What do you all think regarding David's statement in Psalm 51:5, and how Calvinists like to use this verse to teach total depravity?
Psalm 51:3-5 - "(3)For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin [is] ever before me.(4) 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. (5) Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. (KJV)The LXX reads:
(3) For I am conscious of mine iniquity; and my sin is continually before me. (4) Against thee only have I sinned, and done evil before thee: that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. (5) For, behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother conceive me." (Translation from: http://www.ecmarsh.com/lxx/Psalms/index.htm)
Can David be speaking of the formation of his flesh here, rather than his spiritual condition at the time of his conception?
The following comes from an Arminian blog and may be worth considering:
Psalm 51:5The first major passage among several often used to teach original sin is Psalm 51:5 which reads: "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me" (ESV).
Cottrell points out first that there are other ways to understand the grammar of this verse. He writes, "Strictly speaking, David does not apply the sin and iniquity to himself, contrary to the NIV, nor does he say that he himself is sinful. The prepositional phrases 'in iniquity' and 'in sin' are used to modify the act of being conceived and the act of being born. It is possible that the sin belongs to the mother" and "Another possibility is that the phrases 'in iniquity' and 'in sin' are meant to describe the pervasiveness of sin in the world into which David was born" (TFOFA, p.181).
Cottrell goes on to point out that the purpose of Psalm 51 is on David's personal sins and not some kind of inherited sin. Why does David then use the language of 51:5? He is humbling himself before God in figurative language in much the same way as when other passages refer to man as a worm (Psalm 22:6; Job 17:14; 25:6; Isaiah 41:14). This is hyperbole, or exaggeration for emphasis. Psalm 51:5 is much like Psalm 58:3. Both verses are meant to convey the utter wickedness and sinfulness of those committing the sins.
Cottrell writes further, "Even if we should grant that Psalm 51:5 is meant to teach some form of universal original sin, it could not be used to support the Augustinian and Catholic versions of this doctrine. The most that could be drawn from it is partial depravity, as in semi-Pelagianism; it neither affirms nor implies total depravity and inherited guilt" (TFOFA, p.182).
