Always great to have responses from people that study and think and care, all at the same time. I think you're right. The answer is too complicated for a simple survey, but I thought it would be fun for people to try to figure out which one would be most accurate to their thinking.
One thing that has become important for me is to try to look at the Fall, and the resulting sin and death, through the lens of the Fix, and the resulting righteousness and life. Paul often contrasts the sinful mind and life with the future state of a body of Spirit-led believers. That contrast can show us a little of what the problem is, and also about how to move forward.
I love how the fruit of the Spirit is self control. That sort of touches on A, B and C at the same time. Self control = obedience. Spirit = filling the subtraction. Fruit = in contrast to the fruits of the flesh, which would be like an indwelling seed of sin.
Anyway, thanks for chiming in. I always appreciate it.
Isaiah Allen - 7 years ago
Okay, you only allow the three choices, so mine is closer to C. than the others. Like you, John, I see a multi-faceted presentation in the canon of scripture. But, to come up with a broad, overarching definition of sin, I would say it is a departure (hence, my choice of subtraction) from the dignity and God-likeness (i.e., imago dei) intended for humanity. God's moral law, conveyed through such instruments as Moses and Paul, provides a standard by which to measure the kind of dignity humans are supposed to attain to, which explains the salience of the obedience/disobedience matrix (Choice A.). I think choice B. reflects the empirical, psychological dimension of sin, because it is an attempt to answer the experiential aspect without committing to being an ontological explanation. A - Ethical, B. Experiential, C. Theological.
Thanks Isaiah,
Always great to have responses from people that study and think and care, all at the same time. I think you're right. The answer is too complicated for a simple survey, but I thought it would be fun for people to try to figure out which one would be most accurate to their thinking.
One thing that has become important for me is to try to look at the Fall, and the resulting sin and death, through the lens of the Fix, and the resulting righteousness and life. Paul often contrasts the sinful mind and life with the future state of a body of Spirit-led believers. That contrast can show us a little of what the problem is, and also about how to move forward.
I love how the fruit of the Spirit is self control. That sort of touches on A, B and C at the same time. Self control = obedience. Spirit = filling the subtraction. Fruit = in contrast to the fruits of the flesh, which would be like an indwelling seed of sin.
Anyway, thanks for chiming in. I always appreciate it.
Okay, you only allow the three choices, so mine is closer to C. than the others. Like you, John, I see a multi-faceted presentation in the canon of scripture. But, to come up with a broad, overarching definition of sin, I would say it is a departure (hence, my choice of subtraction) from the dignity and God-likeness (i.e., imago dei) intended for humanity. God's moral law, conveyed through such instruments as Moses and Paul, provides a standard by which to measure the kind of dignity humans are supposed to attain to, which explains the salience of the obedience/disobedience matrix (Choice A.). I think choice B. reflects the empirical, psychological dimension of sin, because it is an attempt to answer the experiential aspect without committing to being an ontological explanation. A - Ethical, B. Experiential, C. Theological.