A religious term signifying purposeful disobedience to the known will of God or an action offensive to God. It is a factor in many religions, though it is represented in a wide variety of ways. The Hebrew Bible represents sin as a constant element in the experience of Israel. There is an emphasis upon human responsibility for sin, and this is carried over into Christian doctrine, where it is joined with the idea of the inevitability of sin in the concept of original sin. Islam identifies two types of sin: inadvertent or accidental sins and wilful transgressions. Unlike Christianity, Islam does not have a concept of original sin.
Sin is a term used mainly in a religious context to describe an act that violates a moral code of conduct or the state of having committed such a violation.
Common ideas surrounding sin in various religions include:
Punishment for sins, either from other people, from God either in life or an afterlife, or from the Universe in general The question of whether or not an act must be intentional to be sinful The idea that one's conscience should produce guilt for a knowing 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;Etymology
The English word sin derives from Old English synn., recorded in use as early as the 9th century.
"Sin" was also the name of the Babylonian moon god. Some students in recent times have postulated a connection with the modern English word "sin", but this is likely a folk-etymology.
Buddhist views of sin
Buddhism doesn't recognize the idea behind Sin because in Buddhism, instead, there is a Cause-Effect Theory, known as Karma, or action.
Vipaka, the result of your Karma, may create low quality living, hardships, destruction and all means of disharmony in life and it may also create the healthy living, easiness, and harmony in life.
Pañcasīla (Pāli) is the fundamental code of Buddhist ethics, willingly undertaken by lay followers of Gautama Buddha. Noble Eightfold Path Right View Right Intention Right Speech Right Action Right Work Right Effort Right Mindfulness Right Concentration
These ultimately lead to cessation of suffering and thus is a way to be free of Samsara.
Jewish views of sin
Judaism regards the violation of divine commandments to be a sin. Judaism teaches that sin is an act, and not a state of being. Judaism uses the term "sin" to include violations of Jewish law that are not necessarily a lapse in morality. According to the Jewish encyclopedia, "Man is responsible for sin because he is endowed with free will ("behirah"); Judaism holds that all people sin at various points in their lives, and hold that God tempers justice with mercy.
The generic Hebrew word for any kind of sin is avera. Based on verses in the Hebrew Bible, Judaism describes three levels of sin.
Pesha or Mered - An intentional sin; Avon - This is a sin of lust or uncontrollable emotion. It is a sin done knowingly, but not done to defy God; Cheit - This is an unintentional sin, crime or fault. According to Strong it comes from the root khaw-taw (:H2398, H2403) meaning "to miss, to err from the mark (speaking of an archer), to sin, to stumble."Judaism holds that no human being is perfect, and all people have sinned many times. However certain states of sin (i.e. only one or two truly grievous sins lead to anything approaching the Biblical conception of hell. Based on the views of Rabbeinu Tam in the Babylonian Talmud (tractate Rosh HaShanah 17b), God is said to have thirteen attributes of mercy:
God is merciful before someone sins, even though God knows that a person is capable of sin. God is merciful to a sinner even after the person has sinned. God is the god of truth, thus we can count on God's promises to forgive repentant sinners. God forgives intentional sins if the sinner repents. God forgives a deliberate angering of Him if the sinner repents. God forgives sins that are committed in error. God wipes away the sins from those who repent.As Jews are commanded in imitatio Dei, emulating God, rabbis take these attributes into account in deciding Jewish law and its contemporary application.
A classical rabbinic work, Midrash Avot de Rabbi Natan, states:
One time, when Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was walking in Jerusalem with Rabbi Yehoshua, they arrived at where the Temple in Jerusalem now stood in ruins. "Woe to us" cried Rabbi Yehoshua, "for this house where atonement was made for Israel's sins now lies in ruins!" (Tractate Berachot, 55a.)The traditional liturgy of the Days of Awe (the High Holy Days; Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) states that prayer, repentance and tzedakah (charitable actions) are ways to repent for sin. In Judaism, sins committed against people (rather than against God or in the heart) must first be corrected and put right to the best of a person's ability; a sin which has not also been put right as best as possible cannot truly be said to be repented.
Jewish conceptions of atonement for sin
Atonement for sins is discussed in the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament.
