David Mutchler earned a bachelor's degree in education, master's degrees in philosophy and social work, and a doctorate in psychology, followed by advanced studies in religion. He has taught at the secondary, university, and business executive levels, with Honors in each. In addition, he spent several years working in the field of mental health.
Though raised as a mainstream Christian, David long felt that there were deeper messages in the Bible than is customarily thought to be the case. At the top of his list was the usual interpretation of the original sin, which the vast majority of Christians see as disobedience--that at the serpent's enticement, Adam and Eve ate the fruit that God had forbidden. And by doing so, they, and all of humankind, were cast into a state of sin.
In David's view, what this interpretation fails to acknowledge--and therefore fails to understand--is the significance of what the tree that bore the fruit represents and why it was forbidden. The banned fruit was from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and by eating the fruit, First Man and First Woman gained the knowledge that good and evil exist.
From there, it is a short jump to see that--gaining the knowledge that good and evil exist--is to think that we have the right to sit in judgment of ourselves, other people, groups, ideas, and situations. The truth is, judgment is the source of most dissatisfaction and suffering. Hence, judgmentalism is the actual original sin, not disobedience, and the real turmoil and pain which we fell into was a world filled with judgment.
This gives us a vastly different interpretation of the meaning of salvation. It means that to save ourselves--and the world--from suffering, we must reverse our predisposition to judge. "Judgment Day Is Not Coming: Are You Ready?" is a reader-friendly process for how to rid ourselves of judgment, and thereby to create more happiness and well-being in our own lives, which collectively means more happiness and well-being in the world.
