What is sin: the essence of the word in Orthodoxy, remission of grave sins

For the beginning Christian

Published 02/13/2016

What is sin according to the Bible? In Hebrew, sin sounds like “het” - a mistake or “avera”, which literally means “going beyond what is permitted.” Dahl's dictionary describes sin as “an act contrary to the law of God; guilt before the Lord."

Many people do not consider sin to be something terrible. Because all people are sinners, most people feel that they are not doing anything wrong. For example, when a person cheats, he does not consider it abnormal, because “everyone cheats.” Or when in a family one of the spouses has a lover or mistress, this is considered the norm for many.

The media around the world promotes sex before marriage - having sex without being married is now considered the norm almost everywhere in the world.

What can we say about such sins as pride, smoking, foul language, laziness, anger, anger and the like. These things have long become part of modern society. After all, “everyone behaves this way.”

One of the important things to understand is that each person will personally answer to God for their sins. And it doesn’t matter what family we were born into, in what country, in what society and in what century. We will be responsible for our actions and God will judge everyone according to what He considers good and what is evil.

Sin is what Jesus Christ died for. Sin is what separates man from God. Sin is something for which every person will ultimately be judged. Sin is a tool of Satan. The wages for sin is death. That's what the Bible says.

Jesus Christ died for the sins of every person on earth. But this does not mean that now all people are forgiven for their sins and can calmly live on and do as they please. Jesus died for the sins of people and left His teaching to everyone in the New Testament - whoever follows this teaching will be forgiven and saved. Those who don't will be condemned.

First sin

All sins are products of the first sin, original sin. The first of the people to step over God's Law were Adam and Eve - the ancestors of humanity.

Modern iconography. "Adam and Eve"

They betrayed God's trust by breaking His commandment (Gen. 3), and as a result they lost immortality and communion with the Creator.

Interesting fact

The expression “original sin” appeared in the 5th century.
thanks to St. Augustine.
Previously, synonyms were used:

ancestral sin;
damage;
perishability, etc.

Notes and links

"sin". Oxford University Press. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
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"sin".
Oxford English Dictionary
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Warner, Brad (2003). Hardcore Zen: Punk Rock, Monster Movies, and the Truth About Reality
. Wisdom Publications. paragraph 144. ISBN 0-86171-380-X.
Warner, Brad (2010). Sex, Sin and Zen: A Buddhist Exploration of Sex from Celibacy to Polyamory and Everything in Between
. New World Library. paragraph 72. ISBN 978-1-57731-910-8.
"Buddhism: Key Differences". Buddha Dharma Education Association. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
von Fuhrer-Haimendorff, Christoph (1974). "The Sense of Sin in Cross-Cultural Perspective." man
. New Series 9.4: 539–556.
Gananath Obeyesekere (1990), The Work of Culture: Symbolic Transformation in Psychoanalysis and Anthropology
, University of Chicago, ISBN 978-0-226-61599-8
Hodows, Lewis; Sothill, William Edward (1995). Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms: With Sanskrit and English Equivalents and Sanskrit-Pali Language Index
. Rutledge. paragraph 128. ISBN 978-0700703555.
Ram Garg, Ganga (1992). Encyclopedia of the Hindu World
. Publishing company concept. item 433. ISBN 9788170223757.
Rahner, p. 1588
Sabourin, s. 696
Contra Faustum Manichaeum
, 22.27; 42 418; Wed Thomas Aquinas, STh I–II q71 a6.
Mac Guinness, p. 241
On grace and free will
(see
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers
, trans. P. Holmes, vol. 5; 30–31 [14–15]).
For a historical overview of this understanding, see RNFrost, Sin and Grace, in Paul L. Metzger, The Trinitarian Sound
, T&T Clark, 2005.
Brodd, Geoffrey (2003). World Religions
. Winona, MN: St. Mary's Press. ISBN 978-0-88489-725-5.
“In the person of the first Adam we offend God by disobeying His commandment” (Haeres., V, XVI, 3).
Patte, Daniel. Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity. Ed. Daniel Patte. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010, 892
Peter Nathan. "An Initial View of Original Sin." Vision.org
. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
"Original Sin Explained and Defended: A Reply to the Assembly of God Pastor." Philvaz.com
. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
Preamble and Articles of Faith Archived October 20, 2013 Wayback Machine - C. Sin, Real and Personal - Church of the Nazarene. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
Are babies born with sin? Archived October 21, 2013 Wayback Machine - Current Biblical Studies. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
Original Sin - Psalm 51:5 - Catholic News Agency. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
Wilson, Kenneth (2018). Augustine's Transformation from Traditional Free Choice to "Unfree Will": An Integrated Methodology
. Tübingen: Mor Siebeck. pp. 16–18, 157–187. ISBN 9783161557538.
"THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Jansenius and Jansenism." newadvent.org
. October 1, 1910. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
Catholic Church. "Seven Sacraments of the Church." Catechism of the Catholic Church
.
Los Angeles Santa Sede
. November 19, 2022.
Oxford Islamic Studies Online. Sin
. Oxford University Press.
Wenzink, A. J. (2012). "Krishna". In P. Birman; Thurs. Bianchis; K.E. Bosworth; E. van Donzel; W. P. Heinrichs (ed.). Encyclopedia of Islam
(2nd ed.). Brill. Doi:10.1163/2214-871X_ei1_SIM_4141.
Silver, Jonathan, host. "Podcast: David Bashevkin on Sin and Failure in Jewish Thought." Tikvah Podcast
, Tikvah Foundation, October 3, 2022
^ a b
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/qorbanot.html
Mishna, Yoma, 8:9
Simon and Schuster, 1986, Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism, New York: Touchstone Books.
https://thetorah.com/historical-uniqueness-and-centrality-of-yom-kippur/
"Reward and Punishment." Jewish Virtual Library
. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
^ a b c d
"Shinto concept of sin (tsumi) and impurity (kegare) ｜ TSURUGAOKA HACHIMANGU."
www.tsurugaoka-hachimangu.jp
. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
^ a b c
"BBC - Religions - Shinto: the purity of Shinto."
www.bbc.co.uk.
_ Retrieved September 23, 2022.