A number of animal sacrifices were prescribed in the Torah (five books of Moses) to make atonement: a sin-offering for sins, and a guilt offering for religious trespasses. It should be noted that modern conservative Jews and Christians argue that the Jews never believed that the aim of all sacrifice is to pay the debt for sins - only the sin-offering and the guilt offering had this purpose;
Although the animal sacrifices were prescribed for atonement, there is no place where the Hebrew Bible says that animal sacrifice is the only means of atonement. For example, in the books of Jonah and Esther, both Jews and gentiles repented, prayed to God and were forgiven for their sins, without having offered any sacrifices. On the High Holidays of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, and the period between these two holidays known as the Days of Atonement, repentance of sins committed is based on specialized prayers and hymns, while some Jews contiune the ancient methods of sacrifice. An example of a common method of "sacrificing" for the sake of repentance is simply to drop bread into a body of water, to signify the passing of sins and the hope for one to be written into the Book of Life by God once again.
Repentance in itself is also a means of atonement (See Ezekiel 33:11, 33:19, Jeremiah 36:3, etc.) The Hebrew word for repentance is teshuvah which literally means to "return (to God)." Judaism teaches that our personal relationship with God allows us to turn directly to Him at any time, as Malachi 3:7 says, "Return to Me and I shall return to you," and Ezekiel 18:27, "When the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive."
Note that modern Judaism's views on sin and atonement are not identical to those in the Hebrew Bible alone, but rather are based on the laws of the Bible as seen through the Jewish oral law.
Christian views of sin
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In general
In Western Christianity, sin is often viewed as a legal infraction or contract violation, and so salvation tends to be viewed in legal terms. In Eastern Christianity, sin is more often viewed in terms of its effects on relationships, both among people and between people and God. The Greek word in the New Testament that is translated in English as "sin" is hamartia, which literally means missing the target. 1 John 3:4 states: "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."
Roman Catholic views
Roman Catholic doctrine distinguishes between personal sin and original sin. Personal sins are either mortal or venial.
Mortal sins are sins of grave (serious) matter, where the sinner is aware that the act (or omission) is both a sin and a grave matter, and performs the act (or omission) with deliberate consent. The act of committing a mortal sin cuts off the sinner from God's grace; If left un-reconciled, mortal sins result in eternal punishment in Hell.
Venial sins are sins which do not meet the conditions for mortal sins. The act of committing a venial sin does not cut off the sinner from God's grace, as the sinner has not rejected God. However, venial sins do injure the relationship between the sinner and God, and as such, must be reconciled to God, either through the sacrament of reconciliation or receiving the Eucharist.
Both mortal and venial sins have a dual nature of punishment. They incur both guilt for the sin, yielding eternal punishment, and temporal punishment for the sin. Reconciliation is an act of God's mercy, and addresses the guilt and eternal punishment for sin. Purgatory and indulgences address the temporal punishment for sin, and exercise of God's justice.
Roman Catholic doctrine also sees sin as being twofold: Sin is, at once, any evil or immoral action which infracts God's law and the inevitable consequences, the state of being that comes about by committing the sinful action. Sin can and does alienate a person both from God and the community.
According to Roman Catholicism, in addition to Jesus, the Virgin Mary also lived her entire life without sin.
See also: Seven deadly sinsEastern/Oriental Orthodox views
The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox use sin both to refer to humanity's fallen condition and to refer to individual sinful acts. In many ways the Orthodox Christian view of sin is similar to the Jewish, although neither form of Orthodoxy makes formal distinctions among "grades" of sins.
The Eastern Catholic Churches, which derive their theology and spirituality from same sources as the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox, do not use the Latin Catholic distinction between Mortal and Venial sin. However, like the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, the Eastern Catholic Churches do make a distinction between sins that are serious enough to bar one from Holy Communion (and must be confessed before receiving once again) and those which are not sufficiently serious to do so.
Protestant views
Many Protestants teach that, due to original sin, man has lost any and all capacity to move towards reconciliation with God (Romans 3:23;6:23; in fact, this inborn sin turns humans away from God and towards themselves and their own desires (Isaiah 53:6a). Thus, humans may be brought back into a relationship with God only by way of God's rescuing the sinner from his hopeless condition (Galatians 5:17-21; This understanding of original sin (Romans 5:12-19), is most closely associated with Calvinism (see total depravity) and Lutheranism.
