Original Sin and the Knowledge of Good and Evil Quiz

Answer: Adam

According to the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve were the first two people created by God. Chapter 3 of Genesis tells how the serpent tempted Eve to eat forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. After she and Adam ate the fruit, they were expelled from the Garden of Eden.

Answer: False

Although some Orthodox Jews believe Adam is the cause for the evils in the world, most mainstream Jewish people believe that Adam's sin was his alone. The Jewish religion does maintain that Adam is responsible for humans becoming mortal and suffering death.

Answer: Gnosticism

Gnostics believe that salvation can only be achieved by embracing the spiritual world and shunning the material world. Gnostics also believe that knowledge would help lead to God. Because Gnostics also believe in other divine beings called Aeons, Christian leaders attempted to reinforce their belief in a single God.

Answer: Augustine

Augustine wrote that all humans are sinners because Adam sinned. Through procreation, all humans are depraved by their nature and are incapable of living a moral life. He concluded that baptism forgave original sin, meaning that even infants who were unbaptized would go to hell.

Answer: Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a friar, Catholic priest, theologian, and professor, who is perhaps best known for authoring "The Ninety-Five Theses" during the Protestant Reformation. Luther believed that human beings are in a state of sin beginning at the moment of conception. However, he did believe in the Immaculate Conception of Mary without original sin.

Answer: Redemption through Jesus Christ

Calvin believed that humans are naturally in a state of total depravity. According to the doctrine of depravity, all humans are born into a state of sinning as a result of Adam's fall and are naturally corrupt and prone to evil. As a result of depravity, humans are incapable of loving God without trying to serve their own wills and desires.

This belief led to the establishment of Calvinism, which broke off from the Roman Catholic Church.

Answer: False

Latter Day Saints believe that all humans are capable of sin and suffer physical death because of the fall of Adam and Eve. However, they believe that humans will be punished for their own sins, not for Adam's. They also do not believe that children are born with original sin.

Answer: Islam

Muslims believe that Adam and Eve were the first two humans created by God and were tempted by the devil and sinned. However, Muslims believe that Adam and Eve recognized their sin, apologized to God, and asked for forgiveness. According to the Qur'an, "his Lord chose him, and turned to him with forgiveness, and gave him guidance." (Surat Ṭâ Hâʼ:121-122)

Answer: Aliens

Father Jose Gabriel Funes, the director of the Vatican Observatory, stated that he believed in the possibility of intelligent life in outer space. He also said that he believes God exists in outer space, and some aliens may have refrained from sinning.

Answer: Charles Darwin

In his 1859 book "On the Origin of Species," Charles Darwin wrote that all living beings descended slowly from common ancestors. He also believed in natural selection, in which the increasing number of living things and the struggle for survival would eventually lead to a world where only the fittest would survive.