology – The Doctrine of Sin. 5

Chapter 1 Hamartiology Introduction 6

Chapter 2 The Genesis of Sin. 8

In the Beginning. 8

Before the Flood. 9

After the flood. 11

In the Seed-Line of Christ. 14

Jacob's Sons Become Israel 16

In a Trace Through the Whole Old Testament 18

Chapter 3 Cambron's Hamartiology 20

I. The Origin of Sin 22

II. The Reality of Sin 22

III. The Nature of Sin 23

IV. The Extent of Sin 26

V. The Realm of Sin 27

VI. The Penalty of Sin 27

Chapter 4 Etymology of Sin. 31

The Hebrew Words for Sin 32

The Use of Khat-taw' as “Intensively” From the Root 34

The Hebrew Word for Abomination 37

The Hebrew Word for Wicked and Evil 42

The Hebrew Word for Iniquity 43

The Hebrew Word for Ungodly 43

Etymology of Sin in Greek 44

Chapter 5 Critique of Dr. Chafer's Hamartiology. 45

Chapter 6 Hamartiology Conclusion 48

Bibliography for Hamartiology 49

As a USAF retired systems engineer turned Baptist Preacher of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and armed with a staunch belief in the preserved accuracy of the inspired Scriptures, I praise the Lord that he has provided me the unique opportunity to assemble “A Systematic Theology for the 21^st Century.”

As a systems engineer for thirty years (since 1972), I focused on systems analysis. Systematic theology has intrigued me ever since my first Bible institute course in 1975. I have amassed multiple systematic theology books and never found one that is wholly Biblical. In 2013 my seminary work at Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary, under Dr. Steven Pettey, assigned me to read and analyze six volumes of “Systematic Theology” by Lewis Sperry Chafer, the founder and previous president of Dallas Theological Seminary. Initial critique of this neo-evangelical's voluminous, wordy, often unorganized work, answered the question, “Is there not a cause?” A Systematic Theology for the 21st Century is indeed a valid need. It cried out to be written and it was a work that I was privileged to endeavor.

God says he built man with an inner knowledge of the Creator's eternal power and Godhead. Further, God reveals from heaven, to every man, his wrath against all ungodliness. This true Light “lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” The Bible says the righteous God, The LORD of hosts, tries the reins and the heart of every man. The prophet Jeremiah writes of God, “I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” The psalmist says, “my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.” With his tugs on the reins of your heart, you have come far in your studies, be sure that you have come to a knowledge and submissive acceptance of God's only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The beloved Apostle John wrote, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

Every Bible student is encouraged to follow through a list of Bible verses called by some the Romans road to heaven. The believing Bible student is encouraged to memorize them. That quintessential list of verses is John 3:16-19, 36, 5:24, Romans 3:10, 23, 5:8, 12, 18-19, 6:23, and 10:9-13. That last reference is God's formal acceptance policy for your receiving his free gift of salvation and eternal life. Got life? The beloved Apostle John writes, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” Selah! It is Hebrew for “go-figure”, and it intends that you pause, meditate, and consider what you just read.

After due consideration of the sole source of a systematic theology an appropriate course of study would entail the study of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. That is course of study for Volume 03 – Theology, Volume 04 – Christology and Volume 05 – Pneumatology. Such a discipline establishes a foundation for the other studies of this systematic theology.

When I began work on my Ph.D. in 2014 I set a goal to finish this Systematic Theology for the 21^st Century in a five year period. When I finished my Ph.D. in 2017, I reestablished the same goal. This year, after publishing at least a draft of all twelve volumes in 2019, the goal remains. My plea for critique and correction also remains the same. I prefer friendly and constructive critique, but have found the hostile ones to be enlightening and beneficial for rounding out a stronger defense of truth. Feel free to engage in this effort, the many inputs I have received have strengthened the cause.

Chapter 1 Hamartiology Introduction

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known:There is no fear of God before their eyes.... For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;... Rom 3:10-18, 23

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Romans 7:7-11

Man's plight in this world is sin, in Greek hamartia; thus “Hamartiology” is the expansion of all that could be said about sin. In this systematic theology it is all that can be Biblically said about sin, and herein “Biblically” means from a fully believed, inerrant, infallible, verbally inspired, holy Bible. God's Word clearly states, “Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). That explanation then continues to show the one and only solution to sin; “Therefore as by the offence of one (Adam) judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one (Jesus the Christ) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience (Adam) many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one (Christ) shall many be made righteous“ (Romans 5:18-19).

The Apostle Paul's Epistle to the Romans then goes on, in what is commonly called “The Romans Road to Salvation,” to reveal that there is a formal acceptance that man must do in order to be “converted,” as Jesus put it in Matthew 18:3, or to be “born-again” as he put it in John 3:3-16, or to be saved from condemnation as he put it in John 3:17-18, and to have “everlasting life” as he put it in John 3:36. That formal acceptance is this, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10). If you have come this far in your studies without participating in that formal acceptance I beseech you to wit of your plight and of God's simple and sole solution. If, perhaps, you have come this far, in your studies and not recently shared that simple gospel message with another, I beseech you to talk with ten or so and find their reaction to this gospel message; that will make your studies in hamartiology so much more pertinent.

To begin this study with reasonable ease we shall first look at the Genesis of Sin, the Doctrine of Sin, and the Etymology of Sin. After gaining that depth we will critique some other systematic theology works and their hamartiology.

Chapter 2 The Genesis of Sin.

In the Beginning.

In six days God created the universe that we know. Each evening, and twice on Tuesday, God observed that it was good. On the sixth day he created man in his image and likeness. Saturday was man's first day of existence and it was a day of rest. Sunday was the first day of the first week of the universe's existence and it found Adam and Eve at peace with their environment, at peace with each other, and at peace with their Creator. They called it shalome.

When God, during the six day creation period, created the heavens (plural), “and all that in them is”, he created the heavenly hosts. One group of these heavenly hosts were called angels and the triune God who created man as a trichotomy, with body, soul and spirit, organized his angels under three archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. The latter of these three rebelled against God and determined to pull God's favored in creation into his rebellion.

Satan, the opposer of God, as fallen Lucifer got labeled, entered into the most subtle creature to entice man from his blessed position. The woman, the weaker vessel, listened to his arguments; Satan convinced her that God was withholding good, and she needed fruit from the tree that would give her knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve left their trust in their Creator, disobeyed him, and took fruit from the forbidden tree. The consequence of trusting Satan and disobeying God was immediate shame, fear, and broken peace. The peace they had with their environment was broken, the peace and trust they had with each other was broken, and the peace and fellowship they had with their Creator was broken. Sin in the Garden of Eden, and in our world today, destroys our harmony with nature, with each other, and with God. It's universal.

The consequences of sin reach into every area and relationship of life. Sin is associated with an evil power that pursues humanity's harm. Sin is disobedience to God. Sin is destructive in its results. Sin calls for judgment from God and his justice requires its punishment.

The universal devastating consequence of sin is emphasized in all that the LORD pronounced in sin's inception. The serpent was cursed, crawled on his belly, ate dust, and terrified women. He would one day have his head kicked in by the “seed of woman.” The woman had multiplied sorrow and was to be ruled by the husband. The man saw the ground he was made from cursed, in sorrow he would eat its fruit, it would require the sweat of his brow, and in time consume the body God had put him in. The man, the woman, and the serpent were cast from the Garden of Eden and kept from the Tree of life.

In his book, “Against God and Nature” evangelical theologian Thomas McCall summarizes this inception of sin:

The biblical story of “the fall” ... is as simple and straightforward as it is short. Yet this account is crucial for understanding the biblical drama. It portrays the situation before the fall, it assumes human responsibility for the actions that could have been avoided, and it shows us that the consequences of sin reach into every area and relationship of life. Everything—the integrity of the first human persons, their mutual relations, their relationship to their environment, and ultimately their relation to their Creator—is fundamentally wrecked by what they have done.¹

Before the Flood.

As God's saga of sin's destructive consequences unfolds, Cain, humanity's firstborn son, becomes the first first degree murderer. The tiller of the ground does not pay a life for a life, but God curses the ground to this firstborn of Adam, more so than it was cursed to Adam. It needs to be recognized early on that this firstborn “seed” held promise for being the one who was to “bruise” the head of Satan, and Satan, the evil power that pursues humanity's harm, was indeed involved in the ruin of God's firstborn and second-born options for man's redemption.

