Blog #59--Definitions of Sin Confuse at Times

One chapter in my book “It’s a Secret, So Pass It On: a Toolbox For Life” shares my views on what constitutes “evil.” But I intentionally avoid the subject of sin. The reason is simple: there seems to be great differences of opinion among the world’s largest religions on what constitutes sin, and definitions seem to change generation to generation and century to century.

Of course, the righteous from every major religion have an absolute certainty as to what constitutes a sin and are quick to judge those who don’t measure up to their standards. But there are disagreements, both subtle and profound, even among the hierarchy of each of these religions. And the practical application of absoluteness occasionally exposes discrepancies which confuse those seeking honestly to live spiritual lives. When we compare definitions of sin from one time period to another, these discrepancies become even more obvious.

History is written by the victors. This goes for religious histories as well as country/kingdom histories. Thus, the leaders of the winning side of wars, crusades and the like are, by self-proclamation, correct no matter what they profess to believe. The winners are righteous and graced by God, and the losers are evil monsters who deserve eternal damnation. The winners wear the white hats and the losers wear black. The winners are freedom fighters, while their enemies are terrorists. The examples are practically endless.

It is also true that, while a religion may be based on one or more holy books claimed to have been written by God, the practical application is left to humans with their own self-interests and frailties. Sex out of wedlock has long been called a sin by multiple religions, but exceptions have been made at times for their leaders.

As one of many examples, a number of books have been written about former Catholic popes who had one or more illegitimate children despite claiming celibacy. The double standard wasn’t considered hypocrisy if the ultimate decider was the one doing the sinning.

The inspiration for this article came from watching a television series called “Da Vinci’s Demons,” which is loosely based on actual people and events during the lifetime of one of the world’s greatest thinkers, Leonardo Da Vinci. I assume improvements have been made since then, but it was common during Da Vinci’s time for religious leaders to be heads of the most financially powerful families. Gaining leadership of the Church insured even greater wealth and power, and human egos being what they are, wars were fought to protect their positions. Their sometimes extreme punishments toward those judged by them to be sinners might be called sins by our standards today.

For instance, in one scene a group of nuns in Florence, Italy, appeared to be “possessed by the devil.” Some were killed outright. An exorcist was summoned to cast the devil out of the rest. He proceeded to choke a nun to death, claiming he saw her spirit free itself from the devil just prior to death. No one could claim otherwise, but the self-serving explanation likely did more to protect the exorcist than to help the young woman. In reality, the nuns were suffering from Ergot poisoning caused by a spy for Rome’s pope’s son.

Conspiracies and subterfuge were common in order to claim superiority over the strongest challengers to their authority. The heads of the churches were considered infallible, while competitors were called sinners and heretics and punished frequently by death (sadly, some of that still occurs in different parts of the world). Plus, behaviors such as promiscuity and prostitution were sins if it served the purposes of the ones sitting in judgment, but they were acceptable if craved by those same judges.

In other words, throughout time sins were often judged based as much if not more on subjective evaluation and self-interest than religious law. What was a sin for one person, was okay for others. What was a sin in one century was okay in a later century. While victors were/are rewarded, losers displaying the exact same behaviors were/are called sinners and were/are both punished and expected to experience a fiery hell upon their deaths. Life can sure be confusing, can’t it?

Like most of us, I’d love to know exactly what it takes to be a spiritually perfected being deserving of an eternity at the right hand of God. But frankly, I don’t think it is possible to trust totally any human’s definition of sin or the variable judgments rendered based upon those behaviors. History shows us repeatedly how confused we are on such a weighty subject.

Maybe the proper solution is to leave any judging or punishing, if necessary, to our creator.

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