I can still vividly recall my elementary Sunday school teacher teaching us a “kid-friendly” definition of sin:
Sin is anything you think, do, or say that makes God upset.
As a young child, this notion filled me with a sense of dread. What if I unintentionally said or did something that upset God? And for years this fear lingered because the reasons behind God’s displeasure seemed more or less… arbitrary.
Traditional Western Christianity usually defines sin somewhere along the lines of transgression against the divine will. But what does the divine will entail? Are certain actions arbitrarily placed on a naughty list? Levitical laws, such as those prohibiting the mixing of fabrics or trimming beards, can contribute to this perception of arbitrariness.
But to me, the idea that sin is arbitrary ultimately means that there is not such thing as the Good, which I reject. So, I propose a different perspective — a perspective that views sin as dehumanization. I hold the belief that sin does involve transgression against the divine will, but that God’s will is to redeem creation and restore true humanity, where every person bears the image of God.
For this reason, I propose that we can assess an act’s sinfulness by examining whether it humanizes or dehumanizes individuals.
Let’s consider examples: Acts of compassion, empathy, and justice affirm the dignity and worth of others, nurturing their humanity. In contrast, actions rooted in prejudice, discrimination, or oppression strip away the humanity of others, dehumanizing them.
Now, some people may prefer to view sin through the more “objective” lens of biblical commandments over the subjectivity of humanizing vs dehumanizing acts. However, I am confident that viewing sin through the lens of dehumanization brings us closer to the divine will, because we acknowledge the transformative power of our actions and our responsibility to foster the flourishing of all.
By embracing an understanding of sin as dehumanization, we embrace the ideals of justice, love, and the restoration of our shared humanity.
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I like your take on sin. ‘Dehumanize’ hmm it seems to be the antithesis of love. At least that’s my take. And in a sense I would agree. But to me it goes further. It like a tear in an otherwise perfect fabric. A blemish if you will, a fault or a bug. Something that seemingly can’t be healed. And it doesn’t just go away. Like the possessed boy’s father in Mark 9 said, “I do believe. Help my unbelief.” A fault. And out of that cry for help because of the fault, God yields mercy, grace, and love.
I sometimes use the language that sin is an “eye problem” that leads to an “I problem.” The Bible often uses language that sin is a force or disease which affects and infects us. And yes, I believe that we’re only healed of this disease by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Yeah, I heard that one before. In my experience that’s only the beginning though.
“The Bible often uses language that sin is a force or disease which affects and infects us.”
I think this is more of personal interpretation of preachers who want to wax eloquent to their parishioners than it is in the Bible. But it’s a fair comparison. As any disease is akin to a fault. That’s why in computers malicious programs are called viruses. They replicate themselves and infect their host like a disease exploiting faults or bugs in the OS or hardware even.
For a different visual, sin is like pot holes in a road. Those creap up because of ice forms in the cracks in winter and break up the surrounding concrete or asphalt. And pot holes form. The problem is the upkeep. The environment, the world, is part of the cause but you can’t do anything about it. So to with the Christian. The world provides a fertile environment for sin but the Christian has to upkeep themselves.
And to me that one part of sin that has recently come to my attention, the role that the world plays in it. This world or universe is flawed. But we are in it. We’re asked to be holy before God in a sinful world that affect us. It’s not just about personal sin, which is indeed important and needs to be dealt with first. It’s also about personal upkeep and how you handle the sin around you that affects you day in and day out.
I suggest a different approach in some blog posts I worked through a couple years ago: https://saladeggs.blogspot.com/2021/06/reconstructing-christian-ethics-01.html
In short, I suggest sin is that part of you that drives you to self-destruction and destruction of others, and the actions flowing out of it. Discipleship is the process of becoming a non-destructive person.
A good acronym is
Stuff God; I’m in charge; No to your rules.
It’s when we think we know better than God
