Origin of "hate the sin, love the sinner"

[LoveMercyGrace]

I have heard this said from other Catholics so often, I decided to post here after I did a

little research. ( very little) more fun to ask on here

I believe the origin was St Augustine maybe referring to himself?

I do not find anywhere in Holy Scripture where Jesus commands this.

He commands us to “Love one another” and to look at our own sins.

Any thoughts?

 

[detoutcoeur]

catholic.com/quickquestions/who-said-love-the-sinner-hate-the-sin

 

[powerofk]

I have heard this said from other Catholics so often, I decided to post here after I did a

little research. ( very little) more fun to ask on here

I believe the origin was St Augustine maybe referring to himself?

I do not find anywhere in Holy Scripture where Jesus commands this.

He commands us to “Love one another” and to look at our own sins.

Any thoughts?

Jesus might not have explicitly stated it, but He sure implied it - especially if you look at the “Woman caught in adultery”. Jesus never shows that He approved of what the woman did, and He forgives her. But - at the end, He says, “Go and sin no more”.

 

[OraLabora]

Jesus might not have explicitly stated it, but He sure implied it - especially if you look at the “Woman caught in adultery”. Jesus never shows that He approved of what the woman did, and He forgives her. But - at the end, He says, “Go and sin no more”.

Yes but… Jesus was the Supreme Teacher, and that’s not a title anyone of us can aspire to. We are more like the Pharisees wanting to throw rocks at the adulteress without first considering our own sin.

Consider that Jesus also taught the following:

“Which commandment is the first of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

(Mark 12:28b-31)

In the light of this, when we consider “love the sinner, not the sin”, I think this really applies to one’s self and most emphatically not pointing out the sin of others, unless we are in authority over the other (as pastor, teacher or parent).

Because it is almost impossible to love others “as we do ourselves”, if we don’t at first love ourselves.

This then requires that we have an honest confrontation with ourselves to find out who we really are. What are our sins and temptations, and what do we do about them? But also, what our our strengths with which we can contribute to the construction of the Kingdom of God? Through this self-assessment we must learn to yes, hate our sins and work to overcome them, but also to trust that God will be merciful towards our attempts, even our failed attempts, and secondly, that we must also learn to embrace what is good about ourselves, and to love ourselves and to recognize the potential in ourselves. Only then can authentic love of the other happen.

True humility as expressed in the Rule of St. Benedict means not only being honest about our flaws, but also accepting our gifts, learning to be at peace with one’s self, and learning to put our gifts to the service of God through the service of others, in whom God indwells.

The Rule teaches us to greet others as if Christ Himself was appearing before us, because Christ resides in all of us whether one recognizes Him or not. We should certainly therefore, not attempt to call the stranger on his sin, lest we turn into a rock-throwing Pharisee; instead we should greet him humbly and charitably, mindful of our own imperfections.

But to love our own self while hating our own sin, is what I think St. Augustine probably meant. I have too often seen “love the sinner but hate the sin” used to try to exclude people from the Kingdom of God, something that is not within our pay grade.

 

[JakeWI]

I have used this phrase MANY times, with Catholics and non Catholics alike. I have even argued with some Catholics about the fact about how we personally aren’t to judge other people’s sins (you are going to hell, etc). However, to teach what the Church teaches is necessary to stop sinning.

Without going into much detail, the many people I have said this to seem to react favorably, because it acknowledges that we are all sinners, with whatever struggles we deal with day to day. However, showing of love for our neighbor, while making sure they are grounded in Truth, always seems to get a better response. Especially since I also acknowledge that I myself am a sinner working to improve everyday as well.

 

[Genesis315]

Hatred of the sin in another is a result of loving the person since sin leads to the everlasting destruction of that person. That said, we need to be careful that our hatred of sin does not get out of control, as St. Peter Damien warned: “A medicine is hardly acceptable if, while it retards the infected part, at the same time it causes damage to the tissue that is healthy. A fire is harmful if it is used to burn brush, so that its fury also spreads to cause houses to go up in flames.” (Letter 44).

