Do you agree with the author's opinions on sin?

Use this forum to discuss the December 2020 Book of the month, "Wilderness Cry: A Scientific and Philosophical Approach to Understanding God and the Universe" by Hilary L Hunt M.D.
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lina_muktar31
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Re: Do you agree with the author's opinions on sin?

Post by lina_muktar31 »

Although religions do specify that some things are sinful, I have to agree with the author. After all, some sins are man-made because people like to exaggerate.
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Post by Mariana Figueira »

I also agree with the author that sins are man-made. I, for one, don´t have the best opinion on the church as an institution, especially for being hypocritical preaching to help others while they hoard their riches.
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Post by Timothy Rucinski »

I agree with Dr. Hunt about this assessment of sin. And I wholeheartedly support his hypothesis that selfishness is the one main sin in the world. I hadn't really thought about this previously but since reading this book, this concept has clarified a great deal for me, particularly with how the selfishness of people has promoted the spread of COVID-19 with a refusal to simply wear a mask or to foment violence by selfishly refusing to acknowledge the results of a free and fair election in the US.
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Post by BellAJoEb »

I am in tune with the author when he clearly stated that "many" of the sins are man made. Also we can determine that they are "sin" and not always the church.To me the church does not have to make or label our actions as sins, but within us, deep in our heart , we can determine such actions and term them to be sin. When we feel guilty about our actions, then they are indeed sin. Even before we voice them out or confess them to ourselves or others before we even get to know that the church or law terms such sin.
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Post by Iva Stoyanova »

Maddie Atkinson wrote: 05 Dec 2020, 06:31
Sushan wrote: 04 Dec 2020, 13:50 Totally agree with the author. We can think about our legal system and understand that. Initially there was no such system. When someof the things that people did disrupted the society, people got together and prohibited them to be repeated making those laws, and for those who break them, they invented the punishments. But it could not be done for each and everything. So few knowledgeable ones found a better way. Religious manipulations. They named few things as sins and prevented others from doing them due to the fear of a superior repercussion. As far as I see, that is how a thing called sin has occurred in most of the situations
I completely agree with you!!! When something was done that religious leaders did not like, they manipulated the Bible to use it as a way to prove that they were right. For example, what they did with homosexuality. Religious leaders in America wanted to advocate their opinion on it and push forward their agenda of homophobia, so paid for the Bible to be mistranslated from 'man shall not lie with boy' (so paedophilia) to 'man shall not lie with man' (homosexuality). It is a complete manipulation to fit with the political agenda of the few, thereby making it a sin, which is selfish. Sins are completely man made to fit different people's agendas.
Yes, absolutely! Sins are man-made since it's easier to control and manipulate a population by creating rules and principles. Then, punishing the ones that are different or 'sinful' as the Church would call them.
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Post by OB Brian »

Maddie Atkinson wrote: 04 Dec 2020, 12:29 The author seems to believe that many of the sins in the world are man made, rather than divine law. For example, sex before marriage, or polyamourous relationships, are wrong in the eyes of the Church, however, the author believes that these sort of things are not wrong, as sex, food, shelter, love etc. are all the bare essentials that humans need to survive, just like any animal, it is up to us to do with these things as we will, they are not possible to control. We are not superior, we just have a superiority complex leading us to believe that we are better than all others. Therefore, the author comes to the conclusion that the only sin in the world is selfishness, especially in the way that the Church preaches equality bus has enough money to end world hunger, yet keeps that money for less important things, like more buildings. So I guess what I am trying to say, is I agree with the author that sins are man made and are used to control the population. What do you guys think??
God created man with the ability to know and choose between right and wrong. God did not condemn Solomon for having many women, but for breaking God's laws. I think that our choices in life and how we use them in relation to God, humans, animals and plants is what constitutes sin.
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Post by Adanna Inya »

While I agree that religion has been manipulated to suit the beliefs of clerics and religious heads, I will say that there are sins frowned upon divinely. They are also possible to control. All it takes is determination.
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Post by Fabulous mind »

Well, I think the fundamental aspect to determine sin is recorded in the scriptures. I don't totally agree with the author because most things he listed are labelled as sin in the scriptures.
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Post by Francis Aderogbin »

mariana90 wrote: 05 Dec 2020, 22:46 I do believe a lot of the sins are man-made, like the ones you listed. However, I don't think all of them are. When Jesus says "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself", he's pretty drawing a line in regards to Christian behavior: anything we do that purposefully harms others is a sin.
I am in total agreement with your point. Sin does not hurt God. The actions that are termed sin are labeled that so that man-to-man wickedness will reduce. In the sense of it, the commandments are in place to prevent man from man's wickedness.

