sin

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noun

1. A wicked act or wicked behavior: crime, deviltry, diablerie, evil, evildoing, immorality, iniquity, misdeed, offense, peccancy, wickedness, wrong, wrongdoing. See right/wrong.
2. That which is morally bad or objectionable: evil, iniquity, peccancy, wickedness, wrong. See right/wrong.
3. Something that offends one's sense of propriety, fairness, or justice: crime, offense, outrage. See right/wrong.

verb

To violate a moral or divine law: err, offend, transgress, trespass. See right/wrong.

Definition: illegal or immoral action
Antonyms: behavior, good, goodness, morality, virtue

v

Definition: commit illegal or immoral action
Antonyms: behave, comply, obey

Nearly 30 different words are used in the Bible to refer to all kinds of sins; of these, three are primary. The most important word is ḥet; with its numerous verbal and nominal variations, ḥet occurs nearly 600 times in the Hebrew Bible. The root meaning of the word is "to miss the mark." While the word ḥet and its derivatives apply to all kinds of sin---social and ritual, deliberate and unwitting---it is the only term which describes the least offensive category of sin: an unwitting transgression of the ritual law.

The second most prevalent term, with all its variations, is avon. Usually translated as "iniquity," it implies a sin which is far more deliberate and outrageous than ḥet. Although it is occasionally used in reference to ritual sin, it is most frequently connected with punishable crimes against the social law and ethic, e.g., acts of injustice, lawlessness, or perversion.

The third term is pesha. The usual translation of its verbal form is "to transgress," but "to rebel" is more accurate. It implies a more serious offense than avon and is different from the simple meaning of ḥet. Thus, "For he adds transgression [pesha] unto his sin [ḥet]" (Job, 34:37). Pesha is never used to refer explicitly to a ritual sin. According to R. David Kimḥi, it always implies "a willful departure from the authority of the master or from the one who has given the command." In the framework of a religious concept, pesha usually denotes a deliberate rebellion against God by transgressing His law.

In rabbinic writings the three terms are used in the above order to describe the comprehensive character of sin (Yoma 36b). Every sin includes some element of each of the three categories: "missing of the mark" (ḥet) with respect to the highest ideal; a deviation (avon) from the right and lawful way; and an act of rebellion (pesha) against the authority of the law and the lawgiver. In rabbinic theology some sins are, however, more serious than others. For example, sins of commission are more serious than sins of omission. Those sins which go against the law of the Torah are weightier than infractions of rabbinic law. The most serious offenses are idolatry, murder, and incest; a person should be prepared to die rather than commit any of these.

Rabbinic literature also uses the term averah to connote a sin. The word means, literally, "a transgression" and generally points to a sin of commission, whether against a ritual or a social law.

In general, Judaism adopts a pragmatic attitude to human failings and the remedy for a breach of the law is largely practical, e.g., the bringing of a sin offering, restitution, and Atonement. In this system of practical religion little is said about the origin of sin, or about any difference in man before and after Adam's sin. Accordingly, there is no significant recognition in Judaism of the effect of man's first sin on his descendants. In spite of a few ambiguous references, mainly in ḥasidic and kabbalistic literature, the mainstream of classical Judaism clearly rejects any suggestion that sinfulness in human nature is a legacy from Adam's "original sin." The assertion that God will "visit the iniquities of the fathers upon the children" (Ex. 20:5) is not taken as a theological statement of the inevitable transmission of sin from generation to generation. In fact, it does not actually teach that children will be punished for the sins of the fathers but refers to a situation in which the children are also "them that hate Me." The doctrine of individual responsibility that is expounded in Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:1-4 is central in Judaism.

Whenever the rabbis attempted to trace the psychological origin of sin, they ascribed it to the yetser ha-ra, the "evil inclination" that is innate to human nature. This approach to the "psychology of sin" is also prominent in kabbalistic thinking and in the ethical literature of ḥasidism. It is also the meaning of the statement, "For there is not a righteous man upon earth who does good and does not sin" (Eccl. 7:26). For with the yetser ha-ra there is also the yetser ha-tov, the "good inclination" (see Good and Evil). Moreover, Judaism insists, as one of its basic teachings, that man is blessed with Free Will. The consequence of such freedom is that while he may be overcome, even momentarily, by his evil inclination, which leads him into sin, he can choose to master it. Man is thus free to obey or disobey, to fulfill the commandments of God or to reject them, and this is the challenge with which he is faced. In Jewish thought, every normal person enjoys such freedom, at least to an extent that enables him to make a moral choice.