Springing from the line of Cain is Lamech. The vice and selfishness of sin is graphic in Lamech's two wives and humanity's second murderer. The line of Cain is become vile and unusable to God. The fourth chapter of Genesis closes with God starting up a whole new seed-line, a Godly line, that would bring in one to kick in Satan's head. A hundred-and-thirty years into the universe's history Seth is born. The introduction of this new seed-line is crystal clear in Scripture.

And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD (Genesis 4:24-26).

To further accent this new seed-line wherein “men began to call upon the name of the LORD”, God highlights, in the next chapter, that Adam was made in God's likeness, and Seth was begat in Adam's own likeness and after his image (5:1-3).² It does not surprise the genuine Bible student that the Godly line of man, those that call upon the name of the LORD, are to be called the “sons of God.”³ There is staged in this Genesis of sin some clear battle lines wherein that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world,⁴ strategically tries to destroy every seed-line of God. This pursuit to destroy the seed-line of God's promised Messiah is prophesied in the Serpent's ability to bruise his heel, and is a central theme threaded throughout the Old Testament. Satan is nipping at the heels of the Messiah all through this saga. Ultimately Satan fails in this endeavor and the Messiah, the Christ, is alive, victorious over sin and death, crushing Satan's head.

The fifth chapter of Genesis also recites “and he died” seven times and therein emphasizes that the wages of sin is death. It further gives the entire history of man in a careful, traceable, year-by-year documentation. For the Bible believer there is no prehistoric event. Finally after 1,556 years of God's recorded history of humanity in sin, “It repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth” (Genesis 6:6).

God's summary of man's fallen estate and his depravity in sin is, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (6:5).

After the flood.

After the world flood, and its cataclismic affect on man's environment, God assigns man the task of keeping man's gross appetite for sin in check. God commands Noah, “Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man” (9:6).

For the second time in the universe's history man was charged to replenish the earth. Every human is a descendant of the eight soul who survived the world flood on Noah's Ark. For the next three-hundred-and-fifty years of Noah's life, the four families that walked off of that Ark and made sacrifices to the Jehovah God who had shewed them his tender mercy preached the creation, grace, mercy, and judgment of a holy triune God to every descendant. The world religions that oozed from those descendants all carry seeds of that preaching.

But the universal causality and destruction of sin spread over those descendants and they said, “Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.... Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Gen 11). That seems subtle, but the all righteous God saw the rebellion and pride in man's depravity and scattered the descendants of Noah into individual nations by language.

The peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues were scattered from Babylon, but take note of man's depravity and understand that the symbolic name “Babylon” would rise a couple more times before God orchestrates its final destruction. “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen,” is the theme of Revelation 17 and 18. The account of Babylon's inception is Bible fact that propagates powerful insight to man's depravity.

As the descendants of Noah, with confounded languages, scattered over the altered globe they took with them kernels of truth about the triune God, about creation and sin, about judgment and grace. Kernels that were preached to them by Noah for the two-hundred and fifty years since the flood. Noah continued to preach in the world's original language of Hebrew (Noah's language was not confounded) and in his last hundred years of preaching he saw God fulfill his promise and call Abram his chosen seed.

At this point in the Genesis narrative the focus divides. The universal character of sin is still in view, but there is a promise of a redeemer that now crests into view. Of all the newly founded nations and languages God chooses to raise up a new nation from Noah's line of Shem. He calls Abram and promises him that his seed will be a blessing to the whole earth.

Although the Genesis focus now highlights the miracle birth of Abram's only begotten son, the vile character of sin rears up in the story to remind us that all have sinned. Abram believes God and it is counted unto him for righteousness, but he did not much trust God to keep him alive. First down in Egypt, and then much later right in Gerar, Abram fears for his life and selfishly asks his wife to lie about being his wife. Like father, like son, Isaac pulls the exact same caper when he stayed in Gerar. Go figure.

For the scattered nations, called heathen, sexual sin reaches a crescendo in Sodom and Gomorrah. In the Bible the word “fornication” reaches to any sexual act that is “foreign” to God's holy intent for a married couples sexual intercourse. Nothing is more foreign to that relationship than men, leaving the natural use of a woman, and having sex with a man. It is an abomination to God and it is labeled sodomy because of Genesis chapter 18 and 19. Since nineteen hundred years before Christ sodomy has been the sexual deviant act that shakes a fist at the Creator and defies God's authority. In Genesis 19:24 the LORD rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah and created the deadness of the Dead Sea seen to this day.

Even as Sodom and Gomorrah mark the crescendo of sexual sin for depraved man, the crescendo of religious sin is found in man's pursuit of idolatry in the rest of Canaan's land. Being unfaithful to Jehovah God in worship is the figurative side of “fornication.” Whereas sodomy is judged with fire and brimstone from the LORD God, the foreign worship of the “ites” in Canaan land was to be judged by God ordered genocide.⁵ They are to be given time, about four generations, because “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” the Bible says. But all the land of Canaan is then to be taken by God's chosen people Israel. “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob,... And I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers.” God later clarifies to Israel, “Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.”

In the Seed-Line of Christ.

As the sexual and spiritual depravity of the heathen nations blooms, Satan's battle to destroy the first born of the “sons of God” blooms in the Jacob and Esau account. The father pleasing, wild-game killing, outdoors-man, versus the lying, cheating, manipulating, mama's boy demonstrates, again, that God does the impossible in bringing his promised seed into his promised land in order to save mankind from his lost estate. For the promised seed-line, in the book of Genesis at least, sin reaches a crescendo in Jacob and his twelve sons.

Let's start with Jacob's propensity for lying, cheating, and stealing. Likely trying to fulfill God's prophecy Jacob buys the birthright from Esau, his older (by minutes) brother (recall that Jacob came out holding Esau's heel, and reflect on Genesis 3:15 once more). Rebekah, Jacob's mother, is instrumental in teaching him the manipulations for deceiving Isaac, his father, and stealing the inheritance blessing. Men lead by confrontation, women by manipulation and conflict avoidance; remember the curse God put on woman leadership. Jacob was a true mama's boy.

Jacob leaves home and enters God's reform school. He tries to make a tithing deal with God himself and is about to learn that, for sin, whatsoever man soweth that shall he also reap. His Uncle Laban cheats him out of seven years labor and sets him up with a dysfunctional home that pales the dysfunction in his own upbringing. But Jacob comes right back with a manipulating, lying, cheating scheme of his own.

Some Bible students miss the deplorable depths of Jacob's trickery, but when I was a lad my friend, Bernie and I spent our summer building a raft to do a Huck-Finn sail down the Tioga River. We stripped bark from green poplar, and of the hazel and chesnut tree and used the bark to tie the raft-logs together. We spent the next two months ringstraked, speckled, and spotted, and our cloths, if they could to be found, are ringstraked, speckled, and spotted to this day. There is little doubt about what Jacob was doing in chapter 30.

Also I milked cows in my first meaningful employment, and when a cow did not come to the barn because she dropped her new calf there were only two places in the hundred acre pasture we looked to find her. Cattle drop their young at watering holes. Make no mistake, Jacob was herein at the height of his skill for lying, cheating and stealing. Some attribute Jacob's putting pilled rods before the eyes of the stronger cattle in the gutters, that they might “conceive” among the rods, as some superstitious rite that affected hereditary traits in cattle, some call it voodoo, some suppose that Jacob had become a genius with hereditary concepts and that all this was on the up-and-up. A farm-boy who knows the dying capability of pilled rods and the calving practices of cows will never go down such a fools trail. Jacob was a lying cheat.

But wait, there is more. In the next chapter Jacob spearheads a lying rationalization for his actions. Liars often do this. He is cavalier in lying to his two wives. Your father deceived me, changed my wages ten times, but God protected me. In Jacob's lie God caused the cattle to bare ringstraked and spotted. This lying is going so well that Jacob sites a vision from God himself, and a voice that said, “see all the rams which leap upon the cattle... they are ringstraked and spotted.”

If one reads the fifty-five verses of chapter thirty-one without seeing the deplorable depths of Jacob's depravity they have missed the whole point that God is making here. God's reform school for Jacob does not take effect until he wrestles with God, seeks his blessing, and is again asked the question, “What is your name?” The last time Jacob sought a blessing, he lied about his name. Don't miss the significance.

At this point Jacob's name is changed to Israel. God changed Jacob, so God changed Jacob's name. From here to the end of Genesis you can see who is in play, old man Jacob, of new man Israel, by the name God assigns in his text. The old man Jacob, trickster and deceiver, or the new man Israel, the man who had power with God.

