Original sin and sin in general

[Catholicwoman11]

I have engaged in a discussion with a friend of mine on the nature of sin. He doesn’t believe in sin at all. When I asked him where evil came from, his response was the following
“because of the duality of reality, how can there be light w/o dark? yin and yang”

I have explained original sin to him as best I could, but I would like others explanations as well. How do you explain sin when someone doesn’t believe it in the first place?

 

[bmullins]

In the concept of duality good exists so evil has to exist. Just as light creates shadow when it is blocked, shadow only exists because light exists. The way to show that sin exists is to show what sin is.

sin - An immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law.

If there exists good, then going against good IS sin. Unless he believes that there is no deity at all, which would undermine his entire argument. (How can good exist at all if nothing defines what is good?)

 

[Heuchler]

Yeah, there is no way to say that we do not sin without saying evil does not exist. And who can look at a serial killer and not say that this man is evil. Logically, there must be sin and malice for their to be evil. An earthquake is not evil, but scientists who may cause an earthquake to harm others are evil. So, there can not be evil without there being sinning people really.

 

[1ke]

Nothing new under the sun. Church fathers have dealt with this heresy of dualism throughout the history of the Church.

 

[Catholicwoman11]

Along the same vain, I am also in discussion with a Muslim friend of mine about Christianity. I want to be able to adequately describe original sin so that he might understand. In Islam, sin is not emphasized. One Islamic scholar has stated that Adam transgressed out of forgetfulness and not intentionally. It is maintained that an act is not intrinsically right or wrong. From Answering Islam by Norman Geisler and Abdul Saleeb, it states “It is only right when God specifically declares it to be such according to his will” (pg 46) The effects of original sin are not inherited.

So any descriptions on the merits of original sin are wanted as well. It is a hard sell to say that we are all sinners. I have accepted it on faith, but when someone comes from a different culture that doesn’t, I am at a loss.

 

[fred_conty]

I have engaged in a discussion with a friend of mine on the nature of sin. He doesn’t believe in sin at all. When I asked him where evil came from, his response was the following
“because of the duality of reality, how can there be light w/o dark? yin and yang”

I have explained original sin to him as best I could, but I would like others explanations as well. How do you explain sin when someone doesn’t believe it in the first place?

The person is looking at sin and virtue as two pieces of a whole.
Light and darkness are two pieces of a whole.

It is another way of logically saying there is no punishment since evil is one piece of the whole.

In reality, virtue is the whole, and sin is the missing part of the virtue, of what should be there.
Light is the whole, and darkness is the missing part of the light which should be there.

But if the two parts are equal, then try living with only one part, complete darkness, or complete evil. And the reason this occurs is because they are not equals, but opposites. And where one is the other cannot be.