While the Jewish concept of sin often appears to be formal, involving the legal minutiae of the law that has been broken, in its developed and spiritualized form sin is shown to result in a feeling of deep guilt experienced in man's sensitive conscience. This idealized concept is found in the later books of the Bible. Habakkuk (2:10) describes sin as an "offense against the soul," anything which disturbs man's spiritual equilibrium and causes his alienation from God (cf. Job 5:6, 18:5-21, 20:4-29; Ps. 38:3; Isa. 48:22, 57:21). Sin is the obverse of the holy and cuts man off from God.

While Jewish philosophers, both medieval and modern, relate to both the biblical and rabbinic concepts of sin, there is less emphasis on sin in the rabbinic sense of averah and a greater stress upon the psychological effect of sin as a state of alienation from man's noblest ideal or highest potential.

Throughout the entire literature, it is made abundantly clear that sin can be remedied and that the estrangement of man from God can be repaired by the exercise of sincere Repentance, which alone can restore man's wholeness. (See also Confession of Sins.)

A moral category going beyond that of simple wrongdoing by its implications of evil, disobedience, depravity, stain, and wickedness. Sin therefore requires atonement, penitence, and self-abasement, not to mention punishment. The abjection and lack of self-respect implied in the cluster of ideas serve to emphasize the importance of redemption. They are therefore an important buttress to the power of those who claim to know how to provide it. The concept is only at home in a religious tradition built around the possibility of God's disgust, and is not found pure and simple in classical thought, where offences were equally liable to divine vengeance whether voluntary or not. See also hell, original sin, predestination, Seven Deadly Sins.

Buddhism does not accept the existence of an omnipotent deity and has no concept of sin as the offence against such a being by the contravention of his will as expressed through revelation or deduced by reason. It does, however, in the doctrine of karma, distinguish clearly between good and evil deeds.

• Drug Names and Forms - sins: Slang. sinsimilla

"Sinful", "Sinner", and "Sinners" redirect here. For other uses, see Sin (disambiguation), Sinful (disambiguation), Sinner (disambiguation), and Sinners (disambiguation)

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A Sistine Chapel fresco depicts the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden for their sin of eating from the fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In religious contexts, a sin is an act that violates God's will.^{[1][2][3][4][Need quotation to verify]}

Examples of concepts surrounding sin in various religions include:

• The question of whether an act must be intentional to be sinful.
• Punishment as a consequence for sins, from other people, from God either in life or in afterlife, or from the Universe in general.
• 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.

Many, though not all, crimes are also regarded as sins. Some sins are regarded as greater than others, and in this nuanced concept of sin, sins fall in a spectrum from least corrupt and evil to the greatest evil.^{[citation needed]} In Catholicism, sins which are least corrupt are regarded as venial sins —such sins may be regarded as parts of human living, and carry little divine consequence. Conversely sins which are of great evil may be regarded as mortal sins —sins which are said to have the dire consequence of mortal penalty.

Contents 1 Bahá'í faith 2 Buddhism 3 Christianity 3.1 Original sin 3.2 Gradations of sin 4 Hinduism 5 Islam 6 Judaism 7 Shinto 8 See also 9 Notes and references 10 Bibliography 11 External links

Bahá'í faith

Main article: Bahá'í views on sin

In the Bahá'í Faith, humans are considered to be naturally good (perfect), fundamentally spiritual beings. Human beings were created because of God's immeasurable love. However, the Bahá'í teachings compare the human heart to a mirror, which, if turned away from the light of the sun (i.e. God), is incapable of receiving God's love.

Buddhism

Main article: Buddhist views on sin

Buddhism does not recognize the idea behind sin, but believes in the principle of karma, whereby suffering is the inevitable consequence of greed, anger, and delusion (known as the Three poisons).^[5] While there is no Buddhist equivalent of the Abrahamic concept of sin, wrongdoing is recognized in Buddhism. The concept of Buddhist ethics is consequentialist in nature and is not based upon duty towards God.