This is in contrast to the Catholic teaching that while sin has tarnished the original goodness of humanity prior to the Fall, it has not entirely extinguished that goodness, or at least the potential for goodness, allowing humans to reach towards God to share in the Redemption which Jesus Christ won for them.
There is dispute about where sin originated some refer to Ezekiel 28 that suggests that sin originated with Satan when he coveted the position that rightfully belongs to God.
Defined types of sin
Original sin -- Most denominations of Christianity interpret the Garden of Eden account in Genesis in terms of the fall of man. Adam and Eve's disobedience was the first sin man ever committed, and their original sin (or the effects of the sin) is passed on to their descendants (or has become a part of their environment). Concupiscence Venial sin Mortal sin Eternal sin -- Commonly called the Unforgivable sin (mentioned in Matthew 12:31), this is perhaps the most controversial sin, whereby someone has become an apostate, forever denying himself a life of faith and experience of salvation; the precise nature of this sin is often disputed.Christian teachings on atonement, or the remedy for sin
In Christianity, atonement refers to the redemption achieved by Jesus Christ by his crucifixion and resurrection. Christians begin with the proposition that the death of Jesus Christ was a sacrifice that relieves believers of the burden of their sins. He stated that in order to find forgiveness from God for our sins, we first had to forgive one another.
Also, note that some scholars such as Thomas McElwain consider the belief that Jesus has already paid the whole price for sin as a later belief, one completely unknown to Paul, Jesus or any of the disciples of the first century.
Some later teachers who came after Jesus are as follows:
Origen taught that the death of Christ was a ransom paid to Satan in satisfaction of his just claim on the souls of humanity as a result of sin. Athanasius of Alexandria taught that Christ came to overcome death and corruption, and to remake humanity in God's image again. Augustine of Hippo said that sin was not a created thing at all, but that it was "privatio boni", a "taking away of good", and uncreation. Anselm of Canterbury taught that Christ's death satisfied God's offended sense of justice over the sins of humanity. Also, God rewarded Christ's obedience, which built up a storehouse of merit and a treasury of grace that believers could share by their faith in Christ. Martin Luther and John Calvin, leaders of the Protestant Reformation, owed much to Anselm's theory and taught that Christ, the only sinless person, was obedient to take upon Himself the penalty for the sins that should have been visited on men and women. Calvin additionally advocated the doctrine of limited atonement, which teaches that the atonement applies only to the sins of the elect rather than to all of humanity. Drawing primarily from the works of Jacobus Arminius and Hugo Grotius, the Governmental theory teaches that Christ suffered for humankind so that God could forgive humans while still maintaining divine justice. Karl Barth taught that Christ's death manifested God's love and His hatred for sin.The several ideas of these and many more Christian theologians can perhaps be summed up under these rubrics:
Victory: the idea that Jesus defeated Death through his death, and gave life to those in the grave. Both following models may be understood as variations of the Victory idea: Participation: the idea that God's death on the cross completed his identification with humanity - God's participation in our sin and sorrow allowing our participation in his love and triumph; Ransom: the idea that Jesus released humanity from a legal obligation to the Devil, incurred by sin. (Theories involving ransom owed to divine justice are generally classified under Punishment, below.) Punishment: the idea that God assumed the penalty for human sins on the Cross, and volunteered punishment as the price paid to release humanity from so that the faithful might escape it; Government: the idea that God forgives the penalty due humans for their sins, provisioned on their acceptance of that forgiveness, but that Christ suffered on the Cross in order to demonstrate the seriousness of sin; Revelation: the idea that Jesus' death was meant to reveal God's nature and to help humans know God better. Sacraments (Catholic Church)Islamic views of sin
Islam sees sin (dhanb, thanb ذنب) as anything that goes against the will of Allah (God). Like Judaism, Islam teaches that sin is an act and not a state of being. Muhammad advised:
"Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately, and rejoice, for no one's good deeds will put him in Paradise."
In Islam, there are several gradations of sin:
sayyia, khatia: mistakes (Suras 7:168; 82:14) shirk: ascribing a partner to Allah (Sura 4:48)It is believed that Iblis (Lucifer, Satan) has a significant role in tempting humankind towards sin. Thus, Islamic theology identifies and warns of an external enemy of humankind who leads humankind towards sin (7:27, 4:199, 3:55 etc.) The Qur'an in several verses (2:30-39, 7:11-25, 20:116-124) states the details of the Iblis’s temptation of Adam and in (Qur'an 7:27) states that the Iblis’s pattern of temptation of man is the same as that of Adam, i.e.
