Am I sinner because I sin? Or do I sin because I’m a sinner? These two questions point to a fundamental issue within Christianity. The perspective, I am a sinner because I sin, is how our faith began. Our creation myths tell of God creating a world and pronouncing everything good, including human beings who are created in God’s image. The premise is that we are fundamentally good.
Then the story of Adam and Eve explains why there is suffering in life and why we don’t always do the good. It accounts for why life is hard. It gives a cautionary perspective on free will. But the assumption is still that we are fundamentally good. We are good people who sometimes make bad choices.
Let’s go back to the beginning of this reflection and the second perspective offered. Do I sin because I am a sinner? This presumes we are sinners, bad people, to the core, so we can’t help but sin. The foundational premise is that the story of Adam and Eve marks us down to our essential essence as fallen, bad, sinners from our conception on.
This perspective is not inherited from our Jewish roots, nor is it part of the understanding of early Christianity. The concept or original sin and the fall really gained traction with Augustine of Hippo [354-430]. The story of Adam and Eve implicates Eve as the evil doer, which validated the subjugation of women in the church (and society). And the perspective that original sin is passed on through sexual activity led to the long held view of the church that sex was to be for procreation only.
The perspective, I sin because I’m a sinner, carries all the weight of the doctrine of original sin which was not original to Christianity or Jesus’ teachings.
When we look back at Psalm 51, we read:
Indeed, I was born guilty,
a sinner when my mother conceived me.
Is this a validation of original sin? It wasn’t for the Jews or for early Christians. This kind of language and imagery is entirely characteristic of the poetic language of the Psalms. The Psalms use extreme language, strong language, to convey intense feeling. It is poetic. It is metaphor. It’s the writer’s way of expressing intense guilt and shame and remorse.
In another verse of the Psalm, the writer says, “Let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.” We don’t assume that God has literally crushed the actual physical bones of the writer. It’s a way for the writer to convey how he feels beaten down by his circumstances. It’s not meant literally. And neither is the verse about being born guilty.
I sin because I’m a sinner. Or I’m a sinner because I sin. It’s up to us which perspective we will take. They both have very significant and far reaching implications. Which will we choose? What effect does that have on our lives? On how we see others? On our wider views about society? It’s really up to us to decide. And the decision matters.
Prayer
We are grateful to be part of a faith tradition that puts an emphasis on forgiveness. Whatever happens in this life, whatever we do, we know that the door of forgiveness is always open. May we walk through that door readily and may we readily forgive. This is the freedom that spawns creativity and transformation and generosity. Amen.
Lakewood United Church of Christ 