Other examples of sins from the Bible

The Bible shows people without embellishment, does not hide the mistakes of either kings or prophets. Some of the most famous sins:

murder of his younger brother Abel .
Adultery committed by King David with the beautiful Bathsheba. When he found out that she was expecting a child from him, he sent her husband Uriah to certain death.
The betrayal of Judas Iscariot, who handed the Savior into the hands of the authorities, who sentenced Him to torture and death.

How many sins are there?

Sin has many faces. Often those who are poorly acquainted with Orthodox teaching divide sins into serious and everyday, almost everyday. The clergy calls this approach a mistake. This is how people conveniently justify themselves: everyone is gossiping and lying, which means I’m sinning no more than others.

“What makes small sins dangerous is that they accumulate, and such a gigantic layer accumulates that it crushes the soul. And the person gets sick - spiritually and physically.”

Archpriest Oleg Volochai

Sin in Orthodox Christianity

In Christianity, the doctrine of sin and liberation from it is fundamental. An incorrect understanding of the term “sin” leads to a distortion of the essence of the Orthodox faith.

Let's look at a few words used to describe sin in the Bible in its original languages:

Amartia (Greek) - translated as “miss”. Choosing the wrong path. Even if the goal is good, this road will lead away from salvation.
Parabasis (Greek) - violation of a commandment.
Apeteia (Greek) - rebellion, open and stubborn disobedience to God.
Paraptoma (Greek) - to lose balance one step away from the abyss, to slip. This is when a person stumbles and succumbs to temptation. This word also characterizes treachery and betrayal.
Fluorine (Greek) - spoilage, decay. Substitution of real life in Christ with illusion, fantasy, and the world of games.
Avah (Heb.) - corruption, distortion of the image of God, darkening of the mind and heart.
Shikkats (Heb.) - an abomination. Refers to sins that disgust God.

What is envy?

This is another sin that is considered mortal.

When a person is jealous of another person, a lot of information about the new “Potential Enemy” is stored in his “biocomputer”. Information about a “Potential Enemy” as an object of envy consumes a lot of a person’s mental energy. Sometimes, for some people, envy literally “eats” them from the inside. This means in fact that almost ALL of his mental (vital) energy (in its analytical form) is spent on attention to the object of his envy, and in fact to his “Potential Enemy”.

In general, a person who envies someone, in any case, experiences a great lack of mental (vital) energy, proportional to the strength of envy, this detrimental (to vital energy) feeling.

Passion and sin: what's the difference

Passions are bad habits that degenerate into dangerous spiritual illnesses. Passion is also called the desire to sin, constant thoughts about it.

Interesting fact

“Passion is the name given to the very vice that has been ingrained in the soul for a long time and through habit has become, as it were, its natural property, so that the soul already voluntarily and by itself strives towards it.”

