The biblical meaning of sin is to “miss the mark.” Thus, sin denotes how human beings deviate from the true standard of life. There are many ways to conceive of sin; here we present four.
The first is evil deeds, which typically comprise murder, stealing, sexual immorality, lying, and drunkenness. The world’s religions are unanimous in condemning these sins.
The second meaning of sin is a self-centered mindset, by which we harm others, whether intentionally or unintentionally. This is a more subtle understanding; it invites introspection about the motives behind our behavior and the way our daily life impinges on others.
Sin has power: it binds us and blocks our approach to God. A third way to understand sin is to see it as all-pervasive imperfection and fallenness, a universal condition of humankind.
In this light, Father Moon explains that all sin is the result of the Human Fall, which severed our original relationship with God and left us in a state of alienation and strife.
1. The Meaning of Sin
Whoso in this world destroys life, tells lies, takes what is not given, goes to others’ wives, and is addicted to intoxicating drinks, such a one digs up his own root in this world. Dhammapada 246-47
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sexual perverts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6.9-10
The plunderer of gold, the liquor-drinker, the invader of a teacher’s bed, the brahmin-killer: These four sink downward in the scale— And, fifth, he who consorts with them. Chandogya Upanishad 5.10.9
The Prophet said, “When a man commits fornication he is not a believer, when a man steals h,e is not a believer; when a man drinks wine he is not a believer; when he takes plunder on account of which others raise their eyes at him he is not a believer; and when a man defrauds his neighbor he is not a believer; so beware, beware!” Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim (Islam)
If you, Rahula, are desirous of doing a deed with the body, you should reflect on that deed of your body, thus: “That deed that I am desir- ous of doing with the body is a deed of my body that might conduce to the harm of self and that might conduce to the harm of others and that might conduce to the harm of both; this deed of body is unskilled, its yield is anguish, its result is anguish.” If you, Rahula, reflecting thus, should find it so, a deed of body like this, Rahula, is certainly not to be done by you. Majjhima Nikaya 1.415 (Buddhism)
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you so that he does not hear.
Isaiah 59.1-2
Bound by the fetters of the fruits of good and evil, like a cripple; without freedom, like a man in prison. Maitri Upanishad 4.2 (Hinduism)
When we choose to sin, what we want is to get some good or get rid of something bad. The lie is in this, that what is done for our good ends in something bad, or what is done to make things better ends by making them worse. Why this paradox, except that the happiness of man can come not from himself but only from God, and that to live according to oneself is to sin, and to sin is to lose God? Saint Augustine, City of God 14.4 (Christianity)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
What is sin? It is what emerges from self-centered living and not living for the sake of others. Why is stealing wrong?
A thief steals out of his personal desire—the wrong of the act begins there. What is wrong with stealing a dress from a big department store, where no one will miss it?
That dress has value imparted by the people who invested their sacrifice and service in making it. Thus the dress has public value. Stealing it is a sin, because taking something without paying for it nullifies its value. (105:92, September 30, 1979)
We have to recognize and abide by three immutable laws: The first law: Do not defile the blood lineage, even at the point of death. The blessed blood lineage, bequeathed through God’s love and life, must not be contaminated by actions immersed in the habitual patterns of the fallen world…
The second law: Do not infringe upon human rights… Whether female or male, black or white, everyone is equal… Violation of this is the second of all sins. The third law: Refrain from stealing money or misusing public funds for selfish purposes. (January 13, 2001)
What is sin?
People think sin is to disobey God’s word, but in truth, sin is to make any condition by which Satan can accuse us. While it is wrong not to believe the word of God, it becomes a sin when there is a condition upon which the enemy can grab hold of us.
Hence, once we transgress the law, not even God can do anything about it. (22:257, May 4, 1969)
The human tradition of love as it has been passed down through history, is evil. It is sinful, unacceptable to God. It is the enemy of God. Of all sins, fallen love is the by far the worst; it is the sin God abhors the most.
Those who indulge in fallen love are God’s worst enemies, whom God abhors the most. Unless we correct the ways of love, God will always treat it as a sin and those who engage in love as enemies, and they are bound to perish. It is only natural that they perish.
Have you seen Pompeii in Italy?
