The pulpit assures us that wherever we see suffering and sorrow, which we can relieve and do not do it, we sin, heavily. There was never yet a case of suffering or sorrow which God could not relieve. Does He sin, then?
If He is the Source of Morals He does — certainly nothing can be plainer than that, you will admit. Surely the Source of law cannot violate law and stand unsmirched; surely the judge upon the bench cannot forbid crime and then revel in it himself unreproached.
—Mark Twain, “Thoughts of God” in The Portable Atheist, p. 118
Nelly: ditto 
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Leah: These people came to my school and protested…. I can’t help wondering if maybe they are just a... 
gmcfly: Someone needs to read Romans 13. 
Francesco Orsenigo: It’s scary. As much as I support total freedom of speech (for example, I don’t like laws against... 
Olaf: I agree, the US has no a president that they should be proud of. One with brains and that gets a lot of respect from the... 
5 Comments
One night I watched with horror as a young woman bled to death because she was a Jehovahs Witness. We could have saved her with blood transfusions but we respected her wishes and watched her die. All due to some meaningless blurb somewhere in the bible about cannibalism. When will we stop following the ramblings of Bronze Age men in their attempt to understand/control their world?
Funny I should read a post about some thoughts I had just the other night. Can God sin? And by extension could Jesus have sinned? (he WAS considered the only man who had commited no sin)
No, my friend, the divine cannot possibly sin by the very definition of the word. The word “sin” is a translation of the greek word “amartia” which was the word used when an archer missed the target. A man sins when he loses his path to theosis (or so modern theology claims). It’s reasonable to claim that since God has no such goal, it cannot sin by default (Jesus too since he was/is supposedly God incarnate). The divine may do as well as it pleases.
It still buffles me to see Christians consider Jesus as sinless with the several instances in the New Testament where Jesus curses, calls people names and loses his temper (the same people that consider doing the same things as sins). I see them as perfect examples that their version of the divine is free to break its own rules (I won’t even get into the Old Testament). Of course, in this case, your previous blog-post comes into play. (Does Might make right?)
God killed newborns, destroyed tribe after tribe, promoted violence and division. This legacy continues today in the religious tradition. Is this not sin? Christians will say that it is “just” – god cannot tolerate our sin, so he has to kill us. Wow. Next time some driver cuts me off, he better watch it. This is so frustrating – my own parents say this. That god can do no wrong, and the very fact that god did it makes it ok. Our brains are just to small to fathom the greatness and justice of god, I guess. I’m so grateful that I escaped this belief, but it’s discouraging to me when so many people are still so brainwashed and refuse to think critically about the description of god in the bible.
‘Sin’ is a completely subjective term. There are those who consider someone who disagrees with them as a sinner, but not a murderer who agrees with them. This is my main problem with religion, that it can be used so easily to justify murder of innocents.
Of course ‘innocent’ is a subjective term as well. Does that make my argument moot?
Well can God sin. I don’t know never met the guy. But consider omnipotence with being all powerful you would be omniscient and have foreknowledge of everything that is going to happen. Wouldn’t God’s path to theosis actually be our path to theosis so if we fall would he not actually have sinned. Is his goal not the salvation of mankind’s collective soul. So with foreknowledge would he not have been responsible for Lucifer’s sins and in turn the fall of 1/3 of the angels to demons. By our common understanding of sin he is definitely guilty of wrath and pride.