Christianity

Main articles: Hamartiology and Christian views on sin

See also: Biblical law in Christianity

In Western Christianity, sin is believed to alienate the sinner from God. It has damaged, and completely severed, the relationship of humanity to God. That relationship can only be restored through repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross as a substitutionary sacrifice for mankind's sin.

In Eastern Christianity, sin is viewed in terms of its effects on relationships, both among people and between people and God. Sin is seen as the refusal to follow God's plan, and the desire to be "like God" (Genesis 3:5) and thus in direct opposition to God's will (see the account of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis).

Original sin

Main article: Original sin

Original sin is the concept that sin entered the human world through Adam and Eve's sin in the Garden of Eden, and that human beings have since lived with the consequences of this first sin.^[6]

Gradations of sin

Sins of careless living are considered destructive and lead to greater sins according to the Seven Deadly Sins. Another concept of sin deals with those things which exist on Earth, but not in Heaven. Food, for example, while a necessary good for the (health of the temporal) body, is not of (eternal) transcendental living and therefore its excessive savoring is considered a sin.^{[7][8][9][10]}

In Catholicism, sins which are least corrupt are regarded as venial sins —such sins may be regarded as parts of human living, and carry little divine consequence. Conversely, sins which are of great evil may be regarded as mortal sins —sins which are said to have the dire consequence of mortal penalty. And the Unforgivable sin is a sin which can never be forgiven.

Hinduism

In Hinduism, the term sin (pāpa in Sanskrit) is often used to describe actions that create negative karma by violating moral and ethical codes, which automatically brings negative consequences. It is different from other religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the sense that sin is not a crime against the will of God, but against (1) Dharma, or moral order, and (2) one's own self.

Islam

Main article: Islamic views on sin

Muslims see sin (dhanb, thanb ذنب) as anything that goes against the commands of God (Allah). Islam teaches that sin is an act and not a state of being. The Qur'an teaches that "the soul is certainly prone to evil, unless the Lord does bestow His Mercy" and that even the prophets do not absolve themselves of the blame.^{[Quran 12:53]} It is believed that Iblis (Satan) has a significant role in tempting humankind towards sin.

In Islam, there are several gradations of sin:

• sayyia, khatia: mistakes (Suras 7:168; 17:31; 40:45; 47:19 48:2)
• itada, junah, dhanb: immorality (Suras 2:190,229; 17:17 33:55)
• haraam: transgressions (Suras 5:4; 6:146)
• ithm, dhulam, fujur, su, fasad, fisk, kufr: wickedness and depravity (Suras 2:99, 205; 4:50, 112, 123, 136; 12:79; 38:62; 82:14)
• shirk: ascribing a partner to God (Sura 4:48)

One may sincerely repent to God for the wrongs committed and seek forgiveness, as stated in the Quran, "Our Lord! Forgive us our sins, remove from us our iniquities, and take to Yourself our souls in the company of the righteous." (Al-Imran.193/ 3.193).

Judaism

Main article: Jewish views on sin

Judaism regards the violation of any of the 613 commandments to be a sin. Judaism teaches that sin is an act, and not a state of being. Humankind was not created with an inclination to do evil, but has that inclination "from his youth".(Genesis 8:21)

Shinto

Within Shinto there is no doctrine of sin, rather good and evil are conceived of in "aesthetic terms, likening them to straight and curved lines".^{[citation needed]} Matagatsubi, the curved spirit, causes "evil deeds and any misfortune or disasters" by creating imbalance, distorting the "straight and clear".^{[citation needed]} Evil deeds fall into two categories in Shinto: amatsu tsumi, "the most pernicious crimes of all", and kunitsu tsumi, "more commonly called misdemeanors".^[11]

See also

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sin

• Asceticism
• Actual sin
• Fall of Man
• Hamartia
• Hedonism
• Internal sin
• Morality
• Religious law
• Sin-offering
• Taboo
• Total depravity