Muslims believe that Allah is angered by sin and punishes some sinners with the fires of جهنم jahannam (Hell), but that He is also ar-rahman (the Merciful) and al-ghaffar (the Oft-Forgiving). Some Qur'anic commentaries such as Allameh Tabatabaei 4:10, 2:174 state that the fire is nothing but a transformed form of the human’s sin itself:
"Those who unjustly eat up the property of orphans, eat up a Fire into their own bodies: They will soon be enduring a Blazing Fire!"In Islam there are opposing views that if a person commits a sin, he will be out of Islam. For example, Khavarej states that a single major unforgiven sin will automatically make a Muslim an unbeliever.
Islamic conceptions of atonement for sin
Qur'an teaches that the main way back to Allah is through genuine tawbah (repentance) which literally means 'to return'). Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Islam does not accept any blood sacrifice for sin.
In many verses of the Qur'an, Allah promises to forgive the sins of Muslims(those who believe and do good works) (47:2, 29:7, 14:23 etc.)
Prayer and good deeds can also be atonements for sins (Qur'an 11:114). The Islamic Law, Sharia specifies the atonement of any particular sin. Depending on the sin, the atonement can range from repentance and compensation of the sin if possible, feeding the poor, freeing slaves to even [[stoning to death]] or cutting hands.
Some of the major sins are held to be legally punishable in an Islamic state (for example, murder, theft, adultery, and in some views apostasy;
Islamic Major sins :Al-Kaba'r
There is considerable difference among scholars as to which sins are Al-Kaba'r (major sins).
According to Sahih Bukhari there are seven al-Kaba'r (major sins) according to this tradition: >
"Avoid the seven noxious things"- and after having said this, the prophet (saw) mentioned them: "associating anything with Allah; ,"
'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas said:>
"Seventy is closer to their number than seven,"
Hindu views of sin
In Hinduism, the term sin or pāpa is often used to describe actions that create negative karma.
Sin, in Hinduism, besides creating negative karma, is violating moral and ethical codes as in the religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In fact, it is much described in the scriptures that chanting the name of Hari or Narayana or Shiva is the only way to atone for sins, prevent rebirth and attain moksha.
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami explains in the lexicon section of his book, Dancing with Siva, that "sin is an intentional transgression of divine law and is not viewed in Hinduism as a crime against God as in Judaeo-Christian religions, but rather as 1) an act against dharma, or moral order and 2) one's own self."
He further mentions that sin in Hinduism is an adharmic course of action which automatically brings negative consequences. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami explains that the term sin carries a double meaning, as do its Sanskrit equivalents: 1) a wrongful act, 2) the negative consequences resulting from a wrongful act.
He comments that the residue of sin is called papa, sometimes conceived of as a sticky, astral substance which can be dissolved through penance (prayashchitta), austerity (tapas) and good deeds (sukritya).
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami further notes that in Hinduism, except for Dvaita school of Shri Madhvacharya, there are no such concepts of inherent or mortal sin, according to some theologies, which he defined as sins so grave that they can never be expiated and which cause the soul to be condemned to suffer eternally in hell.
Adapted and cited from lexicon section of his book, Dancing with Siva., with italics to indicate non-quotes.
Atheist views of sin
To the atheist, the concept of sin is not very meaningful; sin is generally regarded by most people as a theological concept, and atheists are by definition not followers of a theology.
It is, however, important to note that "atheism" is as vague a category as "theism": just as there is no universal doctrine of "theism" (apart from the mere assertion that some divine entity exists), there is no universal doctrine of "atheism" and no single view on the concept of sin. ^ Bartleby - Sin ^ vol.8 p.315 no.474) ^ ISBN 1-56744-489-X The Major Sins Al-Kaba'r By Muhammad bin 'Uthman Adh-Dhahabi, rendered into English by Mohammad Moinuddin Siddiqui ^ ISBN 1-56744-489-X The Major Sins Al-Kaba'r By Muhammad bin 'Uthman Adh-Dhahabi, rendered into English by Mohammad Moinuddin Siddiqui ^ Muhammad Tahlawi The Path to Paradise by M.Tahlawi, Trans.
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