The saga of sin in the Godly line, the seed-line of Messiah, a people called “sons of God,” is not yet concluded in Genesis, but jump, if you would, to the closing chapters of Jacob's life. His favored son, Joseph asks him to manipulate, lie, and deceive Pharaoh about his occupation. Five of Israel's sons say, “Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers.” I say, “Israel's sons” not “Jacob's sons.” This is a marvelous unfolding of God's ability to change the heart of man.

Jacob's Sons Become Israel

Jacob had twelve sons and their descendants became the twelve tribes of Israel. From one of these sons there will come the Messiah, the promised “seed of woman,” that would stomp Satan's head. It is like God is playing a shell game with Satan, only instead of three shells God uses twelve. Satan destroys seed-lines and God restores his seed-line in unlikely ways and unlikely people. It is marvelous to watch the process, at least it is for those who understand what is going on, and do not have God's hands tied by a Westminster Confession or John Calvin's fatalism.

Satan first targets the firstborn, they hold the birth right. Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, defiles his father's bed (35:22, 1Chron 5:1), and just in case that birth right went to Rachel's firstborn, Satan orchestrates that Joseph was to be killed by his brethren. But God intervenes, saves Joseph, has him sold into Egypt and uses him to save Israel and the world from dire famine. God knew, but Satan did not, that God's seed-line genealogy was not to be reckoned after the birthright (1Chron 5:1).

Satan must have been sure that Joseph was God's chosen seed. He took the fight to destroy him all the way to Egypt. God marvelously intervenes in this battle and uses Joseph to paint a stupendous mosaic of his Messiah. Just as Joseph was used to save Israel and the world, more so God was to use his Only Begotten Son to do just that. But, alas, Joseph is not the seed-line for the coming Messiah.

Make no mistake, God could have used anyone of the twelve sons of Israel to bring in the Messiah. The ongoing contest with mans rebellious heart and Satan's conniving tactics is just that, “ongoing.” Protestant fatalists who hold God to their creed that, “God did from all eternity... freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass...”⁶ must simply miss the whole contest. In fact their fallacy makes them miss all the ongoing contests that are replete in the Bible and in life. Don't be a fatalist, be a Bible student.

As for Simeon and Levi their anger was fierce and their wrath was cruel. Captured in Chapter 34, their cruelty is profane because it mixes the holy with their trickery and deceitful vengeance. They behaved with the depravity of their father before them, and Jacob's eight-count “I-me” response in verse 30 says he recognized his own reflection.

Midstream in the Joseph account God inserts the downfall of Judah. Interwoven in the Genesis of Sin there is a marvelous Genesis of Messiah. The involvement of Satan in each scenario can easily be lost in the “natural” unfolding of the depravity of man. Satan's deceit is surely present, but the focus and emphasis is always on the depravity of man. So to God's involvement in turning man to right and securing for himself a seed-line for the Messiah is often illusive and only found with purposeful attention. Joseph's clarifying conclusion, “Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day to save much people alive” (Genesis 50:20), clarifies more than Joseph's plight.

So unfolds the failure of Judah in Genesis 38. The failure of human reasoning, and the presence of human rebellion and human depravity is intertwined in the contest, as is the involvement of Satan. Satan pursues the destruction of man. The allowance, the providence, and the involvement of God in these circumstances is not always clear cut, but it is always genuinely present. Judah unwittingly treats his daughter in law as his harlot. It is a display of depravity, but God allows (or puts) such depravity in the very seed-line of his Messiah.

In the Gospel According to Matthew, in its opening paragraphs, God gives the seed-line of the Messiah. Every time he brakes cadence in the begat-sequence he emphasizes the failures of man and the mercy of his providence. The first two such irregularities catch our attention in the Genesis accounting. Jacob, the Bible says, “begat Judas and his brethren.” Any one of the brethren could have been in the seed-line; the saga unfolds in real time, not in fatalistic time. Then it says, “Judah begat Phares and Zara of Thamar.” Your research into Genesis 38 uncovers the incestuous harlotry involved this broken cadence. The inclusion of both Phares and Zara uncovers the firstborn vs second born contest that is ongoing in Satan's tactics and the Genesis account. When you read the account of their birth, it uncovers God's humor as he plays with Satan's thinking.

The depths of this ongoing contest, and the subtleness of its presentation, cause many students to glaze over it completely. The workings of Satan, the depravity of man, and the interventions of God should be in the careful focus of any genuine student of the Genesis of Sin. The Genesis of Messiah is so embedded in the saga that it might require another whole research paper of that title. Let the genuine Bible student see the depth of this Genesis and come away with a more clear vision of God's great love.

In a Trace Through the Whole Old Testament

Make no mistake about this ongoing battle against the seed of Abraham, it is the theme of thirty-nine books of the Old Testament. In Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy the twelve tribes of Israel are bolstered with God's law, testimonies, ways, precepts, statutes, commandments, judgments, i.e. God's Word (the eight synonym list is from Psalm 119's octets), but then from Joshua to Malachi (Yehoshua to Divrei Ha-Yamim in your Hebrew Bible) the whole battle line unfolds. It is the big picture.

Sin crescendos in Israel with King Omri (1Kings 16:25 “But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all that were before him....”) and then in King Ahab (16:30, 33 “And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.... And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.”). At the same time in the righteous chosen line a righteous king crescendos in Hezekiah (2Kings 18:5 “He (Hezekiah) trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him.” But then that chosen seed-line seems lost and Satan, strong on the heel, seems victorious when God shuts down the seed-line of Kings in Jeremiah 22:29-30 “O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.”

So many Bible students miss this whole seed-line drama when they don't “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” God springs-one-over on that old Serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He has latched on to Christ's heel, but God has another seed-line tracking through Jechonias (Matthew 1:12) and another whole seed-line for his “seed of woman” through Nathan, which was the son of David (Luke 3:31). Just as many miss the forest for the trees, many Bible students never see this battle for the seed-line in this light. Far to many suppose that none of it is even in real time, they suppose it is just something a distant God had providentially laid out before the foundation of the earth. Don't be orthodox, accepting the misleading notions of catholics and Protestants, be a genuine Bible student. God works in ones daily life, and the choices they make, the attitudes they entertain, the prayers they make or lack, are all at play in a larger picture that they need to be conscious of.

Chapter 3 Cambron's Hamartiology

The doctrine of sin is a necessary study in a systematic theology for a thoroughness in understanding man's dilemma and the miracle of God's remedy. Such a study could begin with a very basic Bible doctrine as found in Bancroft's excellent, Elemental Theology – Chapter 6 The Doctrine of Sin (Hamartiology)⁷ but it is indeed elemental in that all he covered was the meaning, fact, and extent of sin. Dr. Cambron expanded this doctrine coverage to cover the origin, reality, nature, extent, realm, and penalty of sin. That thoroughness establishes the foundation for this doctrine in this systematic theology effort. After studying the doctrine from Cambron's work Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer's hamartiology is the only other systematic theology critiqued. Dr. Cambron's extensive baseline for this doctrine, is quite thorough and adequate.

There is no truer, or more thorough, published, Baptist, and Biblical doctrine than that of Dr. Mark G. Cambron.⁸ His teachings on Bible Doctrine at Tennessee Temple Bible School thoroughly lay the foundation for this present work of systematic theology. His book, Bible Doctrines⁹ will, with the permission of the Cambron Institute¹⁰, be given in block quotes throughout this effort. The book is readily available through http://www.thecambroninstitute.org, and it forms the foundation for this systematic theology.¹¹

Believing in the verbal inspiration of the Holy Scriptures and believing that every single word is directly chosen by God, it is prudent here to preserve and defend the doctrines extracted from Scripture and presented by Dr. Cambron. Below, in a block quote of his book, is his extensive analysis of hamartiology: [block quote of Dr. Cambron's Bible Doctrines page 135-145 (Zondervan 175-184)]

Hamartiology is derived from the Greek word, hamartia, meaning “sin.” Thus, hamartiology is the doctrine of sin.

I. The Origin of Sin

Turning to Ezekiel 28:11-19 we see that it was Lucifer who brought sin into the universe: “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee” (v. 17). There was no sin before Lucifer sinned and became the Devil — Satan. His sin, the first in the universe, was when he chose his will over God’s will, desiring to be equal with God. Why did God allow sin to enter into the universe? This is one question God has not answered as yet.