Notes and references

1. ^ Action and Person: Conscience in Late Scholasticism and the Young Luther Michael G. Baylor - 1977
2. ^ The Theology of the Oral Torah: Revealing the Justice of God Jacob Neusner - 1999, Page 523
3. ^ The fall to violence: original sin in relational theology Marjorie Suchocki - 1994 Page 29
4. ^ Five Views on Sanctification - Page 188, Melvin Easterday Dieter, Stanley N. Gundry - 1996
5. ^ Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism, Soka Gakkai, "Three Poisons": "Greed, anger, and foolishness. The fundamental evils inherent in life that give rise to human suffering."
6. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia, "Original sin", http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11312a.htm
7. ^ Hanegraaff, Hank. "The Bible Answer Book" pg. 18-21. ISBN 0-8499-9544-2
8. ^ http://www.gotquestions.org/gluttony-sin.html
9. ^ http://biblia.com/bible/esv/2%20Peter%201.5-7
10. ^ http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Proverbs%2023.20-21
11. ^ The Essence of Shinto: The Spiritual Heart of Japan by Motohisa Yamakage

Bibliography

• Hein, David. "Regrets Only: A Theology of Remorse." The Anglican 33, no. 4 (October 2004): 5-6
• Schumacher, Meinolf. Sündenschmutz und Herzensreinheit: Studien zur Metaphorik der Sünde in lateinischer und deutscher Literatur des Mittelalters. Munich: Fink, 1996

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sins

Look up sin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Hamartiology (Philosophical Theology of Sin)

v t e Hamartiology Adam · Evil · The Fall · Original sin · Christian views on sin · Other views on sin · Supralapsarianism and infralapsarianism · Theodicy · Total depravity See also Apologetics · Soteriology · Demonology

v t e Theology Outline of theology Apologetics General List of apologetic works Polemic Positive Deconstruction More... Bahá'í Bahá'í apologetics Christian Christian apologetics Christian apologists List of Christian apologetic works Ecumenical Apologetics Presuppositional apologetics Epistle to Diognetus Trilemma Urmonotheismus More... Muslim Muslim apologists Conceptions of God Divine presence Divine presence God as the Devil Sustainer Time God in Abrahamic religions Bahá'í Faith Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Jainism Judaism Sikhism Zoroastrianism More... Names of God in Christianity Hinduism Islam Jainism Judaism More... Singular God God Absolute (philosophy) Brahman Emanationism Logos Supreme Being More... Binitarianism Binitarianism Trinitarianism Trinity Trinitarian formula Athanasian Creed Comma Johanneum Consubstantiality Homoousian Hypostasis Perichoresis Shield of the Trinity Trinity of the Church Fathers Trinitarian Universalism More... Other Aristotelian view of God Attributes Demiurge Divine simplicity Egotheism Godhead (Christianity) Godhead (Latter Day Saints) Great Architect of the Universe Great Spirit Apophatic theology Olelbis Open theism Personal god Phenomenological definition of God Philo's view of God Sarav viāpak Taryenyawagon The All Tian Unmoved mover More... Eschatology Afterlife Apocalypticism Buddhist Christian Concepts of Heaven Doomsday films Ghost Dance Movement Ghosts Hindu Islamic Jewish Personifications of death Taoist Zoroastrian More Existence of God arguments against from Free will Inconsistent revelations Nonbelief Poor design other God of the gaps Incompatible-properties argument Omnipotence paradox Problem of evil Problem of Hell Theological noncognitivism More... arguments for from A proper basis Beauty Consciousness Degree Desire Love Miracles Morality Reason Religious experience other Christological Cosmological Ontological Pascal's wager Teleological Trademark Transcendental Witness More... Opposition to religion Anti- Buddhism (Criticism Persecution) Catholicism Christianity (Criticism anti-Christian sentiment Persecution) Gnosticism Hinduism (Criticism) Islam (Criticism Islamophobia Persecution) Jainism (Criticism) Judaism (Criticism) Protestantism cult movement Zoroastrianism More... Other Disengagement from religion Secularism Separation of church and state Theism List of philosophical theories Deity (Divinity Numen Male Female Gender of) Deism Dystheism Henotheism Hermeticism Kathenotheism Nontheism Monolatrism Monotheism Mysticism Panentheism Pandeism Pantheism Polydeism Polytheism Spiritualism Theopanism More... Theologies Christian History of Outline of the Bible Terms Christology Cosmology Ecclesiology Ethics Hamartiology Law Messianism Movements Nestorianism New testament Old testament Philosophy Practical Sophiology Soteriology More... Feminist Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Judaism Mormonism Goddesses More... Hindu Ayyavazhi theology Hindu philosophical concepts Krishnology More... Islamic Oneness of God Prophets Holy Scriptures Angels Predestination Last Judgment More... Jewish Abrahamic prophecy Angels in Judaism Jewish mysticism Other Death of God Exotheology Holocaust Pope Pius XII Process Zoroastrian More... Education Seminaries and theological colleges Anglican Buddhist Eastern Orthodox Evangelical Islamic Jewish Lutheran Madrassas Methodist Reformed Church Roman Catholic More... Schools by religious affiliation Bahá'í Buddhist Anglican Assemblies of God Baptist Eastern Orthodox Hindu Islamic Jewish Latter Day Saints Lutheran Mennonite Methodist Nondenominational Christian Presbyterian Quaker Roman Catholic Seventh-Day Adventist Resources List of theological journals More... Practitioners Teachers Theologians