Venerable John Climacus

Orthodox theologians - for example, St. John Cassian the Roman and St. Ignatius Brianchaninov - identified 8 main unclean passions:

Gluttony (gluttony) is the inability or unwillingness to give up excessive consumption of food, as well as alcoholic beverages, which leads to non-observance of fasts and infidelity to the Lord.
Adultery - fornication, foul language, adultery, reading and viewing corrupting materials.
The love of money is the love of self-interest, the desire to get rich in any way.
Anger is not only about emotions and resentment towards one’s neighbor, but also about their consequences: scandals, shouting, slander, revenge, fights, murders.
Sadness is melancholy, lack of patience, fading hope in the Lord, doubts about the fulfillment of His promises.
Dejection is laziness, neglect of prayer and soul-saving deeds, waste of time, embitterment, despair.
Vanity - the desire to become famous, boastful speeches, exaggeration of one's merits, hiding sins in confession, self-deception, envy, shaky morality (the desire to appear better than one really is).
Pride is the habit of putting one’s needs first, a contemptuous attitude towards others, cynicism, refusal to obey God’s Law, loss of love for God and one’s neighbors and, as a consequence, spiritual death.

According to Christian ideas , the sinful path begins with these vices. Envy consumes the soul, anger - like headlights - blinds - and pushes to irreparable actions, despondency extinguishes the fire of faith, greed develops meanness and baseness, gluttony rules over the weak-willed, fornication perverts thinking.

Pride

pride is considered the most dangerous , giving self-confidence and a sense of impunity. It can destroy any virtue in a person. Pride intoxicates with selfishness, and in order to sober up from selfishness, it is necessary to correlate your deeds and plans with the Commandments of God and His will.

The Pharisee and the Publican from the Gospel Parable

According to the teachings of the Church Fathers, passions are controlled by demons who make people dependent on their vices. This teaching is based on the Gospel text:

“When the unclean spirit leaves a person, it walks through dry places, looking for rest, and, not finding it, says: I will return to my house from whence I came; and, having arrived, finds it swept and put away; Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter and live there, and the last thing for that person is worse than the first.”

(Luke 11:24-26).

Severe and especially severe

Grave sins in Orthodoxy include those that directly violate God’s commandments. For example, do not kill. And it's not just about physical violence. A harsh word or lie also kills.

In addition to the mortal sins described above, God is especially disgusted by completely unnatural actions:

Idolatry - worshiping the creation instead of the Creator.
Male and female homosexuality,
Transvestism is the practice of dressing in clothes worn by members of the opposite sex due to perverted views.
Perversion of gender self-identification, actively imposed by propaganda. It manifests itself in the desire to change one’s gender through surgery (transgender transition).
Practicing magic (black, white and other colors), astrology, fortune telling and the occult.
Sacrificing children and adults to the gods.

Do we have the right to divide sins into large and small? If a person knows the will of God (through Scripture, public morality, education or the voice of conscience) and deliberately violates it, then he has already committed a grave sin.

The most important thing we need to realize is that sin, like a fatal disease, is a process of gradual and steady degradation. The path to destruction begins precisely when a person begins to create his own hierarchy of sins, dividing them into light, moderate, heavy, and so on. For example, someone commits fornication and justifies himself by saying that he is not a thief or a murderer. The cure is repentance, but not the search for excuses.

Rembrandt The Prodigal Son in a Tavern. 1635. Oil on canvas. 161 × 131 cm. Old Masters Gallery, Dresden

Can a person feel that he has committed a sin?

I think it can: the Lord gave everyone a conscience - the voice of God in a person, and in everyone it sounds differently. A person may not know that he has sinned, but the Lord will reveal it to him through circumstances or other people. How many cases when a person comes to church and says that he is tormented by this or that situation, while describing the situation as sinful! He doesn't know that it is a sin, but he feels it. Or, for example, a small child knows nothing about sin, but understands that he is doing something wrong. He breaks something and hides it; he lies and remains silent.

“Sins of the generation” - how to understand?

Some are convinced that God punishes children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren for the sins of their ancestors. This is why small children allegedly get sick, and adults have no luck in their personal lives or at work. This opinion is based on the following words of the Old Testament:

“You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth below, or that is in the water under the earth;

You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me.”

(Ex.20:4,5)

Note that it does not say here that the Lord will punish innocent children and grandchildren for sins that they did not commit. Punishment is reserved only for those descendants who will hate God in the same way as their ancestors. This suggests that He will never change His attitude towards sin, no matter how many centuries people have sinned.

