Thursday, January 9, 2020

Ken Wilson on Psalm 51:4-5 and Total Depravity



Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. (Ps 51:4-5)

Commenting on the pre-Augustinian interpretation of Psa 51:4-5 and how it was not used as a “proof-text” for Total Depravity, Ken Wilson wrote:

Ps. 51:5 is hyperbole as seen by comparing Ps. 58:3. “The wicked go astray from the womb, they err from their birth, speaking likes” (RSV). Newborns cannot speak lies—they cannot speak. Origen specifically cited but denied any guilt for sin at birth in Ps. 51 when combating pagans and Gnostics (C.Cels. 7.50) although he teaches the sin nature (genuinae sordes peccati) enters through physical birth (Hom. Lev. 8.3, 12.4; Com. Rom. 5.9; C. Cels. 7.50) . . . Early Christians had likewise used Ps. 51:4 to demonstrate human depravity but not total depravity (inability to respond to God from inherited guilt and loss of free will). (Ken Wilson, The Foundation of Augustinian-Calvinism [Regula Fidei Press, 2019], 70 n. 2)

Further Reading

An Examination and Critique of the Theological Presuppositions Underlying Reformed Theology