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Unlock This CourseWhy Do People Do Wrong? Selfishness, Greed and Sin gave the general meaning of sin. For Christians sin is more than breaking a rule. It is turning away from God and damaging a relationship with him. One of the Bible's main words for sin means 'missing the mark', like an arrow that falls short of its target.
In Jesus' parable of the lost son (Luke 15), a son takes his share of his father's money, leaves home and wastes it all. Christians read this as a picture of sin: walking away from a loving father to please yourself. Paul wrote, 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' (Romans 3:23).
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In Genesis 3, God has told Adam and Eve not to eat from one tree in the Garden of Eden. A serpent tempts Eve with the promise that they 'will be like God'. She eats the fruit and gives some to Adam. Afterwards they hide from God. God sends them out of the garden, and hard work, pain and death become part of human life.
The story contains greed (wanting more than they were given), selfishness (putting their own wishes before God's) and sin (breaking trust with God). Paul wrote that 'sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin' (Romans 5:12). Christians explain it differently.
The Catholic Church follows Augustine, a bishop who lived about 1,600 years ago. Every person is born with original sin: without the closeness to God that Adam and Eve first had, and with a weakened nature. Baptism, the ceremony with water that welcomes a person into the Church, washes original sin away, but the pull towards sin remains.
Orthodox Christians usually speak of 'ancestral sin'. People inherit the results of the Fall, which are death and a weakness for sin. They do not inherit Adam's guilt.
Martin Luther and John Calvin, leaders who began Protestant churches in the 1500s, taught that the Fall damaged every part of human nature. So people cannot make themselves right with God by their own efforts. They depend on God's grace.
Some Christians do not read Genesis 3 as history. 'Adam' is a Hebrew word for 'human being', so they see the Fall as a story about everyone. Each of us makes the choice that Adam and Eve made.
Christians who believe in original sin see it as a condition people are born into. Personal sin is what a person chooses to do. In many churches Christians confess together that they have sinned 'in thought, word and deed', and through what they have failed to do.
Jesus said that someone who stays angry with another person has done wrong, not only someone who commits murder (Matthew 5:21-22).
Lies, insults and gossip all count as sins of word.
Wrong actions, such as the murder and stealing forbidden in the Ten Commandments.
'If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them' (James 4:17). In Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10), a priest and a Levite (a temple helper) walk past an injured man and do nothing.
Paul added that 'the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil' (1 Timothy 6:10). He blames the love of money, not money itself.
Selfishness is the opposite of the command Jesus gave: 'Love your neighbour as yourself' (Mark 12:31).
Ignorance matters too. As Jesus was being crucified he prayed, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing' (Luke 23:34). Christians take from this that people often sin without understanding what they are doing, and that this makes them less to blame. But most add that ignorance is not a full excuse, because people can learn what is right from the Bible, the Church and their conscience.
Christians believe that human beings, not God, are responsible for these evils. In Genesis, the first murder comes straight after the Fall: Cain kills his brother Abel out of jealousy. Jesus said that evil comes 'from within, out of a person's heart' (Mark 7:21). The letter of James in the Bible asks: 'What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?' (James 4:1). So for Christians, war is greed, pride and hatred on a huge scale.
Christians believe sin can be forgiven and its power broken, but not by human effort alone.
'If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves' (1 John 1:8). Jesus said there would be 'wars and rumours of wars' (Matthew 24:6). Many Christians conclude that sin and conflict will last until God brings in his kingdom, the time when they believe God will rule fully over everything.
Other Christians argue that no single sin is forced on anyone: each one is a choice, and they believe God gives help to resist. Jesus said, 'Blessed are the peacemakers' (Matthew 5:9), so Christians must work against hatred and war, not accept them.
Do not write that all Christians believe babies are born guilty: Orthodox Christians say people inherit the results of the Fall, not the guilt.
Paper 1 style. (a) and (b) test AO1; (c) and (d) test AO1 and AO2.
(a) Identify three religious beliefs about sin. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two teachings about greed in this religion. [4 marks]
(c) Choose one religion. Explain why followers of this religion believe that sin can be overcome. [6 marks]
(d) 'People are born sinful.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
(a) 1. Sin is turning away from God (1). 2. Sin can be forgiven by God (1). 3. People can sin by failing to do good (1).
(b) Christianity. Jesus taught that people cannot serve both God and money (1), which means a Christian must not let wealth become the most important thing in life (1). Jesus told people to be on their guard against greed (1), for example in the parable of the rich fool, whose stored wealth was no use to him when he died (1).
(c) Christianity. Christians believe sin can be overcome because of God's grace. Grace is God's free, undeserved love, so forgiveness does not depend on a person being good enough.
They also believe that Jesus died for people's sins. This means the broken relationship between humans and God can be mended.
Sin can be overcome through repentance. The Bible teaches that if people confess their sins, God will forgive them, as the father welcomes back the lost son.
Finally, Christians believe the Holy Spirit helps them to change, so that they sin less.
(d) Plan. For: Paul wrote that sin entered the world through one man; the Catholic Church teaches that everyone is born with original sin; 'all have sinned'; Luther and Calvin taught that every part of human nature is damaged.
Against: Orthodox Christians say people inherit weakness and death, not guilt; some Christians read Genesis 3 as a story about choices each person makes; humanists do not believe in sin and say people are shaped by upbringing.
Possible conclusion: pick a side. For example: I partly agree. People may be born with a pull towards selfishness, but 'sinful' suggests guilt, and guilt needs a choice.
In part (d), decide what 'born sinful' means: born guilty, or born with a weakness for sin? Catholic and Orthodox Christians answer differently, which gives you two points of view inside one religion.