“Ten Plagues of Egypt: The Death of Pharaoh’s Firstborn,” painting by Alma-Tadema. Ten plagues of Egypt according to the book of Exodus: 1. Punishment by blood. 2. Invasion of toads. 3. Invasion of blood-sucking insects (midges, lice, bedbugs). 4. Punishment with dog flies. 5. Cattle pestilence. 6. Ulcers and boils. 7. Thunder, lightning and fiery hail. 8. Locust invasion. 9. Unusual darkness (Egyptian darkness). 10. Death of the firstborn.

But He does not punish innocent people. In chapter 18 of the book of Jeremiah it is said that if the son of a righteous man becomes a robber and murderer, then all the merits of his father will not help him. Likewise, the son of a sinner, leading a holy lifestyle, will not bear guilt for the crimes of his father.

At the same time, the words from chapter 20 of the book of Exodus warn parents how destructive the example of a sinful life that they leave for their children can be. The hearts of newborns are as pure as a sheet of paper.

Many learned to drink, smoke, swear and be cruel in their families. Isn't it better to set an example of piety for children?

Test of the soul after death

Judaism

Main article: Jewish views on sin

Judaism considers breaking any of the 613 commandments a sin. Judaism teaches that sin is a part of life because no person is perfect and everyone has the tendency to do evil. Sin has many classifications and degrees, but the main classification is “to miss” (cheit in Hebrew).[29] Some sins are punishable by death by judgment, others by death by heaven, others by the lash, and others by no such punishment, but no sins committed with willful intent are without consequences. Sins committed out of ignorance are not considered sins because a sin cannot be considered a sin if the one who committed it did not know that it was wrong. Unintentional sins are considered less serious sins.[30]

Sins between people in Judaism are considered much more serious than sins between man and God. Yom Kippur, the main day of repentance in Judaism, can atone for sins between a person and God, but not for sins between a person and his neighbor, that is, until he appeases his friend.[31]Eleazar ben Azariah derived [this is from the verse ]: “You will be cleansed from all your sins before God” (Leviticus 16:30) - Yom Kippur atones for sins between a person and God, but Yom Kippur does not atone for sins between a person and his neighbor until he appeases his neighbor.[ 32][33]

When the Temple still stood in Jerusalem, people offered Korbanot (sacrifices) for their misdeeds. Redemptive Aspect of Korbanot

carefully described.
For the most part, korbanot
only atone for unintentional sins, that is, sins committed because a person forgot that it was a sin or by mistake.
No atonement is required for violations committed under duress or ignorance, and for the most part korbanot
cannot atone for evil willful sin.
In addition, korbanot
have no lapse effect if the person making the offer sincerely repents of his actions before making the offer and makes amends to any person aggrieved by the violation.[30]

Judaism teaches that any intentional sin has consequences. The perfectly righteous suffer for their sins (humiliation, poverty and suffering that God sends them) in this world and receive their reward in the world to come. Those in between (not completely righteous or completely wicked) suffer and repent of their sins after death, and then join the righteous. Evil itself does not repent even at the gates of hell. Such people succeed in this world to get their reward for any good deed, but cannot be purified and therefore cannot leave. hell

because they cannot or cannot repent. Therefore, this world may seem unfair, where the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper. Many great thinkers have thought about this.[34]

Are diseases given for sins?

Sin has corrupted human nature. Diseases are a consequence of falling away from the Creator.

The Old Testament describes examples when God struck people who had sinned with disease. Thus, Miriam, the elder sister of the prophet Moses, and King Uzziah fell ill with leprosy, a chronic infectious disease.

However, diseases are not always punishments sent from above. More often the reason is in a person’s lifestyle. He punishes himself when he engages in fornication and gives free rein to his other vices.

According to St. John Chrysostom, first of all, pain develops when indulging in the following passions:

laziness;
drunkenness;
gluttony.

On the other hand, even saints get sick. For example, the apostle Paul suffered from poor eyesight. In such cases, the illness is a consequence of imperfection inherited from Adam and Eve and is allowed by God not as a punishment, but so that we can see how great, terrible and varied the consequences of rebellion against the Creator are.

Can a person ask for penance?

In principle, it can, but penance is not punishment, but healing. You need to know how to administer medicine, and only a doctor can do this. Here people like to treat themselves. Often, instead of curing one thing, a person also cripples something else. The same thing happens in spiritual life. This is not possible, this is self-indulgence and pride. Who are you to assign anything to yourself? How do you know that you are not mistaken at this moment? Why do you think you have enough knowledge? You need to be very careful in such matters.

Absolution of sins: what is it called and why, priest

Forgiveness of sins in Orthodoxy is called the Sacrament of Confession. Priests and bishops listen to those who have sinned, through whom God grants forgiveness to sincerely repentant people.