As there is sin in the human race, there must have been a beginning of sin. If there is no beginning of sin, man was created in sin. Thus, God is the creator of sin; but He is not. Sin came into the human race through deception and disobedience, motivated by unbelief. “Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression” (I Tim. 2:14). Why did God allow man to sin? The only possible answer we can give is Ephesians 2:7: “That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”

II. The Reality of Sin

“All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). “The Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe” (Gal. 3:22).

“We know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together unto now” (Rom. 8:22).

“By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). The Apostle Paul thought that he was free from sin until he looked into the mirror of God’s law: “Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet” (Rom. 7:7b).

The experiences of Moses, David, Peter and John reveal the facts of sin. Even your own experience substantiates it.

1. Saints Have Owned Up to It. It was Job who said, “I am vile, and I abhor myself.” Isaiah declared, “Woe is me, for I am undone.” Daniel, of whom no breath of sin is mentioned, said, “My comeliness was turned into corruption.” Jeremiah confessed, “I am black.” Peter cried, “Depart from me, I am a sinful man.” Paul stated, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” Luther revealed, “I am afraid more of my heart than the Pope and all the Cardinals.” Moody said, “The man I have the most trouble with is the man who walks under my hat.”

2. Sinners have Owned Up to It. The Scriptures abound with the confession of the sinner and his sin: Pharaoh declared, “I have sinned this time” (Ex. 9:27b). Achan answered, “Indeed I have sinned” (Josh. 7:20b). Balaam admitted, “I have sinned,” (Num. 22:34b). Even Judas, who betrayed the Lord, said, “I have sinned” (Matt. 27:4).

III. The Nature of Sin

1. Sin Is Missing the Mark. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). See also Romans 5:12. Sin means “to miss the divine aim of God.”

2. Sin Is Transgression. “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). Transgression of the law may be deliberate or unintentional. Either is sin. There was sin before the law, but there was no transgression. See Numbers 4:15; Joshua 7:11, 15; Isaiah 24:5; Daniel 9:11; Hosea 6:7; 8:1.

3. Sin Is Bending of That Which Is Right. “Righteous” means straight. Sin is the bending of that which was once straight. “David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father’s house” (II Sam. 24:17). See also Romans 1:18; 6:13; II Thessalonians 2:12; II Peter 2:15; I John 5:17.

4. Sin Is Rebellion Against God. “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me” (Is. 1:2). See also II Thessalonians 2:4, 8.

5. Sin Is a Debt. “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matt. 6:12). See also Luke 11:4. The words “duty” (Luke 17:10), “ought” (John 13:14) and “bound” (II Thess. 2:13) are all from the same Greek word denoting debt.

6. Sin Is Disobedience. Sin is a lack of response to God. “In time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2). See also Ephesians 5:6; John 3:36, R. V.

7. Sin Is a Deviation From God’s Requirement. This means a fall; every offense against God is a fall. Sin is always a fall that hurts. “If ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matt. 6:14). See also Galatians 6:1; Romans 5:15-20.

8. Sin Is Unbelief. “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son” (I John 5:10).

9. Sin Is Impiety, or Ungodliness. “To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4:5). “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6). See also I Timothy 1:9; I Peter 4:18; II Peter 2:5, 7; Jude 4, 15.

10. Sin Is Iniquity. By this we mean a wrong doing to the moral order of the universe. [p141]

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19-21). See also Colossians 3:5-9; Mark 7:19, 20.

“All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death” (I John 5:17). See also I John 3:4; Proverbs 14:21; 21:4; 24:9; Romans 3:23; 6:23; I Samuel 15:23; Jeremiah 3:25; 14:7; James 2:9; 4:17; Romans 14:23.

5. Sin is lack of conformity with God or His moral law in act, disposition, or state.

a. Rebellion. “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry” (I Sam. 15:23a).

b. Failure to Love God Supremely. “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deut. 6:5).

a. Willful Transgression. “The soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people” (Num. 15:30).

b. Violation Through Ignorance. “If any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering” (Num. 15:27). See also Hebrews 9:7.

a. Injustice. “Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning” (Lev. 19:13).

b. Failure to Love Him as One’s Self. “Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge [p142] against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the LORD” (Lev. 19:18).

a. Selfishness. “What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26).

b. Corruption. “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Ps. 51:5).

IV. The Extent of Sin

The Scriptures reveal the fact that both sin and salvation began in heaven and came to earth. Sin began in heaven with the fall of Satan (Ezek. 28). Salvation is completed in heaven with the mediatorial work of Christ (Heb. 9:24).

1. The Vegetable Kingdom. “Unto Adam he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying. Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field” (Gen. 3:17, 18). Isaiah 53:13 reveals the blessed fact that the curse shall be taken off of the vegetable kingdom when Christ comes: “Instead of the thorn, shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

2. The Animal Kingdom. Before the fall of man there were no man-eating animals. Isaiah 11:6-9 tells us that this curse also shall be removed at Christ’s second coming: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”

a. The Universality of Sin. All men are sinners: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23).

b. The Totality of Sin. All of man is sinful — his body, soul and spirit. “They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. . . . there is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them that are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Rom. 3:12, 18, 19.) [p143]

V. The Realm of Sin

VI. The Penalty of Sin

This can best be illustrated by the example of a child who was forbidden to eat of a certain food. He disobeyed and ate too much, with the result that he became sick. The natural consequence of his disobedience was his illness. The natural penalty of sin is disease, disappointment and physical death.

To continue with the above example, we find that the natural penalty was the child’s becoming sick. The positive penalty is the spanking he received from his father. The positive penalty of sin is described by the following:

1. Death. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Death, in Scripture, never means “annihilation” or “complete destruction.” There is no place in the Word where the word “annihilation” can be substituted for “death.”

a. Spiritual Death. “She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth” (I Tim. 5:6).

b. Eternal Death. “Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Rev. 20:14). “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed . . . in the flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power” (II Thess. 1:7, 8, 9). See also Revelation 20:12; 21:8. There was no death before sin came into man’s life. Man was created to dwell with God forever. Death is said to have “passed upon all men” (Rom. 5:12). The word “passed” is translated “pierced through” in Luke 2:35; “go through” in Matthew 19:24; and “passed through” in I Corinthians 10:1. [p144]

2. Lost. “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12). The word “lost” is the same as the words “perish” (John 3:16) and “destroy” (Matt. 10:28).

3. Condemned. “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already; because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). The word “condemnation” is a legal term, and indicates judicial decision. This same word, “condemnation,” is “damnation” in John 5:29, and “judgment” in Matthew 11:22, 24; II Peter 2:4, 9; 3:7; I John 4:17; Jude 6.

4. Guilt. “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Rom. 3:19).

5. Perdition. “Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that . . . I may hear . . . that ye stand fast in one spirit. . . in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God” (Phil. 1:27, 28). See also John 17:12; II Thessalonians 2:3; Hebrews 10:39; II Peter 3:7; Revelation 17:8, 11. This same word “perdition” is translated “destruction” in Matthew 7:13: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.” See also Romans 9:22; Philippians 3:19; II Peter 3:16. (In the New Testament the word “destruction” means “ruin”.) In Matthew 26:8 it is translated “waste”: “When his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste?” The word “perish” in Matthew 9:17 is the same word as “perdition”: “Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”

6. Punishment. “These shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matt. 25:46). There is a difference between the above Scripture and Hebrews 12:6: “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” Punishment is for the sinner; chastisement for the saint.

7. Eternal — Everlasting. “These shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matt. 25:46). See also Jude 6; II Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 20:10; 14:11.

Some say that the words “everlasting” and “eternal” mean “a long life, an age, age lasting.” In other words, they say that guilty sinners will endure the fires of hell only for an age; after being purified, they shall enjoy eternal bliss with the rest of the saints of God. But this we add, “If hell and punishment are not forever, then there is no such thing as eternal life, nor eternal salvation.” The same word “eternal,” or “everlasting,” is used of God, “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:14). “The revelation of the mystery... now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith” (Rom. 16:26). If the punishment in hell for the damned is not eternal, then salvation is not eternal, and God is not eternal! But He is! So is salvation eternal; so is punishment. [p145]

Chapter 4 Etymology of Sin.

Theology must include word studies if it is to be thorough. Bible doctrine is enhanced and given depth by studying the words that God used to capture a concept. Good doctrine cannot be attained by word studies alone. In the Bible much rides on the context of a word, but good doctrine cannot be thorough without word studies. Etymology, the study of the history of a word, especially when applied to God's words, provides a depth to theology that cannot otherwise be reached. God's Words were recorded for us first in Hebrew and it is appropriate that we begin a study of sin with the Hebrew words he used.