Because of its decadent and immoral social life, the city was destroyed by instant calamity. Sodom and Gomorrah, too, were destroyed for the same reason. The Roman Empire, too, perished for the same reason.
Looking at this historical evidence, America will also surely perish unless she repents and repudiates its immoral way of love. (104:140, April 29, 1979)
2. The Pervasiveness of Sin
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1.8
Nor do I absolve my own self of blame; the human soul is certainly prone to evil, unless my Lord do bestow His mercy.13 Qur’an 12.53
All men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written, None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong; no one does good, not even one. Romans 3.9-12
No creature, whether born on earth or among the gods in heaven, is free from the conditioning of the three states of matter (gunas).14 Bhagavad-Gita 18.40 (Hinduism)
Confucius said, “I for my part have never yet seen one who really cared for Goodness, nor one who really abhorred wickedness. One who really cared for Goodness would never let any other consideration come first. One who abhorred wickedness would be so constantly doing Good that wickedness would never have a chance to get at him. Has anyone ever managed to do Good with his whole might even as long as the space of a single day? I think not. Yet I for my part have never seen anyone give up such an attempt because he had not the strength to go on.” 15 Analects 4.6 (Confucianism)
As sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned. Romans 5.12
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.16 Psalm 51.5
When the first couple were punished by the judgment of God, the whole human race, which was to become Adam’s posterity through the first woman, was present in the first man. And what was born was not human nature as it was originally created but as it became after the first parents’ sin and punishment… so changed and vitiated that it suffers from the recalcitrance of a rebellious concupiscence and is bound by the law of death. Saint Augustine, City of God 13.3 (Christianity)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Is there anyone in the world whose righteousness is complete and perfect for all eternity?
Who can be proud of his or her justice before heaven and earth? No such person exists. Is there anyone who, after finding a religion, has attained a self that will never deviate from the eternal way?
You cannot confidently answer Yes. No one has such integrity that he or she can be eternally and inseparably united with Heaven’s principles. (4:135, March 30, 1958)
God is good; therefore, human beings should naturally be good. However, we are people with many complications and impurities; we are unable to be good. Thus, there is a large gap between the God of goodness and us humans.
When mud or grease sticks to your clean clothes, you want to immediately wash it out or even cut it off, because you hate to see it. God feels the same way when He sees these dirty humans clinging to the hem of His garment. You do not need to know the Bible to realize that we humans are stained. (92:58, March 13, 1977)
Due to the fall, the relationship between God and humankind was completely severed. No matter how people try to return to God, they cannot. Likewise, God cannot relate with us—the gap is so wide.
We are penned in behind a wall, confined behind a boundary line. What is that wall? It prevents us from approaching God, our Parent, to attend Him. It blocks even God from doing what He would want to do.
That wall is a serious problem for religious people. That wall also separates each individual’s mind and body. That wall, with various historical contents, comes between husband and wife. That wall divides families, tribes, peoples, nations, and the whole world. It divides the spirit world from physical world.
It stands between heaven and hell. Even if God dwells in heaven on His glorious throne, unless that wall is removed, people on earth can never surmount the walls that surround them on every side. This is the tragedy of human life on earth. (135:268, December 15, 1985)
The Fall meant that Adam and Eve, who should have become one with each other centering on God, instead became one with the archangel Lucifer, who was a mere servant of God.
Instead of inheriting God’s lineage, human beings inherited the servant’s bloodline. Therefore, no matter how much fallen people call God “my Father,” they do not feel it as true to life. (91:242, February 23, 1977)
The family created by the relationship between fallen Adam and Eve had no relationship to God. That family became the root of God’s deep sorrow, and the base through which the enemy Satan could claim his rights and exercise his authority over humanity.
One man and one woman caused the Fall, but its effect was not limited to that couple only. It extends throughout the cosmos and holds sway throughout all of human history. (46:196, August 15, 1971)
We human beings are still slaves to the fallen nature that we inherited from our first ancestors, Adam and Eve. We have not escaped that yoke. This is evidenced by the confessions of saints and sages.
Although they spent their entire lives in fasting and abstinence and unceasingly pursued paths of incredible suffering, they invariably confess that they could not root out the desires of the flesh before they had to leave this world. Their confessions remain as pitiful cries to their disciples who still insist on following in their footsteps. (May 1, 2004)
Sun Myung Moon