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So What is Sin?

Bishka

Veteran Member
What is sin to you?

Is it transgression? Is it breaking the law whether secular or spiritual, or is it only a sin, if it is a spritual law broken? All views, opinions, feelings, etc.

What is sin?
 
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Green Gaia

Veteran Member
You won't hear UUs use the 's' word much, but I like Rev. Forrest Church's definition of sin: It is anything that divides us: within ourselves; against our neighbor; from the ground of our being, the god of all creation.

He goes on to explain that, Salvation, from the Latin, means health. The Teutonic words heath, hale, holy, and whole all share the same root. Salvation from sin is, to use St. Paul's word, reconciliation. On those rare yet blessed moments when we make full peace with ourselves, with others, and with our creator, we experience salvation.
 

zombieharlot

Some Kind of Strange
Becky said:
or is it only a sin, if it is a spritual law broken?

Well, doesn't the Bible say to obey the laws of the land? So wouldn't that mean that breaking the law is just the same as a spiritual sin?
 

jewscout

Religious Zionist
zombieharlot said:
Well, doesn't the Bible say to obey the laws of the land? So wouldn't that mean that breaking the law is just the same as a spiritual sin?

there's a difference between speeding and commiting adultery.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
beckysoup61 said:
What is sin to you?

It's my understanding that the word most frequently translated as "sin" in the NT is the Greek word "hamartia". In Homeric Greek, the word meant "to miss the mark", as when an archer misses his target. Much later, in Aristotle, the word is used for "tragic flaw". Aristotle believed that all humans were tragically flawed in some way.

Of course, Jesus did not speak in Greek, but Aramaic. I've been trying to run down the Aramaic words he used for "sin", and Angellous has helped me tremendously with that, but I haven't yet read the articles Angellous sent me today on the topic. However, I recall one professor telling me that an Aramaic word Jesus probably used during his lifetime had a root or related meaning of "sickness". If true, then one might think of Jesus meaning sin was a sickness of the spirit.

Is it transgression? Is it breaking the law whether secular or spiritual, or is it only a sin, if it is a spritual law broken?

I think it's fairly clear in the Christian tradition that sin is considered by many to be something which distances us from God. But I'm no expert on Christianity, so I'll be interested in what others think about this subject from a Christian POV.

The closest concept to sin that I've come across in Buddhism is trishna, which is usually translated as "attachment" or "clingingness", and which literally means "to thirst". Trishna is said to be the root cause of dukkha, or emotional pain and pleasure, alienation, distraught, sorrow, joy, anxiety, etc. Dukkha is sometimes translated as "suffering", but a literal translation would be "out of jointedness" or "dislocation", as when a shoulder is dislocated. That seems to me remarkably close to the Greek notion of hamartia as "off target", and the possible Aramaic word associated with "sickness".

Could it be all these sages were thinking more or less of the same thing? I wonder to what extent that might or might not be true?
 

Bishka

Veteran Member
zombieharlot said:
Well, doesn't the Bible say to obey the laws of the land? So wouldn't that mean that breaking the law is just the same as a spiritual sin?

True dat. Yes it does. I'm just trying to see others ideas.

I think it is breaking any law, whether spritual or secular and that which keeps us from God.
 
Sin is usually applied in a religious context (disobedience to the will of God), but can also be used colloquially to simply describe one's deviation from a societal norm, which is considered shameful, or alienates oneself from others.

Is it transgression? I don't think it always is. For instance: I smoke marijuana. Am I breaking the law (transgression)? Yes. Is it sin? It depends on your point of view, but I don't think it is because I have no religious code to follow (I'm Agnostic), therefore to me it's not sinful in any religious context. Is it considered shameful or does it alienate me from others?: Definately not. Also, some people consider masturbation a Sin, yet it is not societal transgression because it is not illegal. It depends on your presuppositions.

I would say that it is breaking the law of God, but not necessarily breaking the laws invented by human beings. No, it's not always breaking a spiritual law, but also going against what society would consider moral.
 

EnhancedSpirit

High Priestess
Ok, I know I have said this before, but I will say it again.

SIN is separated identity neurosis brought about by secondary independent notions:
Separated - no longer connected or joined
Identity - the individual characteristics by which a thing or person is recognized or known
Neurosis - a mental disturbance not attributable to any known neurological or organic dysfunction

This means the false notion that we are separate from each other and from God. And this state of being is caused by:
Secondary - belonging to a lower class or rank; not of major importance
Independent - not dependent on or conditioned by or relative to anything else
Notions - a vague idea in which some confidence is placed; an odd or fanciful or capricious idea
 

Booko

Deviled Hen
sojourner said:
That which is selfish is sinful. That which is selfless is not
.

dawny0826 said:
Interesting definition. :D

It's pretty much the same as mine. Sin is acting out of the ego. It is acting out of attachment to the things of this world, which as Sunstone mentioned, is a very Buddhist pov.

Speaking of Sunstone:

Could it be all these sages were thinking more or less of the same thing? I wonder to what extent that might or might not be true?

From a Baha'i pov, the extent is 100%. God has been talking to more than just one or two guys in the West. The message is not similar because anyone is "copying" from someone else. The message is similar because they're all copying from the Same Source.
 

Comet

Harvey Wallbanger
sojourner said:
That which is selfish is sinful. That which is selfless is not.

Therefore, anybody who cries at the "loss" of a loved one is sinful......!!!!!!.....??????

So many breaking down the term, so many with great personal answers...... it is what it is to us all, and that was the question.

Someboday said it was a "sickness of the soul". I like that.

Sin to me is: doing anything that goes against my very being.... Letting my mind and body do though my heart and soul have said is wrong to do so. That is to "sin".
 
beckysoup61 said:
True dat. Yes it does. I'm just trying to see others ideas.

I think it is breaking any law, whether spritual or secular and that which keeps us from God.

Hmm...I didn't know that the Bible was to be taken so literally. Consider the fact that laws change, and laws are different in different areas. Remember Prohibition? Remember Discrimination? So it was a Sin to God that the people during the Prohibition Act drank? and now it's okay? It was a Sin to God for a black person to use a white drinking fountain back in the day? and now it's okay? ....so I guess it is a Sin to God to run a red light....:confused:
 

Mykola

Member
Hi everyone!
I will set forth my opinion on sin a bit later, but now I'd like to say about laws of the land.

Basic principle:
1. As subjects of Kingdom of God, we must obey His rules and commandments.
2. As citizens or subjects of our respective countries, we must obey the laws of the land where they do not contradict God's commandments.

Simple hierarchy - eays to understand, rewarding to follow.

If I'm not clear enough, please feel free to ask questions on specifics.
 

Mykola

Member
Firstly, Bible overview on the topic:

Proverbs 21:4: "An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin."

Amos 5:12: "For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate [from their right]."

James 2:9: "But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors."

James 4:17: "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth not, to him it is sin."

1 John 5:17: "All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death."

1 John 3:4: "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."

Now, it would be intersting to see what is righteousness, because sin is defined as opposite. Here it is:

Deuteronomy 6:25: "And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us."

Generally, the conclusion can be drawn that sin is disobedience to God (no matter what reasons caused it and what specific kind of disobedience it is).
 
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