So, whether sin is man-made or not, which in my opinion it is not, we shouldn't do things that will harm ourselves and our neighbors.

If we know that we are not made for ourselves and as such, our lives is not 100% ours, then, we will live a better life.
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Post by zulfiyya »

I completely agree, and I second that to say that the concept of a 'moral compass' is man-made, and there is no such thing as 'good' or 'bad.' In a lot of ways, religion is a helpful device to create order amongst primitive civilizations. How do you convince people not to murder others in the name of self-interest? You tell them if they do, a supreme being will punish them for their sins.
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Post by Oyedeji Okikioluwa »

I disagree with the author's presentation on sin is man-made and it is used to control the population of the world, as well as I agree with some argument from it. I feel like we must know that God's standard stands sure and those that are identified with God must depart from what is against His doctrine and instruction. Even with the civilization, acceptance or normalization of some ideas, if it is against His instruction, it is a sin.
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Post by dcruzsammy »

I do agree on the part that sin is man-made, disregarding of course the ones that people don't need common sense as to know that it is a "sin". But not as far as to say that selfishness is the only sin in the world. But I guess they are trying to highlight this in contrast to "loving your neighbor as yourself."
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Post by Maddie Atkinson »

Orizon wrote: 03 Feb 2021, 06:28 I disagree with the author's presentation on sin is man-made and it is used to control the population of the world, as well as I agree with some argument from it. I feel like we must know that God's standard stands sure and those that are identified with God must depart from what is against His doctrine and instruction. Even with the civilization, acceptance or normalization of some ideas, if it is against His instruction, it is a sin.
I agree with you to an extent, but there are laws that are not written in the Bible that the Church will promote as sin. For example, the Church promotes sex before marriage as sin. The Bible talks about immoral sex, or abnormal sex, but not sex before marriage. So in this sense, sin is man made as this was an idea used to control people, specifically women
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Post by Oyedeji Okikioluwa »

Maddie Atkinson wrote: 05 Feb 2021, 16:26
Orizon wrote: 03 Feb 2021, 06:28 I disagree with the author's presentation on sin is man-made and it is used to control the population of the world, as well as I agree with some argument from it. I feel like we must know that God's standard stands sure and those that are identified with God must depart from what is against His doctrine and instruction. Even with the civilization, acceptance or normalization of some ideas, if it is against His instruction, it is a sin.
I agree with you to an extent, but there are laws that are not written in the Bible that the Church will promote as sin. For example, the Church promotes sex before marriage as sin. The Bible talks about immoral sex, or abnormal sex, but not sex before marriage. So in this sense, sin is man made as this was an idea used to control people, specifically women

I understand what you are saying but the New Testament of the Bible quotes, "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body." 1 Corinthians:6:18. Fornication (sexual intercourse, especially on the part of an unmarried person) is a sin. The way we see sin now is different from God's view of it. The only way we can see it as He sees it is through the Scriptures (if we truly and fully believe the Scriptures as God's word).
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Post by Maddie Atkinson »

Orizon wrote: 06 Feb 2021, 01:11
Maddie Atkinson wrote: 05 Feb 2021, 16:26
Orizon wrote: 03 Feb 2021, 06:28 I disagree with the author's presentation on sin is man-made and it is used to control the population of the world, as well as I agree with some argument from it. I feel like we must know that God's standard stands sure and those that are identified with God must depart from what is against His doctrine and instruction. Even with the civilization, acceptance or normalization of some ideas, if it is against His instruction, it is a sin.
I agree with you to an extent, but there are laws that are not written in the Bible that the Church will promote as sin. For example, the Church promotes sex before marriage as sin. The Bible talks about immoral sex, or abnormal sex, but not sex before marriage. So in this sense, sin is man made as this was an idea used to control people, specifically women

I understand what you are saying but the New Testament of the Bible quotes, "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body." 1 Corinthians:6:18. Fornication (sexual intercourse, especially on the part of an unmarried person) is a sin. The way we see sin now is different from God's view of it. The only way we can see it as He sees it is through the Scriptures (if we truly and fully believe the Scriptures as God's word).
But surely, in a way, that is just interpreting the Bible in a way that it doesn't explicitly state? The Bible has been translated and mistranslated so many times, how can we know for sure that it has not been manipulated by church leaders (which they have done before)?
"I decided a while ago not to deny myself the simpler pleasures of existence" - Augustus Waters (The Fault in Our Stars)
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