Many people are embarrassed by the need to tell shameful things about themselves to a stranger. Is it not enough to pour out your soul in prayer? The fact is that sin is akin to illness. Only in a regular clinic doctors cannot cope with it. Specialists in spiritual illnesses are located in the Church. They will help determine the cause of the sin and find a spiritual cure.

Confession is a medical procedure assisted by the priest. A person who sincerely confesses his own sins with a visible expression of forgiveness from the priest is invisibly absolved of sins by God Himself

You can turn to the parish priest for spiritual advice.

Not only confession, but all church sacraments - baptism, wedding, etc. - Christ instructed His disciples to perform:

“Receive the Holy Spirit. The sins of whom you forgive will be forgiven, and those whose sins you retain will remain with them.”

(John 20:22,23)

The clergy inherited this right from the Apostles.

Buddhism

Main article: Buddhist views on sin

There are several different Buddhist views on sin. American Zen author Brad Warner argues that Buddhism has no concept of sin at all.[3][4] The Buddha's Association for Dharma Teaching also explicitly states: "The idea of sin or original sin has no place in Buddhism."[5]

Ethnologist Christoph von Fuhrer-Haimendorff explained: “In Buddhist thinking, the entire universe, people and gods are subject to the rule of law. Every action, good or bad, has an inevitable and automatic consequence in a long chain of causes, an effect that is independent of the will of any deity. Although this may not leave room for the concept of "sin" in the sense of an act of disobedience to the authority of a personal god, Buddhists speak of "sin" when they talk about violations of universal morality. code.”[6]

However, Anantarika kamma in Theravada Buddhism is a terrible crime that through the karmic process brings immediate disaster.[7] In Mahayana Buddhism these five crimes are called Panchanantarya

(Pali) and are mentioned in
the Sutra preached by the Buddha on the complete disappearance of the Dharma
,[8] Five crimes or sins:[9]

Wounded Buddha
Killing Arhat
Creating a schism in the Sangha society
Matricide
Parricide

Do you need a list of sins for confession?

Confession is approached in different ways. For those who are going to confess for the first time, books with lists of sins help to look at their actions, thoughts and desires from a different angle and understand whether they are pleasing to God or not.

“The printed lists of sins for confession are a kind of notes, or, more precisely, scales, for beginners to play the piano.”

Archpriest Maxim Pervozvansky

But the clergy do not advise repenting according to the book list, otherwise confession will turn into a formality.

But if a person is afraid that his memory will fail from excitement before the confessional, then it is not forbidden to draw up a cheat sheet listing what he wanted to tell the priest.

During confession, all sins are forgiven, except those hidden intentionally and not out of forgetfulness. But it’s okay if some trivial mistake slipped your mind. There is no need to list absolutely all the sins, otherwise, in order to listen to all the parishioners, the priest will have to constantly live in the church.

The main thing is to throw out sin from yourself, and then the empty space in the soul will be filled with Divine grace.

How to atone for sin - examples

There are several steps to atone for sin:

sincere repentance;
a prayer asking for forgiveness of sins, as well as to get rid of the temptation to again step on the wrong path.
helping others (collecting donations, charity, volunteer work in nursing homes).

Prayer is not a magical shield that repels any temptation. It is a way to show the Lord your desire to cleanse your mind and heart from unclean thoughts and desires. A prayer of repentance is a promise to God to avoid actions that stain the soul.

Sin is a foreign body in the body, a deadly virus. Only the Lord can finally deliver humanity from it. But even now, with His help, thanks to repentance and good deeds, every person is able to fight his sinful inclinations.

Victor Glebov

Baha'i

Main article: Bahá'í views on sin

Bahá'ís consider people to be good, fundamentally spiritual beings. Humans were created because of God's immeasurable love for us. However, Bahá'í teachings compare the human heart to a mirror, which, if turned away from the sunlight (i.e. God), is unable to receive God's love. Only by turning to God can one achieve spiritual progress. In this sense, to “sin” means to follow the inclinations of one’s own lower nature, to turn the mirror of one’s heart away from God. One of the major obstacles to spiritual development is the Bahá'í concept of the "persistent self", which is the selfish tendency of all people. Bahá'ís interpret this as the true meaning of Satan, who is often called "the evil one" in the Bahá'í Scriptures.

Take care of yourself, for the evil one lies in wait for you, ready to ensnare you. Gird yourself with his wicked devices and, guided by the light of the name of the All-Seeing God, be saved from the darkness that surrounds you. — Baha'u'llah