This is similar to the COL quote, which Rosangela has addressed.

EGW tells us that character is the thoughts and feelings combined.

You seem to be saying that we are born with no character. Hence, either thoughts or feelings are missing at birth. Right?

Ellen, as you know, wrote both of the above. In light of everything she wrote about it (see copious quotes posted earlier), I believe we receive hardware and software from our parents and grandparents, dating all the way back to Adam, that results in us sinning naturally, instinctively from the moment we are consciously capable of reacting and responding to inside and outside stimuli (which begins in the womb), and we thereby incur guilt, condemnation, and the death sentence.

Do you agree?

I do not believe guilt is inherited. Guilt is the direct result of sinning. Parents cannot sin and incur guilt and bequeath it to their children. Instead, what happens is children inherit the traits and tendencies their parents cultivated and strengthened, and the children in turn are predisposed and more likely to repeat the same types of sins and thereby incur guilt.

Do you agree?


By the time an infant exits the womb and enters the world, he has already reacted and responded to stimuli affecting him from within and from without in exactly the same way he will for the rest of his life. Before we experience rebirth, we are incapable of reacting and responding to said stimuli in holy and righteous ways. We naturally, instinctively react and respond in sinful ways. Consequently, fetuses begin reacting and responding to inside and outside stimuli in sinful ways, and continue to do so as infants and onward until they experience rebirth. Sinning incurs guilt. Of course, the sins they commit are categorized as sins of ignorance until they reach the age of accountability.

Do you agree?

Even before we are born, while we are still in the womb, I believe we naturally, instinctively react and respond to stimuli from within and from without in sinful, selfish ways, and the reason we do so is because of the hardware and software we inherited from the human race.

Do you agree?

I did a search of the SOP and couldn't find where she said Adam was created with "a character". Everything I have read, some of which I have posted on this thread, makes it clear to me that Ellen believed we are created, like Adam was, with the traits necessary to cultivate a sinless character (after we experience rebirth, of course).

Adam was unique, though, in that he began life as an adult with the ability to converse intelligently with God and the angels. He was also capable of grasping simple and complex matters and issues. So, since he possessed advanced mental and physical abilities from the moment of consciousness, it stands to reason his character would have been more advanced in development, too.

Ellen made the following interesting statements:


In the quotes above Ellen makes it clear that God created Adam in such a way it was possible for him to mold, cultivate a sinless character similar to the divine character.

My most recent comments and responses above should serve to address your question. If they don't, please tell me, and I will be happy to elaborate.

Please elaborate. Do you believe that people are born with thoughts and feelings?

Since the topic is about Jesus, let's pull it back a bit. Since Jesus did not sin, can we say that He had no guilt?

I believe that Jesus had the guilt of the world placed upon Him, not because He sinned, but by a different mechanism.

I agree with what you said. Yes, we receive bad equipment at birth, and we receive bad programming. And when one uses the bad equipment to execute the bad programs, guilt and condemnation and death are incurred.

But I also agree with what EGW said, as she said it. We receive from Adam guilt and death. She didn't say we receive the possibility to earn guilt and death. She didn't say we receive the inclination toward guilt and death. She said we receive them.

No, I do not. And here is the crux of the relation between our understanding of human nature - ours and Christ's - and RBF.

Let me try to summarize our difference, and tell me if I got it right.

I believe that we were made sinners by one man's disobedience - Adam's. You believe that we become sinners when we individually sin for ourselves. I am a sinner because Adam sinned, while you are a sinner because you sinned like Adam sinned.

Here's the flip side. I believe that we are made righteous by one Man's obedience - Christ's. To remain consistent, you must believe that we become righteous when we individually obey for ourselves. I am righteous because Jesus obeyed, while you are righteous because you obey like Jesus obeyed.

For you, sin and righteousness are earned by the person copying his father. For me, sin and righteousness are inherited by the person from his father.

For you, the key is to emulate the right father. For me, the key is to have the right father.

So what should we do if we find that we are born of Adam, and inherit from him nothing but guilt and the sentence of death? Switch to a new Father by being born again, born from above, and inherit life and holiness. The old man dies, and the new man walks in newness of life. That's RBF, IMO.

People begin experiencing consciousness in the womb, before they are born. With consciousness comes the ability to think and feel. The result of thinking and feeling is character. Since fetuses and infants are incapable of experiencing rebirth, it stands to reason, then, that they can only cultivate a sinful character. "All that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin. It is the grace of Christ alone, through faith, that can make us holy. {SC 59.4}