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Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - synd
v. intr. - synde

idioms:

• live in sin    leve i synd
• sin bin    skammekrog, rektors kontor, udskiftebænken

2.
n. - det første bogstav i det hebræiske alfabet

3.
abbr. - uden

Nederlands (Dutch)
zonde, vergrijp, zondigen

Français (French)
1.
n. - (Relig) péché, (fig) crime
v. intr. - pécher

idioms:

• live in sin    vivre dans le péché
• sin bin    prison, (fig) cendrier

2.
n. - shin (vingt-et-unième lettre de l'alphabet hébraïque)

3.
abbr. - (Math) sinus

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Sünde
v. - sündigen

idioms:

• live in sin    in Sünde leben
• sin bin    (ugs.) Strafbank

2.
n. - 21. Buchstabe des hebräischen Alphabets

3.
abbr. - Sinus

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αμαρτία, ανόμημα, κρίμα
v. - αμαρτάνω, παραβιάζω τον ηθικό νόμο
abbr. - ημίτονο

idioms:

• live in sin    συζώ παράνομα
• sin bin    (καθομ.) τάξη απομόνωσης ταραχοποιών μαθητών, σωφρονιστικό ίδρυμα, (αθλοπ.) πάγκος τιμωρημένων παικτών

Italiano (Italian)
peccare, peccato

idioms:

• live in sin    vivere nel peccato
• sin bin    cella

Português (Portuguese)
n. - pecado (m), delito (m), letra (f) do alfabeto hebraico
v. - pecar, transgredir as leis, ofender as boas maneiras
abbr. - seno (Mat.)

idioms:

• live in sin    viver em pecado
• sin bin    caixa de pandora

Русский (Russian)
грех, ошибка, порок, оплошность, проступок, грешить, нарушать, противоречить

idioms:

• live in sin    жить в грехе, сожительствовать
• sin bin    скамейка штрафников

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - pecado
v. intr. - pecar, cometer un pecado

idioms:

• live in sin    vivir en el pecado (sin casarse)
• sin bin    prostíbulo

2.
n. - vigésimo segunda letra del abecedario hebreo

3.
abbr. - (mat) seno

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - synd, försyndelse
v. - synda, försynda sig
abbr. - sinus

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
1. 违背习俗, 过失, 不合情理之事, 违反教规, 犯罪, 违命, 犯过失

idioms:

• live in sin    未结婚同居
• sin bin    冰球曲棍球受罚席

2. 希伯来语的地21个字母

3. 正弦

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
1.
n. - 違背習俗, 過失, 不合情理之事
v. intr. - 違反教規, 犯罪, 違命, 犯過失

idioms:

• live in sin    未結婚同居
• sin bin    冰球曲棍球受罰席

2.
n. - 希伯來語的地21個字母

3.
abbr. - 正弦

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - (도덕상의) 죄, 위반, 재치 없음
v. intr. - ~에 대해 죄를 저지르다, (예절 따위에) 어긋나다

2.
n. - 신 (헤브루어 알파벳의 제21번째 자모)

3.
abbr. - sine (정현)

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 罪, 罪悪, 違反, ばかげたこと
v. - 罪を犯す, 反する

idioms:

• sin bin    ペナルティーボックス

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) خطيئه (فعل) يخطأ (اختصار) جيب ألزاويه)sine(‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חטא, עבירה, פשע, עבר עבירה, מעשה לא-מוסרי הנחשב לעבירה על חוק אלוהי‬
v. intr. - ‮עבר עבירה‬
n. - ‮שין שמאלית‬
abbr. - ‮סינוס - היחס בין הצלע שמול הזווית ליתר (טריגונומטריה)‬

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