Adequate and Inadequate Views of Sin

A. Dualistic View- Sin and evil are inherent in matter. This makes two eternal beings, God and then some evil principle, and removes evil from God's control. In this view, evil is removed from the ethical realm and made instead, purely physical.

B. Livenance- this view says that this is the best possible world. Sin is nothing more than negation or a privation of good. The limited or finite world necessitates sin. Sin is just a part of nature. The problem with this view is that it does not avoid making God responsible for evil since God created this finite world.

C. Sin is only an illusion- if man had enough knowledge; he would not have a sense of sin. Evil is considered the result of our imagination. This fails to take in account of the effects of sin. It simply says that the entire world is an illusion.

D. Sin is man's sensuous nature- the sin consciousness arises from man becoming God conscious and so aware of the opposition to Him in His lower sensuous nature. Attempts to hold this do not render God the author of sin, since it's a lack in man; yet, the fact is that God made man.

E. Sin is a want of trust in God due to ignorance- This makes sin ignorance of God, not an attitude toward His law. Sin may be forgiven without atonement since it's essentially ignorance.

F. Sin is described, as selfishness- Sin is the choice of self rather than God as the object of love. The problem is that here, sin is defined without reference to the Law of God.

2. Summarize the biblical view of Sin.

A. Sin effects the descendants of the sinner. There is, in essence, a vertical effect of sin. God visits the sins of the fathers upon the children even to the third and fourth generation.

B. Sin effects those who live around the sinner. When one member suffers, all the members suffer with it.

C. Sin does not effect the welfare of God. Although, it vertically effects the sinner's descendants, and horizontally effects those around the sinner, it does not effect the welfare of God.

D. God does not like for people to complain that the conditions, in which they find themselves, are the effects of the sins of others.

E. God does not actually punish one man for another man's sin. Every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

F. Righteousness has a greater penetrating effect than sin.

G. There is a corresponding relationship between sin and grace. It is not an equal relationship; it is a relationship in which righteousness and grace have a much more extensive and much more powerful effect.

H. Sin is a real evil.

I. Sin is a specific evil that is distinct from its consequences.

J. Sin is specifically a moral evil. It is a violation of God's moral commands. It is an entity within the ethical realm, it is not a physical issue.

K. Sin is a violation of God's law. God's law is the standard of behavior.

L. Sin is not only falling short or missing the mark, but it also involves the notion of positive transgression.