Stephen Jones — Anthropology
b1 — Creation’s Jubilee
Original Sin and Human Nature: Imputation, Not Infusion
Jones frames the central anthropological question as: “Did Adam’s sin cause us to have sinful souls or mortal souls?” (Ch. 9).
His central thesis is that humanity does not inherit a sinful nature from Adam, but mortality:
“man did not inherit a sin nature from Adam. He merely inherited the liability for Adam’s sin.” — Ch. 9
“Sinful souls are not passed down from generation to generation by procreation. The only thing passed down is MORTALITY, or Death.” — Ch. 9
“We are not mortal because we sin. We sin because we are mortal.” — Ch. 9
The causal sequence is reversed relative to the Augustinian tradition:
“DEATH spread to all men, ON WHICH we ourselves sin. Death is the cause; our personal sins are committed as the result of death in us. And so, the sequence of events is this: (1) Adam’s original sin gave us (2) death, and this mortality is our weakness and the cause of (3) our individual sins.” — Ch. 9
Mortality pervades both soul and body:
“Our liability for Adam’s sin simply makes us mortal in this age. And that mortality, death reigning over us in our souls and bodies, makes us morally sick or weak so that we are incapable of moral perfection.” — Ch. 9
Jones explicitly rejects the Augustinian and Roman Catholic doctrine of ‘infusion’:
“When Adam fell, his sin was imputed to us, NOT infused. To impute means, according to Romans 4:17, calling what is NOT as though it were. When Adam’s sin was imputed to us, God called us ALL sinners, as though we had all sinned.” — Ch. 9
“Those Church leaders, like Augustine and Jerome, who did not understand Paul’s statement in Romans 5:12, concluded that man received a sinful soul from Adam, rather than mortality. The theological term used by the Roman Church is that Adam’s sin was ‘infused’ or ‘transfused’ into all mankind, giving us sinful souls.” — Ch. 9
Interpretive note: Jones builds his anthropology on the imputation/infusion distinction. Christ’s righteousness is likewise imputed, not infused, into the believer.
Two Types of Death
Jones distinguishes two deaths as a key to his anthropology:
“There are two sins and two deaths spoken of in the Bible. The penalty for Adam’s sin is the first death; God’s judgment, lawful correction, and discipline for our own sins is the second death.” — Ch. 9
“The second death is distinct from the first death in two ways: (1) its purpose is to judge men for their own individual sins and to restore the lawful order; and (2) its timing is set for the age following the Tabernacles Age, when the unbelievers are thrown into the lake of fire.” — Ch. 9
Interpretive note: Mortality (first death) is universal and derived from Adam’s sin; the second death addresses individual sins. This structure supports universal reconciliation in Jones’ system.
Free Will as Coerced Will
Jones radically qualifies the concept of free will:
“Men may have what they think is ‘free will,’ but in reality it is a coerced will.” — Ch. 11
He distinguishes two Greek terms for God’s will:
“Man always resists God’s will (thelema), but Paul says that no man can resist God’s plan (boulema).” — Ch. 13
The origin of delegated authority — and thus of human will — lies in Gen. 1:26:
“It all began in Genesis 1:26. Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ This is the beginning of all delegated authority on earth in its primal form.” — Ch. 11
The distinction between sovereignty and authority:
“Sovereignty is self-derived power; authority is authorized by a higher power and is therefore limited and subjected by that power. Man does not have sovereignty. Therefore, his authority is limited, and his liability for his actions are limited according to his level of authority. God disciplines men and judges them according to their level of authority.” — Ch. 11
Jones nonetheless acknowledges a practical dimension of the will:
“In our daily lives we must act as if we have total free will.” — Ch. 11
Interpretive note: Jones combines strong predestination with limited human liability. God’s plan (boulema) is irresistible; his expressed desire (thelema) is resistible. Man is morally responsible within his level of authority.
Moral Responsibility
Liability for sin is relative to one’s level of authority:
“God holds Himself liable in the highest sense, because He alone is sovereign. As creator, He is ultimately responsible for His creation and its actions. It was therefore built into the plan of God from the beginning that Jesus Christ would come to die for the sins of the world.” — Ch. 11
“Our liability is limited by the limited nature of our authority. Only unlimited authority can be judged with unlimited liability. This is the justice and mercy of God.” — Ch. 11
Human Nature and Sin: Definition
Jones defines sin through the Hebrew khawtaw:
“The Hebrew word for ‘sin’ is khawtaw. It is translated ‘sin’ in over 400 Bible passages. Yet the word literally means ‘to miss the mark,’ or ‘to fail to reach a goal.‘” — Ch. 13
And he structurally links sin to mortality:
“Man sins because he is mortal. He is mortal because God made him liable for the original sin of his father Adam. Therefore, God is the direct cause of man’s weak (mortal) condition and the indirect cause of his personal sins.” — Ch. 13
Body, Soul, and Spirit
Jones links the soul to blood (Lev. 17:11) and distinguishes a soulish from a spiritual body:
“The soul is in the blood.” (Lev. 17:11) — Ch. 5
“Men are ‘buried in a soulish state, but raised in a spiritual state.‘” — Ch. 5
On the resurrection body of Jesus:
“Jesus’ post-resurrection body had ‘flesh and bones’ but notably no blood, distinguishing the spiritual body from the natural soulish body that contains blood.” — Ch. 5
Interpretive note: Jones appears to operate with a dichotomous model in which the soul is linked to blood/the material dimension, but does not discuss the soul/spirit distinction systematically in terms of dichotomy or trichotomy.
Imago Dei
Jones treats the image of God primarily as delegated dominion, not as a static starting point. An explicit theological development of imago Dei as eschatological goal is absent from Creation’s Jubilee; the emphasis rests on Gen. 1:26 as the foundation of authority structures (see Free Will section).
Restoration of Humanity
Jones connects the restoration of humanity directly to the Adam/Christ parallel (Rom. 5:18):
“So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.” — Ch. 9
“Our understanding of the effects of Adam’s sin on our own nature will have a tremendous impact upon our lives. It will determine whether we have the peace of mind to know we are truly the children of God, or if we labor every day under a load of guilt.” — Ch. 9