Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: crowe@sci.ccny.cuny.edu (Daniel Crowe) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: sin Message-ID: Date: 3 Dec 89 18:29:05 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: City College Of New York Lines: 51 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article dtate@unix.cis.pitt.edu (David M Tate) writes: >One important consequence of this view of sin, which I don't hear preached >very often, is that no "sin" (in the sense of "sinful action") is any "worse" >(reprehensible, culpable, abhorrent to God) than any other. Until this morning, my understanding was the same as David's; now I am not as certain. Recently I have been listening to the RSV NT on cassette in the car while I commute, and this morning I heard the letters of John. 1 John 5:16,17 stuck in my mind precisely because it seems to contradict my understanding as expressed by David above. The passage reads as follows in the NIV: "If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death." (1 John 5:16,17, NIV) I am interested in an exegesis of this passage. Thanks in advance. -- Daniel (God is my judge) | "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to physics graduate student | speak and slow to become angry, for man's City College of New York | anger does not bring about the righteous crowe@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | life that God desires." (James 1:19-20,NIV) [The commentary I referred to (in the Harper's NT series) believes this passage is talking about the issue of whether we can be forgiven for sins committed after baptism. This is known to have been a difficult and controversial issue in the early Church. Doubts on the subject led many to be baptized as late as possible. The commentary quotes a number of Jewish documents, as well as Mk 3:29, Mt 12:31f, Lk 12:10, as showing a tendency to treat sins as falling into two classes: forgivable and unforgivable. However the distinction is different in different documents. Christian tradition has found it hard to interpret "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit". Mt 18:12ff makes it clear that forgiveness is the normal case. The commentary guesses that 1J's definition of unforgiveable sin is the holding of false faith. "This is what 1J opposes from start to finish. And the sign of holding false faith is failure to love the brothers. Those who sin mortally are, in other words, those of whom the opposite of the dual statement in 3:23 is true. They neither believe nor act rightly." At any rate, I don't think this passage is dealing with distinctions such as the Roman Catholic one between mortal and venial sins, but with a type of sin that makes forgiveness impossible. This seems clear since it is hopeless even to pray for such people. --clh]