It is important to first study the words that God used because they give the greatest insight to a topic, they are more sure words than their English translation, and because, even for a non-Hebrew student, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance¹² enables a very powerful word tracing capability. James Strong made an exhaustive numeric-alphabetical list of every Hebrew word used in the Bible and then cross-referenced each of those words with the English word translation made by the fifty-seven expert linguists that took seven years to translate the Authorized King James Bible. It is quickly seen in that exhaustive concordance that God's more sure Hebrew words ended up translated into various English equivalents, and a word search of the English words does not always show the Hebrew words of origin. The greatest insight, then, comes from a trace and study of the Hebrew words God used in any particular instance. This method of word study in no way mitigates the perfection of King James English translation, in fact, for an honest student, it makes it all the more evident. There is no better English translation of God's individual words or of his whole Bible, and their never will be. However, when studying a topic like sin, tracing the Hebrew word's God used to frame it is invaluable, that is, it has incalculable monetary, intellectual, and spiritual worth.

The Hebrew Words for Sin

The words God used to express man's sin are important in comprehending the depths of sin. In its first use the LORD tells Cain, “Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin [02403 חטאה chatta’ah khat-taw-aw’ or חטאת chatta’th khat-tawth’] lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” (Gen4:7). In context this declaration was made when the LORD had respect unto Able and to his offering, but not to Cain and to his offering. In preaching this verse the late Dr. Jack Hyles implied it was a “sin offering” that lied at the door, and that Cain could make things right by ruling over that sin offering. This might have aptly fit the use of this Hebrew word, khat-taw-aw’ , which is translated “sin offering” 116 times in the King James Bible, and translated “sin” 182 times, but the next verse implies that Cain opened the door to sin, sin's desire had its way with Cain, and Cain did not rule over sin. In verse 8 the firstborn man became the first first degree murderer.

It is obvious that this Hebrew word khat-taw-aw’ ¹³ needs a closer examination. In Hebrew, words come from primitive roots. Just as “appropriately” comes from a primitive root “appropriate”¹⁴, khat-taw-aw’ , as well as khat-aw-aw’ [2401], khat-taw' [2400], and khate [2399], come from the verb and primitive root khaw-taw'.¹⁵ This primitive root carries the meaning “to miss, to miss the way, to go wrong, to incur guilt, to miss the goal or path of of right and duty, and incur penalty.”¹⁶ This root definition is not meant to imply that a person is always doing the best that they can, they just accidentally miss the mark, no, it is seen in God's first use of the word that Cain, as men often do, let sin run its course on purpose. The very best that man can do will miss the mark, and man is not generally found to be doing their very best.

The second use of this Hebrew word for sin is found in Genesis 13:13, “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners [02400 חטא chatta’ khat-taw’, intensively from 02398; n m/adj] before the LORD exceedingly.” The context of this verse shows the “exceeding” sinfulness of these sinners, and so to does Strong's Concordance which shows that this noun is “intensively” from the primitive root 02398. That is such a curiosity that a quest to fined all eighteen uses of this Hebrew form is worth ones effort. Look first at Genesis 13:13, and recognize that “sodomy” is derived from the exceeding sinfulness found in Sodom and Gomorrah, and no matter how tenaciously sodomites cling to a rainbow in this century, they are standing in line for a judgment from God for their exceeding sinfulness. Sodomy, specifically, is any sexual intercourse that leaves “the natural use of the woman” and engages in “that which is against nature” (Romans 1).

The rainbow signified that God would not judge the world with another flood of water, not that God would not judge sin. Ironically queers cling to the rainbow as their symbol and suppose, with the false teachings of apostate Christendom, that they will not be judged for their sin. They, as they did in Sodom and Gomorrah, rub their sin the face of the righteous and defy the LORD God their Creator. Even more ironically, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, shows the Judge of all the Earth coming with a “rainbow about the throne” and “clothed in a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head.” There is a judgment coming for the rainbow people, and they are reprobate in their ignorance of the Holy Bible. They do not need our condemnation, they live in condemnation, they need the preaching of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The term used for this reprobate condition of the sodomite in Genesis 13:13 is that of “exceeding sinfulness,” and it is “intensively” from the Hebrew primitive root for sin. Then in Genesis 18:20, in the third use of the word sinner from the Hebrew primitive root khaw-taw', the LORD God said the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was “very grievous.” The first mention of sin is in the first first degree murderer, the second in Sodom, and the second was an “exceeding sinfulness,” and the third is in Sodom and Gomorrah and it was “very grievous.” Christians dare not shy away from preaching sin as sinful. It is often stated, in some pious attempt to seem non-judgmental, that every sin is vile, every and any sin will separate us from God, and that there is no different degrees of sinfulness in sin. The latter statement is herein brought into question. Here, in this word study of sinner, there are degrees of sinfulness expressed in the Bible, and sodomy is called out as exceeding sinfulness, intensively sin, and very grievous. The Bible, with its word choice, highlights eighteen other “intensively” sinful things and a brief examination of each follows.

The Use of Khat-taw' as “Intensively” From the Root

We have found a Hebrew word that is more “intensively from” the Hebrew verb for sin and herein track its use through eighteen incursions into the Holy Bible. We are drawn to the word because the LORD God first used it in describing the sin of Sodom as “exceeding sinfulness”, “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners <02400> before the LORD exceedingly” (Genesis 13:13). It was found that Storng's Concordance made the observation that khat-taw' <2400> was not just “from the primitive root” khaw-taw', but that it was “intensively from the primitive root.” In following this intensity of sin through the Hebrew Scriptures it is found in Numbers 16:38, “The censers of these sinners <02400> against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before the LORD, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.” In the Genesis of Sin, it was developed that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah epitomized the crescendo of sin for the heathen nations, and, in the Bible, from that point on, the center of focus for sin was as it touched God's righteous and chosen nation, the nation of Israel. In Numbers 16 the sin of Israel is in particular view as two-hundred-and-fifty men profaned what was “hallowed” before the Lord God. Profaning what is hallowed is not so much the sin of the heathen as it is the sin of God's righteous, and here it is called out with intensity. Also called out in Numbers 32:14, “And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers’ stead, an increase of sinful <02400> men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the LORD toward Israel. ...” the intensity of khat-taw' <2400> is met with God's fierce anger. These two instances of the use of this word for sinner support that it shows a higher intensity of sin.

The more intense Hebrew word for sinner, khat-taw' <2400> is used twice in the history books. In 1Samuel 15:18 “And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners <02400> the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed”, the intensity of the use here is obvious, and in 1Kings 1:21 “Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders <02400>”, the intensity is expressed in Bathsheba's fear for her life.

Six times the intensity of khat-taw' shows up in Psalms. In Psalms 1:1 and 5 it is found in the introductory Psalm, “nor standeth in the way of sinners <02400>,”... “Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners <02400> in the congregation of the righteous.” It's high intensity fits in with Psalm 25:8, 26:9, and 51:13¹⁷ and is aptly emphasized in Psalm 104:35, “Let the sinners <02400> be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.

Even in three Proverbs the intensity of the Hebrew word for sinner, khat-taw' <2400> is emphatic,¹⁸ and its use by the prophet Isaiah emphasizes the destruction coming to such intense sinners:

Isaiah 1:28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners <02400> shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.

Isaiah 13:9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners <02400> thereof out of it.

Isaiah 33:14 The sinners <02400> in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?

The last use of this intensified Hebrew word for sin is found in the stern warning given by the prophet Amos (although this is its last use in the books of the Bible, in the chronology of writing Amos wrote about thirty years before the Prophet Isaiah wrote, and Isaiah shows the last use of the word chronologically). Notice again the intensity around this use of the Hebrew word for sinners, khat-taw' <2400>, “All the sinners <02400> of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us” (Amos 9:10).

Various degrees of sinfulness are indeed brought out in God's choice of the Hebrew words that he uses in Holy Scripture. This word in particular khat-taw' <02400>, for sinner, captures that intensification of the verb and primitive root for sin khaw-taw' <02398>. Normally one looks at the sins listed as an abomination to God to find this intensity, but this exploration of the Hebrew use of God's words is a better measure. Indeed it will be seen in this study that the three Hebrew words God uses for “abomination” carry a different significance. The gist here is that God indicates various degrees of sin, sinfulness, and sinners and that change in intensity is best seen in the original language words that God uses.¹⁹

Other Hebrew primitive roots to be explored; abomination, wicked, evil, iniquity, ungodly.

