Credo - Point the third, upon the nature of sin

In the previous Credo, we discussed the concept of humanity and their inexorable link to the Divine. Further, it has been established that, due to this link, the concept of Original Sin (being considered as a fundamental separation from the Pancreator due to actions which predate any individual mentioned) is nullified. What is, then Sin? From whence does it derive? How do we, as 'normal humans', relate to it?

To start, I would put forth what Sin is not. It is neither a state of being nor is it a laundry list of specific behaviours or thoughts. The state of being is antithetical to our link to the Divine and any list of items incompletely describes what sin may or may not be.

Sin is, in short and brief, what the New Testament in the original greek called it - ἥμαρτον, emarton (or hamarton). The word means 'to err' literally meaning 'to miss the mark'. Expanding on this, it is a person, through action or inaction, makes a mistake and Creation is harmed.

In this discussion, a few definitions may be in order. A person means everyone individually or collectively. Action includes thought, speech and deed. A mistake, here, means an action which causes harm or prevents good. One could define it as an action against the 'will of God', but that implies that any of us can derive the will of the Divine, which is ineffable. Creation, in this specific context, refers to the connected Divine entities, which comprise all of creation.

This is the root of the matter: when a person does not understand (or forgets) the Divine connection that they and all other things have, they strongly tend towards acting in ways which harm or are contrary to the betterment of the whole. So, when people think they are separate from the Universe, apart from others, or alone, that is when they are more likely to do things which will harm Creation.

Noting the relational nature of the discussion, it may prove useful to consider it slightly differently. Sin would be a mistake which injures the relationship between the person erring and Creation and/or the Divine.

A few key takeaway points to mention in the last. The first takeaway is that everyone makes mistakes. In Romans, Paul says it straight out. "for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" with the word 'Sinned' being 'ἥμαρτον'. I would argue that Paul is not counting Jeshua bin Joseph in his counting of 'all' because it is my belief that a great part of the mystery and importance of the humanity of Jesus is that he DID go through life without error.

The second takeaway is that Sins are mistakes. We may, from time to time, aim to misbehave (as a friend would say), but even then the actions are errors/mistakes. Sometimes, the error is in intent (doing the right thing for mistaken reasons). Sometimes, we may not intend for our actions to be sinful, but things don't go smooth (doing the wrong thing for the right reasons). For these errors to be considered sin, they are mistakes which cause harm of some sort.

We have spoken about Sin and how it damages our relationship with the Divine and Creation. Not wishing to live in a damaged state we need to reconcile ourselves with the Divine. This process, sometimes known as redemption, is the next step in our journey.

Credo.