Sin

What is Sin?

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, sin has been understood as an act of transgression against God or other people, as well as an ontological state of being. The former is most clearly epitomized in the Ten Commandments, as well as in the medieval Christian practice of compiling sins according to their severity (i.e., mortal and venial) or typology (i.e., the Seven Deadly Sins). The latter is most clearly epitomized in the Pauline tradition of understanding Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden as the beginning of “original sin,” constituting an inherent state of human imperfection.

The Ten Commandments form the foundation of Judeo-Christian understanding of sin as transgression. In the Torah, the Commandments are delivered to Moses by Yahweh on Mt. Sinai and subsequently appear in slightly different forms in the Shemot (Exodus) and the Devarim (Deuteronomy). The consequences for violations were not listed along with the Commandments but rather interspersed throughout broader Mosaic law in the Torah, and included everything from restitution to death. One consequence not possible was that of eternal condemnation, or “hell.” Rather, both the wicked and the righteous descended to Sheol, the abode of the dead.

In many respects, early Christians adopted Jewish views on laws and punishments, which was not surprising because many of them were and thought of themselves as Jews. The Apostle Paul, however, differed from many of his contemporaries by arguing that sin was not merely an act but rather a state of being that was inherent in all people. In his Epistle to the Romans (5:12), Paul argued that, “just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned.” The idea of sins being passed down through generations was not new, but Paul suggested that through Adam's original transgression, all future generations were sinners, regardless of their individual actions. For Paul, the only resolution for this state of original sin was grace, or more specifically, the acceptance of the grace of God as delivered though the suffering and subsequent resurrection of Christ.

In early Christianity however, there was much debate about the eternal consequences of sin. Origen of Alexandria (185–254 c.e.) argued, for example, that it was probable that at some time in the distant future all things would be “restored to the creator,” including the souls of the wicked. At the time, in popular Hellenic thought, this was not a radical proposition. Nevertheless, it was one that was later rejected by the church, as well as by theologians such as Augustine of Hippo (354–430 c.e.), who set forth what was to be the most influential understanding of sin for at least 1,500 years. Augustine argued that individual sins, for example, carnal acts, were a result of separation from God in all people as a result of original sin. In other words, sex was not shameful until Adam and Even became “ashamed of their own nakedness” as a result of their eating from the tree of knowledge. The result of this knowledge was subsequently inherent in the human condition itself. People were not merely “sinners,” they were “of sin” and thus inclined toward corruption as a result of their “nature.”

...