The Question of Sin

There has been much discussion over the years as to the nature of sin. The plan and purpose of this paper is to reconcile the differing views of sin. From the definition of "hamartia", the Wesley definition on to the Kierkegaard definition we will explore the meaning of sin. It will demonstrate that these differing views can be reconciled and how this reconciliation informs spiritual formation.

In the Old Testament the concept of sin originated in the garden with Adam and Eve rebelling against God's command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. When we think of sin we usually associate that thought with an action, however sin occurred a long time prior to the actual act of commission or omission. The sin occurred in the heart before it was birthed into action. It is very much easier to control our actions. It is another matter to control the issues of the heart.

In the New Testament, the term hamartia, "to miss the mark, fail in duty"¹ is taken as the usual definition of sin. Anything that is less than perfect is missing the mark. It is as if you are aiming for the most central point of a target of ever-larger concentric circle with a small spot in the center and when the shot is made, it hits just off the spot at dead center. You hit the target but you missed the mark. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God". We have all missed the mark of perfection. The idea of missing the mark of God's perfection is a matter of the heart. The second part of this definition is "to fail in duty". The relevant question is; what duty? It is the duty to be what God intended us to be. It is a matter of the spirit not being in communion or submission to its creator. Our spirit that is within us has a natural bent to do its own thing. It wants to be its own. It wants to be possessed for itself, by itself. It is the desire to be something other than it actually is (a created entity belonging to God) this is the root of missing the mark, and failing in duty. We sin when we fail to recognize that God is our Creator and we are obliged to be what He created us to be. We want to be something different from what we actually are, a person spirit, created by and in subjection to, our Creator. It is so human to look at the action of a person and recognizing that those actions fall short of this or that, arbitrary mark set either by our understanding of God or the expectations of society in general. These actions do not damn us; what is damning is the attitude of our spirit that is out of conformity with God and His plan for our lives.

John Wesley (1703-1791) had a slightly differing view of sin. He wrote that sin was "a voluntary transgression of a known law."² To Wesley, this was the essence of sin, to knowingly do or not do something that we knew God ordained us to do or not to do. His definition of sin comes closer to the real problem of sin but it is still concentrating on the action or inaction of the individuals out of step with God. By this definition, it is easier to see our actions being or not being sinful in relation to God but it falls short of dealing with the root cause or the actual sin. It is our internal rebellion, our defiance against being who we really are in the order of created things, which is at the heart of the problem. Wesley understood that "missing the mark" terminology fell short of describing the issue of sin. The concept of where the mark is moves as society changes. By anchoring sin to a standard associated with or in relation to God, Wesley came closer to defining the real problem of sin, being in rebellion against the plan and purpose of God. Man looks at the outward actions, but God looks at the heart. There is a principle at work within us that causes us to transgress the known law of God. The remainder of this paper will try to get at the cause of this rebellion.

Soren Kierkegaard (1813- 1855) recognized that our actions were motivated by something within us, so he undertook the project to disclose that something in his book "The Sickness Unto Death". He writes "The state of sin is a worse sin than the particular sins; it is the sin"³. Kierkegaard writes about the despair brought on by this state of sin. He defines sin as, "after being taught by a revelation from God what sin is, before God in despair not to will to be oneself or in despair to will to be oneself"⁴. To be able to understand what he is saying we need to define despair. According to Kierkegaard, "Despair is a sickness, of the self and accordingly can take three forms: in despair not to be conscious of having a self (not despair in the strict sense); in despair not to will to be oneself; in despair to will to be oneself."⁵. He says that despair is a "sickness of the self", a sickness of the very essence of what it means to be a living human being. It is a sickness of the eternal spirit, which lives within our mortal bodies. It is a sickness, which at its core is a rejection of what we are as God made us. In Kierkegaard's own words, "The point that must be observed is that the self has a conception of God and yet does not will as he wills, and thus is disobedient"⁶. These concepts help us understand that the root of sin is not the actions but the pilot that drives action. James writes, "...each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death."⁷.

It has been demonstrated from the concept of "missing the mark" to the Wesley definition "of a willful transgression against a known law of God" to Kierkegaard's "the self has a connection to God and yet does not will as He wills, and is disobedient", that sin is an attitude within the very core of an individual. Sin is not accepting God's view of me; or his purpose for me, and going my own way. It is an attitude of the heart that rejects God's rightful claim on the heart and it is from this blackness that all wrongful actions arise. Each of these three explanations of sin is correct, but alone they only explain one aspect of sin. However, when taken together a clearer picture of the human condition begins to emerge.

These concepts of sin taken together help us see that sin is an attitude before it is an action. This is an essential concept for spiritual formation; the inner self needs to be in submission to the Lord. When the inner self is in submission then the actions of that individual will be pleasing to God. The actions of the person of faith issue from a heart that is in submission to its creator. This paper will conclude with the same hope and good news as Kierkegaard's book "The Sickness Unto Death". He writes, "The formula for the state in which there is no despair at all; in relating itself to itself and in willing to be itself, the self rests transparently in the power that established it. This formula in turn as has been frequently pointed out, is the definition of faith."⁸.

¹ Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. 2001. Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library . Tyndale House Publishers: Wheaton, Ill.
² John Wesley. 1999. Sermons, on several occasions. Logos Research Systems, Inc.: Oak Harbor, WA, Sermon 76.
³ Howard V. Hong, Edna H. Hong, Soren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980, p.106.
⁴ Ibid, p.101.
⁵ Ibid, p.13.
⁶ Ibid, p.80.
⁷ Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version, James 1:14-15, Nashville: Thompson Nelson, 1996, ©1998.
⁸ Howard V. Hong, Edna H. Hong, Soren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980, p.131.

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Bibliography
Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version, Nashville: Thompson Nelson, 1996, ©1998.
Hong, Howard V., Hong, Edna H., Soren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.
W. A. Elwell, & P. W. Comfort, Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library, Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001.
Wesley, John, Sermons, on several occasions. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1999.

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