Article June 1, 1981 Issue

The truth about sin

THOMAS A. McCLAIN

A group of youngsters, ages six to nine, were once asked what sin is. They replied with amusing, thought-provoking answers such as, "A sin is what you do before your mother spanks you" or, "Sin is doing something real bad like sticking my gum on the table or under a chair." One six-year-old replied: "Well, there's these two kids down our street,... and they're bullies and they're bad all the time. If you want to know about sin, you ought to ask them."^{ U.S. News & World Report, September 29, 1975 .}

The perceptions of sin offered in these children's replies reflect a fallacy common to almost everyone's thinking on this subject. Each definition they gave centered on the commission of some act of wrongdoing. This is the concept of sin under which mankind has labored and suffered since, as the legend goes, Adam and Eve committed the first sin. We generally think of sin as merely doing something wrong.

Christian Science reveals a profound view of sin, one that challenges traditional, popular thinking about salvation and leads to the truth that frees mankind from the condemnation of sin. This Science offers no whitewash for wrongdoing, but, in order to get at the depth of the problem, it goes much beyond the act itself and deals thoroughly with the motivating thought that prompts it. This is vital to a genuine understanding of sin and salvation from it.

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