Sin
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Sin is a term used mainly in a religious context to describe an act that violates a moral rule, or the state of having committed such a violation. Commonly, the moral code of conduct is decreed by a divine entity, i.e. Divine law.
Sin is often used to mean an action that is prohibited or considered wrong; in some religions (notably some sects of Christianity), sin can refer to a state of mind rather than a specific action. Colloquially, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, shameful, harmful, or alienating might be termed "sinful".
Common ideas surrounding sin in various religions include:
- Punishment for sins, from other people, from God either in life or in afterlife, or from the Universe in general.
- The question of whether an act must be intentional to be sinful.
- The idea that one's conscience should produce guilt for a conscious act of sin.
- A scheme for determining the seriousness of the sin.
- Repentance from (expressing regret for and determining not to commit) sin, and atonement (repayment) for past deeds.
- The possibility of forgiveness of sins, often through communication with a deity or intermediary; in Christianity often referred to as salvation.
Crime and justice are related secular concepts.
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[edit] Etymology
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Look up sin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
The word sin derives from Old English synn, recorded in use as early as the 9th century.[1] The same root appears in several other Germanic languages, e.g. Old Norse synd, or German Sünde. There is presumably a Germanic root *sun(d)jō (literally "it is true").[2]
But in the biblical Hebrew, the generic word for sin is het. It means to err, to miss the mark. It does not mean to do evil.[3]
The Greek word hamartia (ἁμαρτία) is usually translated as sin in the New Testament. In Classical Greek, it means "to miss the mark" or "to miss the target" which was also used in Old English archery.[4] In Koine Greek, which was spoken in the time of the New Testament, however, this translation is not adequate.[5]
[edit] Jewish views of sin
Judaism regards the violation of any of the divine commandments to be a sin. Judaism teaches that sin is an act, and not a state of being.
[edit] Christian views of sin
In Western Christianity, sin is viewed as a legal infraction or contract violation of the relationship with God, and so salvation tends to be understood in legal terms, similar to Jewish law. As in Eastern Christianity, sin is also viewed as a relational problem. Sin alienates the sinner from God. It has severed the relationship of humanity to God. That relationship can only be restored by Salvation through faith alone in Christ alone by His atoning death upon the Cross. For the Christian, sin damages, though does not completely sever, their relationship with God. For that relationship to be restored, the offender must confess his or her sin to God and repent of it.
In Eastern Christianity, sin is viewed in terms of its effects on relationships, both among people and between people and God. The Bible portrays sin as not following God's plan for creatures and desiring to be like the Creator, based on the account of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis, and thus in direct opposition to Him. To Sin is to willfully desire to be in control of your earthly purposes and destiny in opposition to God’s purposes and destiny for his creation.
It is possible that the metynomic use of the word sin is based upon the competing male lunar diety of the Mesopotamian religion [[1]]. Christian authorities had long attempted to dominate geographic regions by displacing and then demonising the gods of other religions as was done with the attributes of the Bacchic and Dionysian cults which later formed the basis of the Eucharist.
[edit] Islamic views of sin
Islam sees sin (dhanb, thanb ذنب) as anything that goes against the will of Allah (God). Islam teaches that sin is an act and not a state of being. The Qur'an teaches that "the (human) soul is certainly prone to evil, unless the Lord does bestow His Mercy" and that even the prophets do not absolve themselves of the blame (Qur'an [Qur'an 12:53]).
[edit] Bahá'í views of sin
In the Bahá'í Faith, humans are considered to be naturally good (perfect), fundamentally spiritual beings. Human beings were created because of God's immeasurable love for us. However, the Bahá'í teachings compare the human heart to a mirror, which, if turned away from the light of the sun (i.e. God), is incapable of receiving God's love.
[edit] Hindu views of sin
In Hinduism, although the term sin (pāpa in Sanskrit) is often used to describe actions that create negative karma by violating moral and ethical codes it is different from other religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the sense that sin is against the will of God.
[edit] Buddhist views of sin
Buddhism does not recognize the idea behind sin because in Buddhism, instead, there is a "Cause-Effect Theory", known as Karma, or action-reaction.
[edit] Atheist views of sin
Atheism often draws a distinction between sin and an ethical code of conduct. Sin is a term generally associated with a theological belief system (which is antithetical to atheism), and is separate from the concept of "right or wrong." Atheists typically do not use the term "sinful" to refer to actions that violate their particular moral system (particularly if "sinful" is taken to mean "acting against the wishes or commands of a deity"), preferring terms such as "wrong" or "unethical," which do not carry religious connotations. Most atheists hold that moral codes derive from societal mores or innate human characteristics, rather than religious authority. Atheists may still adhere to a strong ethical code, even if they do not use the concept of sin.
"Atheism" is as vague a category as "theism", however: just as there is no universal doctrine of "theism" (apart from the basic assertion that some divine entity or entities exist), there is no universal doctrine of "atheism," and no unified atheistic view on the concept of sin.
[edit] See also
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Look up sin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sin |
- Abomination
- Actual sin
- Atonement
- Concupiscence
- Eternal sin (also known as Unforgivable sin or Unpardonable sin)
- Ethics
- Evil
- Fall of Man
- Hamartiology
- Impiety
- Internal sin
- Karma
- Morality
- Mortal sin
- Original sin (also known as Ancestral sin, Hereditary sin, Birth sin or First sin)
- Repentance
- Salvation
- Seven deadly sins (also known as the Capital vices or Cardinal sins)
- Sin-offering
- Taboo
- Ten Commandments
- Total depravity (also known as Total inability or Total corruption)
- Vaitarna river
- Venial sin
- Vice
- Virtue
- What happens on tour, stays on tour
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Editorial board. Oxford English Dictionary (1971) ISBN 0198612125. Earliest citation c.825.
- ^ Bartleby - Sin
- ^ The Science of God: The Convergence of Scientific and Biblical Wisdom by Gerald L. Schroeder
- ^ Liddell and Scott: Greek-English Lexicon 9th ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
- ^ Danker, Frederick W. A: Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3d ed. Chicago/London: University of Chicago Press.
[edit] Bibliography
- Hein, David. "Regrets Only: A Theology of Remorse." The Anglican 33, no. 4 (October 2004): 5-6
- Schumacher, Meinolf. Sündenschmutz und Herzensreinheit: Studien zur Metaphorik der Sünde in lateinischer und deutscher Literatur des Mittelalters. Munich: Fink, 1996
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