Sin Theology: Intro
A Breakdown of My Master's Thesis
I have been going back and forth on what to write next. There are so many things that can be said, deliberated, and challenged… but what is really holding near and dear to me is how Christians talk about sin.
Growing up in the Evangelical-dominated Midwest distinctly formed the way that I think about and understand sin…. and I do not think for the better. I was taught implicitly and explicitly terrible things like: I don’t own my body; my sexuality/ desires defile me; I am only capable of doing bad things apart from God; that I am creeping towards hell with every bad choice…
Unfortunately, this isn’t the end of the list, but the message of the list is clear. I am bad all the way through. My mind, body, and soul are leaned towards sin so I cannot really trust myself to make good decisions.
As I talk to friends, colleagues, and family I have realized that this isn’t a unique issue. A pandemic of guilt and shame has embedded in Christian thought, stealing our peace of mind and removing grace and love from God’s purview.
I don’t want to live my life in shame and guilt anymore. It is antithetical to the idea of a loving God. I want to spend the rest of my life eliminating this theology and reorienting us to where we came from… a theology of grace, restoration, and well-being.
So, in light of this pain, heartache, and hope for something better I wrote my master’s thesis entitled: GOD, HUMANITY, AND AN IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF SIN.
Buuuuut. This bad boy is 75 pages long. I imagine most of my readers don’t have time (or desire) to read 75 pages of extremely dense academic writing…. So over the next few weeks (months?) I will be breaking down my thesis into some more manageable chunks with commentary for people who are interested in the work but maybe don’t have the capacity for a 75 page read. It is my intention to add in helpful books/ resources at the end of posts and respond to any comments as they come in.
To start this new journey, I felt like it was best to start the first week by simply posting my abstract. This is a brief one-paragraph summary of what the thesis is about.
Abstract:
This thesis provides a constructive theology of sin that counteracts negative consequences of traditional Western Christian approaches to sin to enable readers to affirm the inherent and persistent goodness of God and themselves. My constructive theology of sin presupposes three core claims: that God is necessarily loving, that humans act with efficacy, and that humanity’s purpose is to live in pursuit of well-being. This thesis examines Augustine’s works Confessions and The City of God alongside Origen’s On First Principles. Augustine’s understanding of sin in the above works violates these core concepts and generates an unhelpful theology of sin. Conversely, Origen’s articulation of sin offers a framework that provides a better base from which to construct an improved theology of sin. Building upon Origen’s sensibility, this constructed theology of sin utilizes works from Julian of Norwich, Marjorie Suchocki, and Thomas J Oord to reframe our conceptualizations of sin as an unnecessary violation of well-being. Rather than generating an exhaustive definition, this construction intentionally broadens our understanding of what sin is and how it occurs in the world.
If this sounds interesting to you, please join me over the next (however long it takes me) as I work back through this work. My thesis isn’t perfect, and it doesn’t answer every question… and I am sure I will add in some stuff as we go… but its been a process of healing for me. I hope you find it helpful.
Helpful Resources
The Bible Project (bibleproject.com) has a ton of really interesting and helpful videos that can serve as introductions to different subjects. I think they do a great job of taking dense academic definitions and concepts and making them approachable. I have provided some suggestions with clickable links below.
The first two things I would point to for my thesis would be:
Character of God Word Series - defining what scripture says about God
Bad Word Series - defining what scripture says about failing to do the right thing
Paula Fredriksen’s book Sin: The Early History of an Idea is a phenomenal overview of how sin has been thought about throughout church history. Its 224 pages and a pretty easy read. Highly recommend this book if this subject is interesting to you!
It is on Amazon here, but I am sure you can get it about anywhere books are sold.