Can there be a Universal Definition of SIN??

Question

For christians... not being christian is a sin
for mulsims... eating Pork is a sin
For Hindus...eating beef is a sin
For Sikhs.. smoking is a sin
For Jain....killing insects is a sin
For atheists...being theist is a sin..

But is there any Act which is taken as SIN by all religions... (certainly I am not talking of Law of any country..but sin on a subtler levels)

Answer 1

SIN: an intentional act done in the knowledge that it will cause unecessary harm, for whatever reason.

Answer 2

>>>For christians... not being christian is a sin
for mulsims... eating Pork is a sin
For Hindus...eating beef is a sin
For Sikhs.. smoking is a sin
For Jain....killing insects is a sin
For atheists...being theist is a sin<<<

These are hardly the limit of what sin is in each religion. For instance, "not being a Christian" is hardly the only thing considered sinful by Christians. There are plenty others.

Sin, broadly speaking, is a deliberate act of pushing God out of your life. It's when we commit an act that basically tells ourselves and/or others that we just don't want God in our lives.

There are lots of ways to declare that we don't want God in our lives, and they often cut across religious lines.

These would include murder, attempted murder, assault, rape, treating a person badly in a way that we would not want to be treated, theft, lying, certain sexual improprieties, laziness, greed, deliberate lack of concern for people in need ... and so on.

Answer 3

There are many areas where all of these groups will agree on sin. (Though they probably would disagree with my saying so). However, the actual authority on sin and righteousness would have to be those who actually are at the top of each the ladders in respect of them. God - the creator, and The God of this world - aka the devil. Each of these beliefs has some form of good and evil force or power. And to get a definitive answer for a universal definition of sin we would have to ask these top authorities. Failing that, no. Only the mutual areas where all religious groups meet. Personally I am a born again christian and so I believe that sin is what God says is sin. But others differ in some points.
One thing I do understand though. Sin is generally something that is destructive and harmful. So you could classify it as destructive evil, which is what the bible actually calls it in the original languages.

Answer 4

No. There are totally distinct definitions in different religion, and most of is ironic if it shall be put into one meaning. Atheist's sin is being a theist, and theist's sin is being an atheist. As Universal Religion are imposibble, so do the Universal Defination of sin. Only one definition is correct and no other.

Answer 5

Sin is simply 'not walking with God' - not allowing Him to guide your life or deliberately not doing things his way. The only punishment for that is our own silliness when we hurt ourselves (and others) by doing things the wrong way together with the difficulty and sorrow we experience coming back to the right way.

He is a loving God who, once we have acknowledged Him, is eager to show us the way His world works and what part we play in it.

I would disagree that an atheist would count 'believing in God' as a sin. Crass stupidity and delusion, no doubt!

An atheist's definition of 'sin' - if there was one - would use different terminology. It would not admit to a personal deity, of course, but it would very likely agree that there are right and wrong ways of doing things and that we have within us the knowledge of what is good and bad.

Answer 6

There isn't even a universal definition of "definition" or a universal definition of "universal". In any event; since a sin is a crime against God then there is no such thing as a sin to an atheist.

Answer 7

Any act that is ungodly is a sin. a sin is a sin is a sin. No one sin is greater or lesser than another. All sins are what separates us from God until we repent of those sins through Jesus, after you have accepted Jesus as your savior.

Luke 24:47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Answer 8

Could it be that the universal sin, the original sin, that all humankind acts out from is that of seeing ourselves as ‘individuals’, the center of the universe, and acting out of the delusion that our individualistic ‘self-catered’, egoic view of phenomena (the world and others in it) is REALITY. This then all derives from the failure to realize our true nature. Great question! I hope this answer makes some sense.

Answer 9

sin is anything that becomes more important or has a higher priority than GOD
if anything is seen by someone to be a sin then it is sin
sin and doing wrong would be the same such as speeding is a sin against the law.

Answer 10

No, some of us don't believe sin even exists.

Speaking as an atheist, we don't think theism is a sin, just silly. Like the tooth-fairy, Santa Claus or the boogey-man.

We believe in right or wrong, just not in "sin", a religious concept.

Answer 11

Atheists don't have to worry about sinning since there isn't any god keeping score. So being a theist isn't a sin, it is just a perversion of rational through through surrendering intellectual integrity to self-inflicted delusion.