The Hebrew Word for Abomination

An abomination brings hate coupled with disgust. It is something that is disgusting, loathsome, vicious, vile and abhorred. It is thus, in the Bible, sometimes connected with sin and worth our study in sin's context. The word, or its twin - abominable, is found in one-hundred-and-sixty-six verses of the Bible, thirty-nine times in the Pentateuch, twenty times in history books, once in Job, thrice in Psalms, twenty times in Proverbs, seventy-four times in the Prophets and nine times in the New Testament. It springs into our Bible from seven Hebrew words (08441, 06292, 08263, 08262, 08581, 0887, and 08251) and four Greek words (946, 947, 111, and 948). It is worth noting what God finds to be an abomination and that is best done by tracking the Hebrew words he uses to frame this English word “abomination.”

The seven Hebrew words listed with their Strong's Concordance description and given in their order of Bible occurrence below:

Abomination, 08441 תועבה tow‘ebah to-ay-baw’ or תעבה to‘ebah to-ay-baw’, act part of 08581; n f; AV-abomination 113, abominable thing 2, abominable 2; 117 times total. Definition: a disgusting thing, abomination, abominable - in ritual sense (of unclean food, idols, mixed marriages), in ethical sense (of wickedness etc). First use Genesis 43:32.

Abomination, 06292 פגול pigguwl pig-gool’ or פגל piggul pig-gool’, from an unused root meaning to stink; n m; AV-abominable 3, abomination 1; 4 times total. Definition: foul thing, refuse, unclean sacrificial flesh (only use). First use Lev 7:18.

Abomination, 08263 שׁקץ sheqets sheh’ kets, from 08262; n m; AV-abomination 9, abominable 2; 11 times total. Definition: detestable thing or idol, an unclean thing, an abomination, detestation. First use Lev 11:10

Abomination, 08262 שׁקץ shaqats shaw-kats’, a primitive root; v; AV-abomination 2, abominable 2, abhor 1, utterly 1, detest 1; 7 times total. Definition: to detest, make abominable, count filthy, make detestable , to detest, to make detestable. First use Lev 11:11.

Abomination, 08251 שׁקוץ shiqquwts shik-koots’ or שׁקץ shiqquts shik-koots’, from 08262; n m; AV-abomination 20, detestable things 5, detestable 1, abominable filth 1, abominable idols 1; 28 times total. Definition: detestable thing or idol, abominable thing, abomination, idol, detested thing. First use Lev 29:17.

Abomination, 0887 באשׁ ba’ash baw-ash’, a primitive root; v; AV-stink 10, abhor 3, abomination 1, loathsome 1, stinking savour 1, utterly 1 (inf. for emphasis); 17 times total. Definition: 1) to have a bad smell, stink, smell bad, 2) (TWOT) to abhor. First use 1Sam 13:14.

Abominable, 08581 תעב ta‘ab taw-ab’, a primitive root; v; AV-abhor 14, abominable 6, abominably 1, utterly 1; 22 times total. Definition: to abhor, be abominable, do abominably. First use 1Kings 21:26.

The first use of the word that pertains to what God finds disgusting, loathsome, vicious, vile and abhorred is found in Leviticus 18:22, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination <08441>”. The use of the word abomination in Genesis and Exodus is connected to what Egypt found disgusting, and the ten prior uses in Leviticus referenced Hebrew dietary law and the “creeping things” that Israelites should find disgusting. The latter ten also used Hebrew words pig-gool' or shaw-kats' rather than to-ay-baw' that is used for things God abhorred. Sexual sinfulness, particularly sodomy, is again called out in the Bible as being exceedingly sinful (Genesis 13:13), very grievous (Genesis 18:20), and now as sin that God finds disgusting, loathsome, vicious, vile and abhorred. We are not here profiling any sin, we are doing word studies that examine some first use Hebrew words for sin and find that sodomy is ranked up there as the most vile sin for heathen nations.

All of chapter 18 continues a powerful emphasis against these sexual sins that God finds disgusting, loathsome, vicious, vile and abhorred, and then Leviticus 20:13 reinforces the abhorrence of the sodomy that disgusts God and assigns a Hebrew punishment to it:

Le 18:26 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations <08441>; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourneth among you:

Le 18:27 (For all these abominations <08441> have the men of the land done, which were before you, and the land is defiled;)

Le 18:29 For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations <08441>, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.

Le 18:30 Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable <08441> customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.

Le 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination <08441>: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

The Genesis of Sin developed earlier, and the previous exploration of the intensity in the Hebrew word khat-taw' shows sodomy to be the height of gross sin for heathen nations. But there are other abominations listed later that have to do with spiritual rather than physical sinfulness. The book of Deuteronomy, literally the second (deuter) writing of the law (namos) clarifies these spiritual sins which carry the weight of being abhorred by God. Look at their intensity in all seventeen of their mentions:

De 7:25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein: for it is an abomination <08441> to the LORD thy God.

De 7:26 Neither shalt thou bring an abomination <08441> into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.

De 12:31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination <08441> to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

De 13:14 Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination <08441> is wrought among you;

De 17:1 Thou shalt not sacrifice unto the LORD thy God any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evilfavouredness: for that is an abomination <08441> unto the LORD thy God.

De 17:4 And it be told thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination <08441> is wrought in Israel:

De 18:9 When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations <08441> of those nations.

De 18:12 For all that do these things are an abomination <08441> unto the LORD: and because of these abominations <08441> the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee.

De 20:18 That they teach you not to do after all their abominations <08441>, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God.

De 22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination <08441> unto the LORD thy God.

De 23:18 Thou shalt not bring the hire of a whore, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD thy God for any vow: for even both these are abomination <08441> unto the LORD thy God.

De 24:4 Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination <08441> before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

De 25:16 For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination <08441> unto the LORD thy God.

De 27:15 Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination <08441> unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.

De 29:17 And ye have seen their abominations <08251>, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:

De 32:16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations <08441> provoked they him to anger.

In the Pentateuch look at the list of things called an abomination to God. First and foremost is the sexual sin, sometimes appropriately called procreation sins, with particularly emphasis on sodomy. Then comes the list from Deuteronomy, idolatry (7:25,26, 27:15, 29:17), serving false gods (12:31, 13:14, 17:4, 32:16), a blemished sacrifice (17:1), transgender apparel (22:5), the hire of a whore (23:18), a restored defiled wife (24:4), and a unjust weight (25:16). These things are listed as the things that God finds disgusting, loathsome, vicious, vile and abhorred. Theses listed abominations are reiterated throughout the remainder of the Old Testament, but the Psalms and Proverbs adds a dozen others to this list of the abominable.

The Psalms affirm that the fool who pretends to be an atheist (God does not believe in atheists) is an abomination (Psalms 14:1, 53:1). Proverbs contends that the “froward” i.e. the habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition, is an abomination (3:32, 11:1). Proverbs goes on to list the sower of discord (6:16), the false balance again (11:1, 20:10, 23), lying lips (12:22), the sacrifice of the wicked (15:8, 21:27), the way of the wicked (15:9) the thoughts of the wicked (15:26), the proud in heart (16:5), justifier of the wicked (17:15) condemner of the just (17:15), and the prayer who won't hear the law (28:9).

The Hebrew Word for Wicked and Evil

And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9)

The word evil found in this latter tree comes from the Hebrew word ra‘ah. Everything in God's creation was previously acknowledged as “good, pleasant, and agreeable” but when the fruit of this tree entered man so did “evil, wickedness, mischief, hurt, bad, and trouble.” The examination of this evil via the Hebrew word <07451>, its primitive root <07489>, and its other from <07455> is enlightening.

First note that the evil that came into man via this tree's fruit (Genesis 2:17, 3:5, 3:22) totally enveloped man and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5, 8:21). In just the first five appearance of “evil” man is brought into his depravity, and found in dire need of a Saviour. Examining the 663 uses of the word, the 83 uses of its primitive root and the 11 uses of its alternate form, bring into clear focus that base declaration “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Here are the Strong's Concordance entries for the three Hebrew words. It is left as an exercise of the student to further explore their use in God's Holy Word.

