--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: According to Scripture, it was not man's…" description: "\"“According to Scripture, it was not man's flesh that fell into sin, but the whole man. The doctrine of total depravity means that the extent of the Fal..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62d/r-j-rushdoony-8903_good-and-evil_according-to-scripture-it-was-not-man-s_1392932.jpg" --- # According to Scripture, it was not man's flesh that fell… ![“According to Scripture, it was not man's flesh that fell into sin, but the whole man. The doctrine of total depravity means that the extent of the Fall is total, that every aspect of man's being is tainted by sin, and that the root of it is the 'heart' of man, in his mind, nature and being. To…” quote by R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62d/r-j-rushdoony-8903_good-and-evil_according-to-scripture-it-was-not-man-s_1392932.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62d/r-j-rushdoony-8903_good-and-evil_according-to-scripture-it-was-not-man-s_1392932.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/62d/r-j-rushdoony-8903_good-and-evil_according-to-scripture-it-was-not-man-s_1392932.jpg) > ““According to Scripture, it was not man's flesh that fell into sin, but the whole man. The doctrine of total depravity means that the extent of the Fall is total, that every aspect of man's being is tainted by sin, and that the root of it is the 'heart' of man, in his mind, nature and being. To seek refuge in the spirit to escape from the flesh is to seek sanctity in the capitol of sin, for it was and is man's desire to be as God, to be his own god, determining good and evil for himself, which is the essence of original sin (Gen. 3:5). The ascetic quest thus took refuge in sin from sin! It flew from the suburbs of temptation into the central city of sin and was then bewildered to find the enemy there.”” [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human nature is wholly affected by sin; seeking spiritual refuge can paradoxically trap one in sin itself **In simple terms:** Sin corrupts all aspects of humanity; seeking spiritual purity may lead to deeper sin Key Takeaway Beware of spiritual pride and self‑deification Themes theology human nature sin Mood cautionary introspective Type theological philosophical When to use this quote - religious study - personal moral assessment - ethical counseling Key Concepts original sin total depravity spiritualism Questions to Reflect On - What does true sanctity look like? - How avoid we avoid becoming the 'god' of our own morality? A Different Perspective Spiritual pursuits can become self‑serving if not grounded ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Depravity Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depravity-means-307806/) [Fell Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fell-sin-4860590/) [Good and evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-and-evil/) [Original sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/original-sin/) [Pg-3](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pg-3-143621/) [Refuge Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/refuge-sin-4860589/) [Seek Sanctity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seek-sanctity-4860591/) ## Related quotes > [Total depravity means the entire absence of holiness, not the highest intensity of sin. 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If he can only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/by-definition-a-human-being-is-endowed-with-free-will-he-can-use-this/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“We have therefore to inquire what there is about Machiavelli to impress the mind of Europe so prodigiously and so curiously, and why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/we-have-therefore-to-inquire-what-there-is-about-machiavelli-to/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [Every father is given the opportunity to corrupt his daughter's nature, and the educator, husband, or psychiatrist then has to face the music. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/every-father-is-given-the-opportunity-to-corrupt-his-daughter-s/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [I think the Buddhist ethic is clearer and more systematic in some ways. The Buddhist notion is that our chief problems are greed, hatred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ninian-smart/i-think-the-buddhist-ethic-is-clearer-and-more-systematic-in-some/) [Ninian Smart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ninian-smart/) > [The original sin is to limit the Is. Don't.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/the-original-sin-is-to-limit-the-is-don-t/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [“Fusing the doctrines of Plotinus and Proclus with the creeds and beliefs of Christianity, Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite combined the Neo-Platonic conviction of the fundamental…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-panofsky/fusing-the-doctrines-of-plotinus-and-proclus-with-the-creeds-and/) [erwin panofsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-panofsky/) > [In the past we believed both sexes were born with original sin. Today, we have come to unconsciously believe in the original sin of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/in-the-past-we-believed-both-sexes-were-born-with-original-sin-today/) [Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/) > [Blood sin and desecration of the race are the original sin in this world and the end of a humanity which surrenders to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/blood-sin-and-desecration-of-the-race-are-the-original-sin-in-this/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [“When I am a good host, I can order the world precisely as I believe it ought to be. It is a world that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-browner/when-i-am-a-good-host-i-can-order-the-world-precisely-as-i-believe-it/) [Jesse Browner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-browner/) ## More by R.J. Rushdoony > [People do not avoid the Bible because it is difficult to understand as much as because what they understand condemns their conscience and throws…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/people-do-not-avoid-the-bible-because-it-is-difficult-to-understand/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [Humanistic law aims at saving man and remaking society. For Humanism, salvation is an act of the state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/humanistic-law-aims-at-saving-man-and-remaking-society-for-humanism/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [The