Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!usc!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: ap1i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Andrew C. Plotkin) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: sin (was Re: Satan) Message-ID: Date: 29 Nov 89 04:05:19 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 40 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu > Excerpts from netnews.soc.religion.christian: 24-Nov-89 Re: sin (was Re: > Satan) Dave Mielke@watmath.wate (2387) > Why is there so much debate regarding exactly how sin is implemented > within our souls and flesh? The Scriptures do not tell us, and no > amount of human analysis will ever yield an adequate definition of a > spiritual phenomenon for which we have no frame of reference with which > to compare it. > > Is it not sufficient to simply recognize sin for the awful thing that > it is? Sin is so awful before God that He declares it justly punishable > by eternal damnation. The debate over "what is sin?" is, I think, an attempt to systematically determine answers to the question "what specific actions are sins?" If we knew what the definition of "sin" was, we would know precisely what we could do that God would not punish, and what we could not. (This is -not- the same as the "what is necessary/sufficient for salvation?" question, but certainly is related.) There are several different proposed answers, and they all lead to *different* categories of sin/not sin. There is the strict "Does the Bible forbid it?" approach, the aforementioned "Does it turn away from the nature of God?", and others; plus variations, depending on who interprets the Bible (is the Pope an infullible interpreter?), what the nature of God is, etc, etc, etc. These differences show: note the continuing controversies -- within and between Christian communities -- over whether "sin" includes birth control, being rich, abortion, masturbation, non-belief in the divinity of Christ, homosexuality, slavery. (All right, that last isn't much of a controversy; but "does the Bible forbid it?" You see the sort of problems that come up.) At any rate, this sort of question cannot be ignored. --Z [Then there's the answer that sin often depends upon intention and context, so it isn't defined as a specific list of actions. --clh]