Is sin relative or absolute?

Question

A starving man steals a loaf of bread to eat. A fat man steals a loaf of bread to eat. The sin is the same but has the fat man committed a greater sin?

Answer 1

Sin is absolute and it is relative. It's a sin to lie, steal, murder, commit adultery, etc.... Those are absolute. It is also a sin to do something against your conscience or to fail to do something your conscience tells you to do. That is relative or subjective.

Are your two examples the same? Of course not. The second man adds gluttony to stealing.

I also believe that while absolute sins are absolute, God recognizes our motivation for those things. That's why we have different instructions for dealing with one "caught in sin," and one who commits willful sin or is living a sinful lifestyle.

When we speak of sins being equal before God, it means that sin separates us from God. No matter what sort of sin it was. And that all sin equally makes us need salvation and redemption.

Answer 2

Fat or skinny makes no difference, they both got to eat. But what about the guy who steals all the loves of bread and sell them to his cousin to feed pigs for export, nobody can afford his pigs here, they can't even afford bread! Beccause his cousin is involved it is absolutely a relative sin.

Answer 3

Absolute--- and the sin is the same. It doesnt matter if one man is fat and the other is not. They both were apparently hungry. Only my opinion. it could be a fat starving man as well.
I would say this one is for God and only God to judge.

Answer 4

i might say that sin is thoroughly relative. Relative to countless issues like the time the region. it rather is all approximately what's the norm. for my area, i might would desire to declare i'm an athiest, yet I also have a feeling of what's sweet and incorrect. and that i understand I would desire to admit that a number of those oppinions, surely, the great majority of those have been taught to me. by potential of mom and pa and instructors... yet international, maximum persons have those comparable oppinions of excellent and incorrect. such because of the fact an identical ones set interior the ten Commandments in fact. some issues look black and white, yet there's a great style of gray too. people are sympathetic. and in specific circumstances we are even to the worst of crimes like a murderer who became into abused as a baby (slightly severe sure, even nonetheless it rather is genuine). Yeah, back i might would desire to declare it rather is all relative.

Answer 5

Though it may seem to not make sense, God doesn't keep track of sins by how bad and how often. A serial killer is just as guilty as someone who talks about someone else behind their back. The fact is, everyone is guilty. It doesn't matter how much, but they are condemmed to sin. After you believe and ask for firgiveness however, God throws away his rechords of all your wrong-doings.

Answer 6

Sin is sin. All sin breaks our relationship with God. However, God responds with mercy when we repent. In other words, God isn't sitting there keeping score. The broken relationship is on our part because we feel shame for what we have done. God reaches out (through Jesus, for instance) to heal the breaks in our relationship with God.

Answer 7

Regarding your examples, stealing is stealing, no matter the circumstance. Sin is absolute and is against God.

Answer 8

We all miss the mark. Its all relative, unless it comes to deliberately committed felonies. Forget the word "sin." That word alone has caused more problems than its alleviated.

Answer 9

There are only two kinds of ppl in the world the once born who are condemned to hell and the twice born who are going to heaven.

Therefore degrees of sin are meaningless

Answer 10

ABSOLUTELY ! all of my relatives sin !

according to the Bible all men are sinners so it is absolute but the Catholics seem to have it right because they place sin and punishment on a relative scale ( myself - i think it's all crap and live by my own moral code so there is no forgiveness possible )