Thru 1 man sin entered into the world.Thus all have sinned ....Romans 5 :12
Yeah...that makes sense. Everyone should pay for another person's crime...that's certainly a just system
No, the Bible is quite clear! Not only should an evildoer suffer for their sins, but so too their children in case the progeny continues the evil acts of their fathers:
"Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin." - DEU 24:16
Oops! Wrong quote! I meant: "Prepare slaughter for his sons because of the guilt of their fathers, lest they rise and possess the earth, and fill the face of the world with cities. -ISA 14:21
The difference between verses are,the first meaning a punishment should be only leveled against the one guilty of the crime. The second is clearly talking about not allowing the offspring of evil men to continue the evil their ancestors began.
The two verses still contradict each other... If Deuteronomy says to only punish a person for a crime of their own doing, then preemptively killing the sons "lest" they commit the same crimes should also be disallowed. The word "lest" in Isiah says that these sons have not perpetrated the sin yet, but that the killing of the sons is done as a military strategy to ensure that the enemy nation doesn't continue after the leaders have been eliminated.
Well,I see you're gonna make me crack open my bible here.(but that's a good thing.
)
Firstly,it's important to make the distinction between the two books. Deuteronomy is one of the Torah,a book of the Law,while consequently Isaiah is a book of prophecy and must be interpreted accordingly.
Here's the passage in the NIV,it's a bit clearer speaking,IMO:
Let the offspring of the wicked
never be mentioned again.
21 Prepare a place to slaughter his children
for the sins of their ancestors;
they are not to rise to inherit the land
and cover the earth with their cities.
Now,context,context,context.Here's the accompanying verses:
I will rise up against them,
declares the Lord Almighty.
I will wipe out Babylons name and survivors,
her offspring and descendants,
declares the Lord.
23 I will turn her into a place for owls
and into swampland;
I will sweep her with the broom of destruction,
declares the Lord Almighty.
Notice the repeated use of the word "I".This is not a command for carrying out punishment of a crime.Rather it's God pronouncing His Judgement and the punishments He will pour forth.There is no contradiction.
Moreover, if Deuteronomy is the biblical verse that should be used to identify who should be punished, then again it just begs the question that BJohnson posed about why everyone should be punished for the sin that Adam and Eve made.
It's not entirely true that we're punished
for Adam & Eve's sin.It's more accurate to say we're punished
by Adam & Eve's sin.When they sinned,Sin entered world and changed God's flawless creation.So we don't get punished for what they did,but it affected Mankind necessitating the need for a Savior.