{"id":11256,"date":"2016-04-16T16:27:09","date_gmt":"2016-04-16T20:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordstudy.newchurch.org\/?page_id=11256"},"modified":"2016-04-16T16:27:09","modified_gmt":"2016-04-16T20:27:09","slug":"sin-as-a-bible-term","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/societies.newchurch.org\/wordstudy\/bible-keywords\/sin-as-a-bible-term\/","title":{"rendered":"Sin (as a Bible Term)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The idea that the word \u201csin\u201d in the Bible<\/a> represents \u201cevil\u201d<\/a> is no great surprise, but it\u2019s interesting that most references in Swedenborg<\/a> further describe it as \u201cturning away from the divine.\u201d This reinforces the idea that evil is not an independent force, not something with its own power, but is actually the absence of the Lord<\/a> \u2013 much as darkness is not something of its own, but is actually the absence of light, and cold is the absence of heat.<\/p>\n

Swedenborg says the Lord created<\/a> physical reality as something essentially dead \u2013 the only way to make something separate from himself, since he is life<\/a> itself. He constantly infuses that dead reality with life, so physical<\/a> creatures can be both separate and alive. The more we turn to the Lord and receive<\/a> spiritual<\/a> life from him, the more fully alive we become. If we turn away, though, we end up with only what he forces on us to keep us alive, in twisted forms because of our twisted loves. Anything that constitutes turning away is a sin, and is the source and nature of evil.<\/p>\n

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Passages from Swedenborg<\/b><\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 10039<\/b><\/p>\n

10039. ‘It is a\u00a0sin\u00a0[offering]’ means that which has been purified in this manner from evils and falsities. This is clear from the meaning of ‘sin’, when this word is used to mean a sacrifice, as purification from evils and falsities. For in the original language, when sacrifices are the subject,\u00a0sin\u00a0is used to mean a sacrifice for\u00a0sin; and by sacrifice purification from evils and falsities is meant, 9990, 9991.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 10123<\/b><\/p>\n

10123. ‘And you shall cleanse from\u00a0sin\u00a0on the altar’ means purification from evils in heaven and in the Church. This is clear from the meaning of ‘cleansing’ as purifying; from the meaning of ‘sin’ as evil, for all evil that a person is guilty of is called\u00a0sin; and from the meaning of ‘the altar’ as that which is representative of the Lord in regard to Divine Good and of the worship of Him, dealt with in 9714, 9964, at this point in respect of Divine Good in heaven and in the Church.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 10469<\/b><\/p>\n

10469. ‘What did this people do to you that you have brought so great a\u00a0sinupon them?’ means, Why is it that that nation has so turned itself away from the Divine? This is clear from the meaning of ‘what did this people do to you?’ as, Why is it that that nation is such? (‘doing to you’ here does not mean doing something to him, for ‘Aaron’ is not used to mean Aaron but the external, the essential nature of which is contemplated from the internal, and therefore ‘what did they do to you?’ – when understood in the abstract sense, without reference to persons – means, Why is it?); and from the meaning of ‘a\u00a0sin’ as a turning away from the Divine, dealt with in 5841, 9346. Consequently ‘bringing upon them so great a\u00a0sin’, when the external in that abstract sense is meant by ‘Aaron’, describes such and so great a turning away from the Divine.<\/p>\n

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 364<\/b><\/p>\n

364. (2) ‘If you do not do well,\u00a0sin\u00a0is lying at the door’, which means that if your desires are not good charity does not exist, but evil. That ‘sin\u00a0lying at the door’ means evil at hand and wishing to get in may become clear to anyone. Indeed when charity does not exist hatred and lack of compassion do so, which are the source of all evil. ‘Sin’ stands in general for the devil, and he, that is, his crew, is at hand when a person is devoid of charity. Only one thing will drive the devil and his crew away from the door, and that is love to the Lord and towards the neighbour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The idea that the word \u201csin\u201d in the Bible represents \u201cevil\u201d is no great surprise, but it\u2019s interesting that most references in Swedenborg further describe it as \u201cturning away from the divine.\u201d This reinforces the idea that evil is not an independent force, not something with its own power, but is actually the absence of […]<\/p>\n

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