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Questions on Sin and Forgiveness


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I was curious as to how different religions address the issue of forgiveness as it relates to sin? Whether that be of an act of wrong doing or "wrong" thinking? While I am a Christian I have spent most of my life very much on the margins of practicing my faith, so much so that I am sure there are people who might not even consider me a Christian. Therefore, my basis for understanding a number of concepts, even as they relate to Christianity are not entirely well-formed.

 

As I understand forgiveness in Christianity. We in accepting Jesus Christ as our savior accept his sacrifice on the cross as the penance for our sins. Which is not to say that we are automatically forgiven for any sin or wrong-doing, wrong-thinking, but that in accepting Christ as our savior and acknowledging his sin-lessness, sacrifice and in recognizing him as the son of God, we are there-in forgiven for our sins. Also, in so doing, we are not required to make any self-sacrifice or do any self flagellation to "pay" for our sins. First of all, is that even correct? And how do other religions view forgiveness? Do they require a personal penance? Is forgiveness something that happens after commiting an act that might be in conflict with what that relgion espouses? Or is forgiveness something that can only happen in death? Is forgiveness to be given by God (Gods) or a Superior Being, or is forgiveness to be given by the person or party who may have been victim of the violation of religious doctrine, in order to reconcile the wrong doing? And is sin even uniform througout religions? Or are there disparities in what might be defined as a sin, and is definable "sin" dependant on the degree or extent of the violation? I often wonder about this last question in relation to Christianity. Is a sin a sin? Or are there degrees of sin? I tend to think there are greater and lesser sins. But IF all sin is forgiven in accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior then does the degree of sin even matter?

 

I have a number of questoins as I try to explore my faith and find a deeper connection with and commitment to my religious beliefs. So I just wanted to start with this first question in hopes that I can begin to better formulate what I'm most comfortable in accepting as the basis for my beliefs.

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Your perception of sin and forgiveness seems very heavily influenced by catholicism, which is a very bureaucratic form of christianity with strict rules and set procedures for everything. In the end, its them who forgive you or at least tell you you're forgiven. Ask yourself if they have the right to do that just because they have built an entire society around their interpretation of the bible.

 

I think somewhere in the bible it says god is more happy about a single sinner who repents than about a whole lot of righteous people (or close to that). Sounds like you are meant to realize what's wrong yourself and do something about it, whatever that may be. So at some point you can say, yes, i did something wrong then, but no more, and I made up for it. If you feel better then, if you feel right, maybe then you're already forgiven.

Getting people to work on themselves was probably the original intention.

 

Other religions know sin and violation of rules too, but nowhere can it have as damning consequences as in christianity, I think.

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I was curious as to how different religions address the issue of forgiveness as it relates to sin? Whether that be of an act of wrong doing or "wrong" thinking? While I am a Christian I have spent most of my life very much on the margins of practicing my faith, so much so that I am sure there are people who might not even consider me a Christian. Therefore, my basis for understanding a number of concepts, even as they relate to Christianity are not entirely well-formed.

 

As I understand forgiveness in Christianity. We in accepting Jesus Christ as our savior accept his sacrifice on the cross as the penance for our sins. Which is not to say that we are automatically forgiven for any sin or wrong-doing, wrong-thinking, but that in accepting Christ as our savior and acknowledging his sin-lessness, sacrifice and in recognizing him as the son of God, we are there-in forgiven for our sins. Also, in so doing, we are not required to make any self-sacrifice or do any self flagellation to "pay" for our sins. First of all, is that even correct? And how do other religions view forgiveness? Do they require a personal penance? Is forgiveness something that happens after commiting an act that might be in conflict with what that relgion espouses? Or is forgiveness something that can only happen in death? Is forgiveness to be given by God (Gods) or a Superior Being, or is forgiveness to be given by the person or party who may have been victim of the violation of religious doctrine, in order to reconcile the wrong doing? And is sin even uniform througout religions? Or are there disparities in what might be defined as a sin, and is definable "sin" dependant on the degree or extent of the violation? I often wonder about this last question in relation to Christianity. Is a sin a sin? Or are there degrees of sin? I tend to think there are greater and lesser sins. But IF all sin is forgiven in accepting Christ as our Lord and Savior then does the degree of sin even matter?

 

I have a number of questoins as I try to explore my faith and find a deeper connection with and commitment to my religious beliefs. So I just wanted to start with this first question in hopes that I can begin to better formulate what I'm most comfortable in accepting as the basis for my beliefs.

 

You're right, Jon, we aren't required to beat ourselves or sacrifice to be forgiven, although there will always be people who take it to the extreme (reminds me of Silas in The DaVinci Code). I'm not sure about other religions and their policies on forgiveness, but I'm pretty sure that most Christian religions are the same although I think catholicism is the only one where people actually have to confess their sins to a priest instead of directly to God. Personally, I think sin is in the eye of the beholder and that it was created to keep people from acting out of line. People who are in charge, especially in the Catholic Church, like to make things up so people will find shame in them. Obviously some things are preeeeeetty bad, such as murder and cheating and stuff - but those are morality issues, they don't need to be defined as "sins", although that could be a word for them. I think that the commandments that we were given were good ideas and they are good ways to live, but beyond that there are so many things that are just ridiculous. For example, my Uncle Mike, who is EXTREMELY Catholic, likes to make sins up in order to shame me into doing something: "wasting food is a sin" I...I..it is? I wasn't aware, thank you very much. When people take it to the extreme like that, that's what really frustrates me.

 

Your perception of sin and forgiveness seems very heavily influenced by catholicism, which is a very bureaucratic form of christianity with strict rules and set procedures for everything. In the end, its them who forgive you or at least tell you you're forgiven. Ask yourself if they have the right to do that just because they have built an entire society around their interpretation of the bible.

 

I think somewhere in the bible it says god is more happy about a single sinner who repents than about a whole lot of righteous people (or close to that). Sounds like you are meant to realize what's wrong yourself and do something about it, whatever that may be. So at some point you can say, yes, i did something wrong then, but no more, and I made up for it. If you feel better then, if you feel right, maybe then you're already forgiven.

Getting people to work on themselves was probably the original intention.

 

Other religions know sin and violation of rules too, but nowhere can it have as damning consequences as in christianity, I think.

 

You're right Chris, and I agree with your point that it's not fair to put the "fate" (for lack of a better word" of one person in the hands of another. That seems to me to be violating God's will, no? And you're also right with the Bible talking about the single sinner, Jesus really didn't like tax collecters and people who presented themselves a righteous. I also really like your point about feeling better about yourself and that means that you're forgivin - I really feel that all of that stuff comes from within. It's really important to internalize it, I think, because in doing so you understand yourself and that's so super important to bettering yourself and finding more faith.

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