In Abrahamic contexts, sin is the act of violating God's will. Sin can also be viewed as anything within individuals that violates the ideal relationship between them and God.
Some crimes are regarded as sins and some sins are regarded as greater than others. In this nuanced concept of sin, sins fall in a spectrum from least corrupt and evil to greatest evil. Catholicism regards the least corrupt sins as venial sins—which are part of human living and carry little divine consequence. Conversely, sins of great evil are mortal sins—which bring the dire consequence of going to Hell if unrepented.
Sins of careless living are considered destructive and lead to greater sins according to the Seven Deadly Sins. Another concept of sin deals with things that exist on Earth but not in Heaven. Food, for example, while a necessary good for the (health of the temporal) body, is not of (eternal) transcendental living and therefore its excessive savoring is considered a sin.
Read more about Sin: History of The Term
Famous quotes containing the word sin:
“The sin of pride may be a small or a great thing in someone’s life, and hurt vanity a passing pinprick, or a self-destroying or ever murderous obsession.”
—Iris Murdoch (b. 1919)
“Confusion of sign and object is original sin coeval with the word.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
“The sin is in our thoughts.”
—Georg Büchner (1813–1837)