Wicked and Evil - 07451 רע ra‘ rah or fem. רעה ra‘ah, from 07489; AV-evil 442, wickedness 59, wicked 25, mischief 21, hurt 20, bad 13, trouble 10, sore 9, affliction 6, ill 5, adversity 4, favoured 3, harm 3, naught 3, noisome 2, grievous 2, sad 2, misc 34; 663 Definition: adj 1) bad, evil; n m 2) evil, distress, misery, injury, calamity; n f 3) evil, misery, distress, injury.

Wicked and Evil (Primitive Root) - 07489 רעע ra‘a‘ raw-ah’, a primitive root; v; AV-evil 20, evildoer 10, hurt 7, wickedly 5, worse 5, afflict 5, wicked 4, break 3, doer 3, ill 3, harm 3, displease 2, misc 13; 83 ; Definition: 1) to be bad, be evil, 1a) (Qal) to be displeasing, to be sad, to be injurious, be evil; 1b) (Hiphil) to do an injury or hurt , to do evil or wickedly, mischief (participle); 2) to break, shatter, 2a) (Qal) to break, broken (participle), to be broken, 2b) (Hithpolel) to be broken, be broken in pieces, be broken asunder.

Wicked and Evil (same root) - 07455 רע roa‘ ro’ ah, from 07489; n m; AV-evil 11, wickedness 3, bad 1, badness 1, naughtiness 1, sorrow 1, sadness 1; 19, 1) badness, evil

The Hebrew Word for Iniquity

The Hebrew Word for Ungodly

Etymology of Sin in Greek

Chapter 5 Critique of Dr. Chafer's Hamartiology.

Shall one suppose that a fundamentalist reading the doctrine of sin (Hamartiology) as written by a neoevangelical will learn because the “neo” is camped much closer to the edge? I trow not. Again two major camps came out of the turn of the last century; the fundamentalist is very much personified in C. I. Scofield, and the neoevangelical is very much personified in Lewis Sperry Chafer.

The fundamentalist wanted to bar the gate and close the door on the apostasy found in the modernist, liberal leaning Church. The neoevangelical thought that a reasonable inclusiveness could sway those modernist leanings and reform the apostate beliefs.

A solid understanding of where Dr. Chafer is coming from, and a firm conviction that his methodology for theology development is fatally flawed, should not, however, lessen that his approach to Hamartiology is novel. His outline is:

Such a unique approach to Hamartiology might be expected from one who, early in his life, wrote an eloquent thesis on Satan and his dominion²¹ Dr. Chafer saw a failure of previous systematic theologies to properly capture the whole realm of the doctrine of sin, just as they failed to capture dispensationalism. He has thus far failed to remedy the latter shortfall, but herein attempts the remedy of the former.

Unfortunately Dr. Chafer still uses a flawed inclusive, hypothesis based methodology, and a verbose passive communication mannerism. His flawed method is so animated and his verbose manner so annoying, (for one who enjoys getting to the main point, highly annoying) that Chafer's novel outline need not be extracted when a good Bible doctrine book is available. Chafer's work is more of a verbose philosophy book. Both Cambron and Bancroft expand Chafer's coverage for hamartiology.

The scientific method is such a wrong method for developing a theology, and Chafer so brazenly uses it in this section, that some of its malefactors should be herein pointed out. Chafer begins his analysis of personal sin by first collecting multiple opinions of philosophers and by-gone Christian theologians. He specifically quotes Mani, a third century philosopher, before he quotes Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, first century purveyors of absolute truth. Chafer spends pages developing this philosophical understanding of dualism, extensively quoting Dr. Miller who discusses the “inner variance of evil.”²² Really?

Dr. Chafer then, wishing to capture “another truth which must not be overlooked,” extensively quotes “The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.” After fourteen pages of development, he finally does bring a few Scriptures to bear on his subject. Now after gathering together a whole room full of witnesses about the sinfulness of sin, one witness, the Holy Bible, is left to stand in a back corner, as it were. Chafer finally draws the cord to secure the hypothesis. In Section III, pg 252, he presents his “proof” in Section IV, pg 254, he talks of advancing it to a theory and in Section V, pg 267, he gives general terms and classifies his hypothesis as law, i.e. the truth. Chafer is using the scientific method to develop truth. It is blatant. It is brazen. It is error.

Theology is not a science. One cannot develop theological truth like Kepler developed the laws of planetary motion. There is an inerrant, infallible, plenary, verbally inspired sole source of theological truth. It needs to be the first authority and the final authority, Chafer uses it as a last resort authority. The scientific method does not produce sound theology.

It is curious that theologians who want to use profound philosophies as their source of wisdom, do not use God's chosen philosophers. They will reference Socrates (469-399 B.C.), Plato (428-348 B.C.), Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), even Mani²³ (216-274 A.D.), but God included two exceptional philosophy books. In his 66 book communication, Job and Ecclesiastes are philosophical ventures. Philosophy is the pursuit of wisdom by purely intellectual means. This emphasis on logical reasoning rather than the empirical reasoning, done in science, is not more capable of deducing theological truth than is science. Both negate the inerrant, infallible, plenary, verbally inspired Word of God as the sole source of theological truth.

Indeed it is the exclusion of phenomenological observation (science) and rationalism (philosophy) which drives the theological student to require his sole source in the first place. Although philosophy will not achieve a theology, ones theology should not be void of logical reasoning. God's philosopher Job, spends forty two chapters philosophizing about man being justified before a Holy God. God's philosopher, Solomon, spends twelve chapters philosophizing about the vanity of man. Both are clearly philosophical books. Both are frustrated in finding truth, until God steps in; in Job with staunch rebuke, in Ecclesiastes with a plan for life. Such is the sole value of philosophy in developing theology. Man is totally reliant on God to lead us into truth. Jesus said it thus: “I am... the truth, no man cometh to the Fathers but by me” (John 14).

Chafer, using a scientific method and a verbose, passive communication mannerism is not a good source for documented Hamartiology. If one is satisfied with a neoevangelical perspective Geisler's one volume is far superior to Chafer's six volumes. If one desire just the facts Cameron and Bancroft provide excellent coverage of the doctrine of Hamartiology. A systematic theology which does not rely on philosophy or science to secure a theology of Hamartiology is not presently available outside of this effort.

Chapter 6 Hamartiology Conclusion

All have sinned, all we like sheep have gone astray, there is non righteous, no not one. Sin, in Greek “hamartia,” must be understood, or at least acknowledged, before one can pursue God's solution. In J Thornton's one-hundred-and-eighty year old publication “Repentance”²⁴ it is well established that a truly penitent one will not only acknowledge that he is a sinner, but will, with contrition, acknowledge that he deserves the full punishment that attaches to his condemnation. Because of sin, man stands condemned to eternal death and that death includes the burning and torment of an eternal hell. “But God commended his love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8)

In this study of sin Dr. Cambron expanded the origin, reality, nature, extent, realm, and penalty of sin. That doctrine of sin is thorough.

Bibliography for Hamartiology

Bancroft, Emery H., Elemental Theology, 1932, Baptist Bible Seminary, 1945, 1960, Zondervan 1977, [In 1932 Emery H. Bancroft became the first Dean of Baptist Bible Seminary, Johnson City, NY and published his text for his course Elemental Theology. In 1968 the Seminary relocated to Clark Summit PA. In 1970 this author attended Practical Bible Training School on the Johnson City campus and studied Bancroft's text. In 1999 – 2000 this author attended Baptist Bible Seminary to take Greek (NT502 and NT503) via a 3 hour commute from Hammondsport NY to Clark Summit PA, and was reintroduced to Bancroft's exceptional work.]

Cambron, Mark G. Bible Doctrines. Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan Publishing House, 1954, [Independent Baptist, Professor, Tennessee Temple Bible School, 1954].

Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Systematic Theology. Dallas Seminary Press, 1948.[Lewis Sperry Chafer was an American theologian. He founded and served as the first president of Dallas Theological Seminary, and was an influential founding member of modern Christian Dispensationalism. Born: February 27, 1871, Rock Creek, Died: August 22, 1952, Seattle, Education: Oberlin College, Wheaton College. For my Doctorate of Philosophy in Theological Studies through LBTS, I was tasked to analyze all six volumes of his Systematic Theology]

Satan, 1909, Free ebooks - Project Gutenberg,2004, http://www.gutenberg.org accessed 06/01/2013

Geisler, Norman L, Systematic Theology in One Volume, Bethany House, 2002, 3, 4, 5, 11 [Geisler, also a neoevangelical, sharply contrasts with Lewis Sperry Chafer in that Geisler 1) admits what he is, neoevangelical, 2) admits what he is attempting, a compilation of evangelical theologies, 3) shows superb organization and structure of thought, 4) contains depth, and 5) is a masterful communicator. This author cannot endorse all that Geisler believes to be true, but can endorse that he seems to capture all that has been believed by conservative evangelicals.]