end of an age is always a time of turmoil, war, economic catastrophe, cynicism, lawlessness and distress. But it is also an era…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/the-end-of-an-age-is-always-a-time-of-turmoil-war-economic/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [In any age, our problems are a result of sin, and the solution is faith and obedience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/in-any-age-our-problems-are-a-result-of-sin-and-the-solution-is-faith/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [Man lives in time but his life transcends time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/man-lives-in-time-but-his-life-transcends-time/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [All religions segregate also...every religion asserts an order of truth and every other order is regarded as a lie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/all-religions-segregate-also-every-religion-asserts-an-order-of-truth/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [It is significant that, as innocent babies are killed, and capital punishment is withheld from their murderers, the same men who plead for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/it-is-significant-that-as-innocent-babies-are-killed-and-capital/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [The triune God exercises total government over all things, and He requires us as His image-bearers to exercise government in Christ in our own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/the-triune-god-exercises-total-government-over-all-things-and-he/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [One faith, one law and one standard of justice did not mean democracy. The heresy of democracy has since then worked havoc in church…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/one-faith-one-law-and-one-standard-of-justice-did-not-mean-democracy/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [It needs more than ever to be stressed that the best and truest educators are parents under God. The greatest school is the family.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/it-needs-more-than-ever-to-be-stressed-that-the-best-and-truest/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [Life is rarely easy, but, with Christ our King, it is always good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/life-is-rarely-easy-but-with-christ-our-king-it-is-always-good/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [Concerning the press and politicians, the hatred for all such evangelical groups is not because of their real or fancied blunders but because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/concerning-the-press-and-politicians-the-hatred-for-all-such/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [ “\[T\]he more man accepts his limitations, the better is he enabled to know things truly.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/t-he-more-man-accepts-his-limitations-the-better-is-he-enabled-to/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [“Our character is revealed under pressure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/our-character-is-revealed-under-pressure/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) > [“Problems are a part of life in a fallen world, and they are necessary part of it, necessary to our testing and to our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-j-rushdoony/problems-are-a-part-of-life-in-a-fallen-world-and-they-are-necessary/) [R.J. Rushdoony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) [Explore all 77 R.J. Rushdoony quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-j-rushdoony/) ## More Good and evil quotes > [“Most people believe the apple merely represented Knowledge. But we know better. It was the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miranda-beverly-whittemore/most-people-believe-the-apple-merely-represented-knowledge-but-we/) [Miranda Beverly-Whittemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miranda-beverly-whittemore/) > [“The aristocratic interiority is centered on the higher mind, the mens, the ajna chakra, the seat of intellect and intuition that commands the lower…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-evola/the-aristocratic-interiority-is-centered-on-the-higher-mind-the-mens/) [Julius Evola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-evola/) > [What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-is-done-out-of-love-always-takes-place-beyond-good-and-evil/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In a general way, the literature of the twentieth century is essentially psychological; and psychology consists of describing states of the soul by displaying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-weil/in-a-general-way-the-literature-of-the-twentieth-century-is/) [Simone Weil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-weil/) > [The most painful moral struggles are not those between good and evil, but between the good and the lesser good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-grizzuti-harrison/the-most-painful-moral-struggles-are-not-those-between-good-and-evil/) [Barbara Grizzuti Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-grizzuti-harrison/) > [“If men could see us as we really are, they would be a little amazed; but the cleverest, the acutest men are often under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-men-could-see-us-as-we-really-are-they-would-be-a-little-amazed/) [Charlotte Brontë](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [Anyone who maintains absolute standards of good and evil is dangerous. As dangerous as a maniac with a loaded revolver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/anyone-who-maintains-absolute-standards-of-good-and-evil-is-dangerous/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [I believe it's true that there's good and evil in everyone and it's a constant struggle to have your better angels prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-friedkin/i-believe-it-s-true-that-there-s-good-and-evil-in-everyone-and-it-s-a/) [William Friedkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-friedkin/) > [“In a fallen world, it was hard to do unambiguous good.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-keneally/in-a-fallen-world-it-was-hard-to-do-unambiguous-good/) [Thomas Keneally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-keneally/) > [“Just as there are two sides to every story, there are two sides to every person. 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