Sin and Suffering

The doctrine of sin is an odd doctrine because, unlike other aspects of Christian theology, it does not describe something that exists but a distortion of something that exists. Sin is parasitic, one might say, a violation of the created order rather than a part of that order itself. Sin does not have its own integrity; sin is always against something—against creation, against the self, against God and against our neighbor. The doctrine of sin, therefore, presupposes a reality that may be sinned against. It presupposes the original order and goodness of creation.

Christian reflection on sin encompasses both the condition of sin and its particular manifestations and effects. According to the doctrine of original sin (cf. Article 9), articulated most influentially by Augustine of Hippo, sin is a universal affliction. Estimations of precisely what that affliction is have varied. Augustine identified the root and essence of sin as pride and described original sin as a condition that included inherited guilt, a distorted mind, and a disordered will. Irenaeus of Lyons regarded the essence of sin as the creature’s ingratitude and impatience toward its creator. Martin Luther described the condition of sin as being “curved in on oneself” (incurvatus in se), a definition which Karl Barth picked up and expanded to include not only pride, but also sloth and falsehood. However one understands it—pride, impatience, being turned in on the self—the condition of sin is a corruption and distortion of, as Article 9 puts it, humanity’s original “righteousness” in relation to God and others and a loss of original “justice” in the right ordering of the soul (Aquinas).

The effects of sin are manifold and well documented, from the horrific atrocities of human abuse and violence to what the theologian Langdon Gilkey once referred to as the “ordinary human cussedness” on display in our day-to-day interactions. But sin is not limited to individual corruption. In Romans, St. Paul spoke of sin not only in terms of individual guilt or moral transgression, but also as a malevolent and enslaving cosmic power seeking to devour us (Gen 4:7). Modern theologians have likewise been attentive to the ways in which sin transcends the individual self and becomes embedded in social structures.

Ordination candidates should be able to explain how sin is a violation and corruption of the goodness of creation. They should also be able to describe both the condition of sin and its destructive effects.

Recommended Reading

Augustine. On Nature and Grace.

Homily II of the Book of Homilies : “Of the Misery of All Mankind”.

Cornelius Plantinga, Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996.

Resources for Further Study

Marguerite Shuster. The Fall and Sin: What We Have Become as Sinners . Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003.

Alan Jacobs, Original Sin: A Cultural History . New York: HarperOne, 2009.

Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung, Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and Their Remedies . Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2009.

Gary Anderson. Sin: A History . New Haven: Yale University Press. 2009.

Keith Johnson and David Lauber, eds., T&T Clark Companion to the Doctrine of Sin . Bloomsbury Companions. New York: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2016.