In another thread the question came up as to whether Paul quotes the OT honestly. I think he does not. Almost every time he quotes the Old Testament, if you look at the actual verses in context, you will find they are not saying what Paul claims they are saying. For instances, look at Romans 3:10-19:
as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands, no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one."
"Their throat is an open grave, they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips."
"Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
"Their feet are swift to shed blood,
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they do not know."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Rom 3:10-19)
Paul is here quoting a number of verses as though they apply to everybody. But the verses he quotes in the Old Testament do not say that.
The first 3 verses are a loose paraphrase of Psalms 14:1-3. Psalms 14 in context is not saying that all are bad. Rather, it is saying that there are bad people that say no to Elohim (God), and there are righteous people who follow God. It is contrasting two groups of people. It is not saying all are bad.
The next verse appears to be from Jeremiah 5:16 which condemns a nation that is attacking the Jews, and says their quiver is an open grave. Paul changes "quiver" to "throat" and uses it to mean all men. Clearly Jeremiah was not saying that everyone was part of that invading army.
The verse about poison of snakes comes from Psalms 140:3, where the psalmist complains about some evil men coming after him. The psalmist is not saying everybody is an evil man coming at him, only some.
Next we read about a mouth full of cursing and bitterness, quoting Psalms 10:7, but again, this verse is talking about particular evil men attacking the psalmist, not that all are evil.
So I see here a collection of verses in the Old Testament about particular people doing bad things. One could also find a collection of verses about particular people doing good things. But Paul chooses the verses that speak of bad people doing bad things, strings them together, and uses them to prove a point. But Paul's point is not the point the original OT writers were making.
It is hard to find the doctrine in the Old Testament that all are evil. Rather we find that some are evil and some are good. And the emphasis there is always to be good, because God rewards you on earth if you are good.
you are right about the point you made that there is no doctrine in the books of the old testament, presented by the true Prophets, conveying a belief that all people are unrighteous/sinful, but St Paul also didn't mean all people when He stated in his epistle to the roman church that there can be sinners in the world - He says expressly in Romans 3 that it concerns chiefly those who are under the law i.e. who are spiritual, in the sense that they should at least be careful not to commit spiritual unrighteousness/wickedness:
Romans 3:19 "Now we know that what things soever
the law saith, it saith to
them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."
because the spiritual lawlessness/wickedness is the cause of all other evils and iniquities in general, or as He says in the previous(2nd) chapter of Romans:
Romans 2:17-27 (NASB) "But if you bear the name “Jew”(i.e. spiritual/righteous) and rely upon the Law(law(s) of god/faith) and boast in God, and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal(i.e. do you bereave)? You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery(i.e. do you force, harm, offend or embitter)? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples(i.e. do you practice the faith wrong)? You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God(i.e. do you commit unrighteousness)? For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES(i.e. among the irreligious and non-occult people) BECAUSE OF YOU,” just as it is written. For indeed circumcision(i.e. to follow what is spiritual/religious) is of value if you practice the Law(i.e. if you keep the Holy Law of God/faith); but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision(i.e. your holiness/righteousness) has become uncircumcision(i.e. unholiness/unrighteousness). So if the uncircumcised(i.e. the irreligious and non-occult) man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision(i.e. his irreligiosity/unspirituality) be regarded as circumcision(i.e. as righteousness)? And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision(also: and baptism/initiation) are a transgressor of the Law?"
yes, the irreligious and non-occult person can easily be considered harmless enough by God and inherit eternal life, especially if they conform to the requirements of the Holy Law of God, which says don't cause harm/suffering to your neighbor(townsman/cohabitant), but the spiritual servant/worshiper has at least to be an example of good attitude/treatment/behavior to others, moreover, the world situation depends primarily on what the spiritual/religious people (actually) do when they practice (the) faith - if they do only good and righteous things with(in) the faith, then there will be no unrighteousness in the world that they don't set up with(in) the faith, but if they do evil and unrighteous things with(in) the faith, then it can easily turn out that there will be exactly such unrighteousness in the world that they set up with(in) the faith:
Romans 5:12-14 "by one man(also: through the generation of the unrighteous spiritual workers/servants) sin(i.e. the devil as well as the system of (the) spiritual unrighteousness/wickedness) entered into the world, and death(i.e. and the (spirit of) deterioration) by sin; and so death passed upon all men(i.e. and so the deterioration affected many humans), for that all have sinned(i.e. because many were seized by the system of (the) spiritual unrighteousness/wickedness, some of them as its servants, others as its victims): For until the law sin was in the world(i.e. because the "darkness" was in the universe even until the nascence of the human spirituality/religiosity): but sin is not imputed when there is no law(i.e. but there is no sin where there is no spiritual unrighteousness/wickedness). Nevertheless death(i.e. the deterioration) reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression(i.e. even over people that had not committed spiritual lawlessness/wickedness)"
so St Paul talks about the origins of evil, which is primary the spiritual unrighteousness/wickedness/lawlessness, and the biblical scriptures are spiritual writings explaining the spiritual things:
1 Corinthians 2:12-13 "we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.",
1 Corinthians 2:12-13 (NIV) "What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.",
1 Corinthians 2:12-13 (NASB) "we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words."
and if you analyze accurately the passages that St Paul quotes in Romans 3, you will (be able to) notice that the matter at hand is primary spiritual unrighteousness/wickedness/lawlessness there - St Paul the Apostle is a true Saint, He doesn't lie
P.S. and one more thing, the correct passage that He quoted in Romans 3:13 is not from Jeremiah 5 but rather from Psalms 5 (9th verse)
Blessings