Hodge, Charles, Systematic Theology: Volume I-IV, Charles Scribner & Company, 1871, Hardback- Grand Rapids, Mich., Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1940, Christian Classics Ethereal Library, http://www.ccel.org, public domain. [The Internet Archive www.archive.org/details/systematictheolo01hodg], [Charles Hodge, 1797-1878, Presbyterian Minister, Princeton Theologian].

Miley, John, Systematic Theology Vol. 1 & 2, The Library of Biblical and Theological Literature, New York: Eaton and Mains, 1894, The Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/details/systematictheolo01mile, [John Miley (1813-1895, Methodist Theologian].

Strong, Augustus H., Systematic Theology:Three Volumes in 1, Philadelphia, Valley Forge PA, The Judson Press, 1907, 35^th printing 1993. [Augustus H. Strong, 1836-1921, American Baptist Pastor & Theologian].

Strong, James, The Exhaustive Concordance of The Bible: Showing Every Word of the Text of the Common English Version of the Canonical Books, and Every Occurrence of Each Word in Regular Order; Together with Dictionaries of the Hebrew and Greek Words of the Original, With References to the English Words, Mao Donald Publishing Company, 1890, Public Domain [James Strong 1822-1894, accessed throughout via http://onlinebible.net. Generally known as Strong's Concordance, it is a numeric-alphabetic index of every Hebrew and Greek word translated into the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. The nomenclature <3623> indicates the 3623^rd alphabetical word in his Greek Lexicon; the nomenclature <03623> indicates the 3623^rd word in his Hebrew Lexicon. James Strong (1822-1894) first published “The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible” in 1890, while he was professor of exegetical theology at Drew Theological Seminary. Also see How To Use the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, https://www.therain.org/studies/strongs.html Accessed 09/26/2019].

Thiessen, Henry Clarence, Lectures in Systematic Theology, Grand Rapids, Mich., William B. Eerdman Publishing Company, 1949. [Henry Clarence Thiessen, ? -1947, President of Los Angles Baptist Theological Seminary, later renamed John MacArthur's The Master's College].

… Lectures in Systematic Theology. Revised by Vernon D. Doerksen, Grand Rapids, Mich., William B. Eerdman Publishing Company, 2006.

Pastor Ed Rice is a retired USAF Systems Engineer surrendered to be a Baptist Preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Saved in 1960 at the age of eight he grew up tutored in the Scriptures through Tuscorora Baptist Church in Addison NY, where he married his high-school sweetheart Beverly Cook Rice. Drafted into the military off of the dairy farm in 1972, Ed and Bev Rice raised 3 boys while serving as a Missile Technician in the USAF. After completing a USAF AECP bootstrap program he graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in electrical engineering and was commissioned in the USAF where he served until 1995 as a systems engineer and weapons integration specialist at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and Rome Laboratories, Rome NY. He finished his Masters degree in Electrical Engineering through The Air Force Institute of Technology in 1990.

After being commissioned as a USAF officer in 1982 he pursued his systems engineering work in several classified research and development programs. While moving around the USA in his twenty three year military career he was a youth pastor and associate pastor in Independent Baptist Churches near his station. In 1995 he became Captain Rice, USAF retired, and surrendered to be a Baptist Pastor.

In 1998 he took the senior pastorate at Good Samaritan Baptist Church, in Dresden, New York where he pursued his theological studies at Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary. At LBU Pastor Rice received his second masters degree in 2013, and his PhD in 2017. His son Michael is US Army retired living near Fort Hood Texas, Shane is an Independent Baptist Missionary pastoring Chiesa Biblica Battista, Mazara Del Vallo, Italy, and Matthew is serving our Lord Jesus Christ near Hamilton NY. Capt Rice has spent seven years teaching math and science with the ABeka Christian High School Curriculum, and seven years teaching college mathematics, a love of his life, at both Corning Community College, and Elmira College.

Dr. Rice's staunch belief in the preserved accuracy of the inspired Scriptures and his extensive background in systems engineering make him uniquely qualified to assemble “A Systematic Theology for the 21^st Century.”

I was saved in 1960 at the age of eight. My father and mother were saved and founding members of Fellowship Baptist Church in Gang Mills New York. In 1958 my dad, Levi O. Rice, an agnostic, was invited by Cecil Palm to be a founding member of that church; both of my parents were born-again-saved two weeks later. My mother, Doris was converted form Roman Catholicism, and became a Christian. She stopped her Roman penance and practiced Bible repentance, stopped praying to Mary and called upon the Lord Jesus Christ to save her. She was thus converted from Roman Catholicism to the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone needs converted from something. Mom and Dad were now born again, and two years later I was saved in revival services with Evangelist Dale and Opel Linbaugh. Opel cut the flannel graph burden of sin off little Christian's back in her Pilgrim's Progress presentation, and I was born-again-saved before it hit the basement floor. In 1995 I retired from the USAF as a systems engineer and became an ordained Baptist Preacher of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 18:3). Being converted is quite like a new birth, Jesus said so. If you have not been converted you should trust Christ today, and you must tell him that that is your intent. (see Romans 10:9-13).

1Thomas H. McCall, “Foundations of Evangelical Theology – Against God and Nature – The Doctrine of Sin”, Crossway, Weaton Illinois, 2019, pg 41. [McCall developed a similar genesis of sin but his theology is not sole sourced on the Word of God, is not systematic (i.e. more science-theory based), is not Baptist but Reformed, and ergo is not wholly recommended by this author. His section “Sin in the Beginnings,” from which this quote is taken, is insightful and initiated this author's section on the Genesis of sin.]

3There is a cult-like group of teachers who suppose that the first use of “sons of God” is referring to angelic beings, not to human followers of God. Throughout the Bible man (humans) becoming the “sons of God” is a major theme (John 1:12), angels being “sons of God” is NOT a theme at all. The cult-like group suppose from Genesis 6:4 that God sent the flood to destroy the world, not because “every imagination of the thoughts of (man's) heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5), but because some supposed half-angel half-human crossbreeds became giants and ruined the earth. Then they suppose these gaints, or Nephilims, did it again in Canaan. Then they suppose they are doing it again today. They suppose it is Nephilims, not man's depravity, that causes all the world's problems. (Nephilims Hbrw giants, 05303 נפיל nef-eel’ or נפל nef-eel’ or (plural) םילפנ nefilim.) Be careful of this sect and their “doctrines of devils” (1Tim 4:1-2).

8Dr. Mark G. Cambron, B.A., M.A., Th.B., Th.M., Th.D., D.D., L.L.D., Litt.D., was one of the foremost theologians of our times. Born in Fayetteville, Tennessee on July 31, 1911. He was born-again in 1919. It was during a Billy Sunday campaign in Chattanooga that he trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior. He served for many years at Tennessee Temple College (1948-59) with Dr. Lee Roberson and served as Dean of the College. From http://www.thecambroninstitute.org accessed 10/16/2013

14Hebrew, with its use of primitive roots is a much more exact and consistent language than English. Case in point while Hebrew's roots directly connect its verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs, the English word “appropriate” (with a “ut” ending) is an adjective, while “appropriate” (with a “eyt” ending) is a verb, and other than their spelling they have no other connections with each other. Some KJV-only advocates despise the use of the original languages and contend that only the English is worthy of our study. Not this one. God gave his word in Hebrew and Greek because of the exactness of those languages; a genuine Bible student dare not shy away from that fact. Hebrew and Greek word studies never detract from the genuineness of the fifty-seven expert linguists who were divided into six companies which met in cities of Cambridge, Westminster, and Oxford, to take seven years, 1604 – 1611, to translate God's inerrant, infallible, verbally inspired Old Testament and New Testament books into an authorized Holy Bible which answered only to the original Hebrew and Greek. Any word studies done in post-modernist times dare not change one syllable of the Authorized King James Bible, but word studies are valuable to a genuine Bible student.

19This author never proposes that there is a better English translation of any of God's words than what is found in the Authorized King James Bible. However I do support the use of original language studies of the words that God uses to enhance ones theology. The use of Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and Lexicon is highly recommended for this type of study even when to many KJV(only) advocates disdain such advancement.