Stephen Jones — Hamartology
b1 — Creation’s Jubilee
Original Sin: Imputation vs. Infusion
Jones’ central hamartological thesis concerns the nature of original sin. He sharply distinguishes between imputation and infusion/transfusion:
“In this chapter we will attempt to prove from plain Scripture that […] no man is born with a ‘sinful soul’ or a ‘sin nature.’ In Romans 5:12 Paul explains this principle very clearly, though many church theologians have missed it […] Was it Adam’s SIN that was passed down into all men? NO. It was death, the liability for Adam’s sin. In other words, man did not inherit a sin nature from Adam. He merely inherited the liability for Adam’s sin.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 9
“The only thing passed down is MORTALITY, or Death. We are not mortal because we sin. We sin because we are mortal.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 9
Interpretation: Jones reverses the traditional Augustinian-Roman Catholic sequence: not sinful nature → mortality, but mortality (as result of imputed guilt) → individual sin.
Adam’s Sin and the Two Deaths
Jones distinguishes two sins and two deaths, directly linking them:
“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. No man will ever be cast into the lake of fire as judgment for Adam’s sin. Adam’s original (first) sin is judged by means of the first death; subsequently, our individual sins are judged by means of the second death.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 9
“It is Adam’s sin that brings death to all men—not our own individual sins. In the day Adam sinned, he died (became mortal), and so we inherit that mortality.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 9
Romans 5:12 and Jerome’s Mistranslation
Jones analyzes the Greek phrase eph’ ho (Rom. 5:12) as the root of the hamartological error:
“Jerome ‘Corrects’ Paul’s Theology. When Jerome translated the Latin Vulgate around 400 A.D., he rendered the last phrase of Rom. 5:12, ‘because all have sinned.’ He had looked at verses such as Romans 6:23 and 5:21, where sin is the cause of death, and concluded that Paul must have made a mistake by saying that death was the cause of sin.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 9
“The Greek phrase used is eph’ ho. […] The phrase ‘on which’ or ‘over which’ denotes a consequence or result to follow. […] So we can easily see that the first death is the cause, and our sins are the result.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 9
“To my knowledge, only The Concordant Version translates it correctly, ‘on which.‘” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 9
Consequences of the Augustinian-Roman Catholic Doctrine: Guilt and Punishment
Jones describes the practical consequences of the ‘infusion’ doctrine:
“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.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 9
“Their lack of understanding brought them to conclude that man has a sinful soul, rather than a mortal soul that sins. This has given Christians a disproportionate sense of guilt that was often accompanied by a sense of hopelessness.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 9
Jones counters with:
“The truth is this: 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. As a consequence, we all became liable for Adam’s sin. The penalty was death, or mortality.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 9
Imputation and Universal Justification (Rom. 5:18)
“This would be a gross injustice; in fact, it would be a false accusation on God’s part, except for the fact that Jesus came to impute His righteousness to our accounts as well. In so doing, He reversed entirely the effects of this ‘temporary injustice’ (as I call it). And this is why it is so important that ‘all men’ who died in Adam be saved in Christ.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 9
“{Romans 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.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 9 (cited Scripture)
Sin and Law: Sin as Lawlessness
Jones cites 1 John 3:4 in connection with the redemption logic of Jubilee:
“John says that ‘sin is lawlessness’ (1 John 3:4).” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 7
“{Romans 6:17,18} But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart […] and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 7 (cited Scripture)
Jubilee as Debt-Cancellation and the Scope of Sin
Jones argues that the Jubilee law is the most fundamental law of creation and that it encompasses the universal scope of sin and restoration:
“The law of Jubilee is the most fundamental law of all creation. The law of Jubilee is the basis of forgiveness and grace. It is the purpose and goal of the law itself. It compels a climax of earth history and a full end of the dominion of darkness and sin.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 7
“No man has the authority to sell himself permanently as a slave to sin. Even if he wanted to do so, he has no right to do this, because he does not create or own himself. For this reason, at the Creation Jubilee, all men whom God has created will return to the original Owner of all things.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 7
“No matter how far a man goes into debt, the Jubilee will set him free. Even if no kinsman redeems him, there is a day coming when he will be set free into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 7
Eternal Punishment vs. Corrective Judgment
Jones argues that biblical terms for ‘eternal’ are misunderstood:
“In this chapter we will attempt to prove from plain Scripture that God’s punishments are NOT endless. The English translations which use the term ‘eternal’ and ‘everlasting’ in relation to both divine punishment and life in the coming age are actually mistranslations of the original Hebrew and Greek.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 4
“The word olam means ‘to hide, keep secret, obscure.’ […] In actual usage, the word refers to an INDEFINITE period of time, but NOT eternal. It is simply AN AGE.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 4
“We can safely say that aion is meant to convey the same meaning as the Hebrew concept of olam. […] it does not really carry the idea of ‘obscurity,’ but like olam, means an age, or eon.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 4
“It is a place where men must pay the last farthing of debt to sin until the final Jubilee sets the creation free.” — Jones, Creation’s Jubilee, ch. 9 (on the lake of fire)
Interpretation: Jones views the lake of fire not as eternal punishment but as corrective judgment for individual sins, ending at the great Jubilee.