Anyway, here are St. Augustine and St. Gregory on the concept of loving the sinner and hating the sin:
St. Augustine:

Wherefore the man who lives according to God, and not according to man, ought to be a lover of good, and therefore a hater of evil. And since no one is evil by nature, but whoever is evil is evil by vice, he who lives according to God ought to cherish towards evil men a perfect hatred, so that he shall neither hate the man because of his vice, nor love the vice because of the man, but hate the vice and love the man. For the vice being cursed, all that ought to be loved, and nothing that ought to be hated, will remain.

newadvent.org/fathers/120114.htm
St. Gregory the Great:

But, if in your case you seek an adviser, take me, I pray you, as your adviser. For no one can be more to be relied on for advice than one who loves not what is yours, but you. May Almighty God make known to your heart with what love and with what charity my heart embraces you, though so far only as not to offend against divine grace. For I so attack your fault as to love your person; I so love your person as not to embrace the viciousness of your fault. If, therefore, you believe that I love you, approach the threshold of the apostles, and use me as an adviser.

newadvent.org/fathers/360201034.htm

 

[LoveMercyGrace]

Yes but… Jesus was the Supreme Teacher, and that’s not a title anyone of us can aspire to. We are more like the Pharisees wanting to throw rocks at the adulteress without first considering our own sin.

Consider that Jesus also taught the following:

(Mark 12:28b-31)

In the light of this, when we consider “love the sinner, not the sin”, I think this really applies to one’s self and most emphatically not pointing out the sin of others, unless we are in authority over the other (as pastor, teacher or parent).

Because it is almost impossible to love others “as we do ourselves”, if we don’t at first love ourselves.

This then requires that we have an honest confrontation with ourselves to find out who we really are. What are our sins and temptations, and what do we do about them? But also, what our our strengths with which we can contribute to the construction of the Kingdom of God? Through this self-assessment we must learn to yes, hate our sins and work to overcome them, but also to trust that God will be merciful towards our attempts, even our failed attempts, and secondly, that we must also learn to embrace what is good about ourselves, and to love ourselves and to recognize the potential in ourselves. Only then can authentic love of the other happen.

True humility as expressed in the Rule of St. Benedict means not only being honest about our flaws, but also accepting our gifts, learning to be at peace with one’s self, and learning to put our gifts to the service of God through the service of others, in whom God indwells.

The Rule teaches us to greet others as if Christ Himself was appearing before us, because Christ resides in all of us whether one recognizes Him or not. We should certainly therefore, not attempt to call the stranger on his sin, lest we turn into a rock-throwing Pharisee; instead we should greet him humbly and charitably, mindful of our own imperfections.

But to love our own self while hating our own sin, is what I think St. Augustine probably meant. I have too often seen “love the sinner but hate the sin” used to try to exclude people from the Kingdom of God, something that is not within our pay grade.

To the above last paragraph, I suppose this is what prompted me to ask about the origin
of " love the sinner, hate the sin" …hearing it being used to try to exclude! thanks!

Not knowing much of the Benedictine spirituality, here reading what you have posted, OraLabora, I see it is deep and rich. Thank you for adding onto this discussion. Helps me to more fully understand what the true meaning is of “love the sinner, not the sin”.
It can guide us to reflect upon our own. Its a coming to understanding about
how we personally sin and have sinned.
I have recently started praying the novena to Mary, Untier of Knots. In reading more about the Novena I learn it is not asking Mary to magically undo our knots, rather it is meditating upon our part in creating the knots of our life. it is asking for the grace to untie , starting with the simplest knot and reaching the most difficult. +++

Thank everyone for the good discussion! God bless~

 

[Iconodule]

I heard a priest say once that the more proper way to say this would be, “Love other sinners, hate your own sin”.

 

[LoveMercyGrace]

I heard a priest say once that the more proper way to say this would be, “Love other sinners, hate your own sin”.

If this is actual translation , even if not, it does express the higher truth. thanks!