Part 2 (2/2)

IV.

THE EFFECTS OF SIN UPON THE WRONG-DOER.

What was the effect of their consciousness of having disobeyed upon the man and woman in the ancient story? Did they believe that they had done wrong, or merely that they had incurred a penalty? Does sin tend to make cowards of men? Were the feelings of shame, and the sense of estrangement in the presence of one who loved them, the most tragic effect of their sin? When a child disobeys a parent or a friend wrongs a friend is the sense of having injured a loved one the most painful consequence of sin? Was the penalty imposed on the man and woman the result of a divine judgment or the natural and inevitable effect of wrong-doing? Why did the man and woman try to excuse their disobedience? Was it natural? Was it good policy? Was it right? If not, why not?

V.

G.o.d'S ATt.i.tUDE TOWARD THE SINNER.

Jehovah in the story evidently asked the man and woman a question, the answer to which he already knew, in order to give them an opportunity to confess their wrong-doing. Parents and teachers often seek to give the culprit the opportunity to confess his sin.

What is the att.i.tude of the law towards the criminal who pleads guilty? What is the reason for this att.i.tude? A loving parent or even the state might forgive an unrepentant sinner, but the effect of the wrong-doing upon the sinner and upon others may still remain.

While the man and woman remained conscious of their wrong-doing, though defiant, to abide in Jehovah's presence was for them intolerable. Are toil and pain essential to the moral development of sinners who refuse to confess their crime? Are toil and pain in themselves curses or blessings to those who have done wrong? The picture in Genesis 3 clearly implies that G.o.d's intention was not that man should suffer but that he should enjoy perfect health and happiness. Jehovah's preparation of the coats of skin for the man and woman is convincing evidence that his love and care continued unremittingly even for the wrong doers. Modern psychology is making it clear that the effect of sin upon the unrepentant sinner is to increase his inclination toward sinning. But when a man in penitence for his sin has turned toward G.o.d and changed his relation to his fellow men, G.o.d becomes to him a new Being with a nearness and intimacy impossible before! May the Christian believe that this new sense of nearness and love to G.o.d is met by a corresponding feeling on G.o.d's part? In the light of Christian experience is there not every reason to believe that G.o.d himself also enters into a new and joyous relations.h.i.+p with the man? This thought was evidently in the mind of Jesus when be declared that there was joy in heaven over one sinner that repented.

VI.

THE EFFECT OF SIN UPON SOCIETY.

Men are often heard to remark that they are willing to bear the consequences of their sin. Is it possible for any individual to experience in himself the entire result of his wrong-doing? In the Genesis story the woman's deliberate disobedience would seem to have had very direct influence upon her husband. Mankind has almost universally come to regard certain acts as wrong and to prescribe definite modes of punishment. Such decisions have come about not simply because of the effect of sin upon the individual but more especially because the sin of the individual affects society. State the different influences that deter men from sin and note those which from your experience seem the strongest.

_Questions for Further Consideration_.

Is an act that is wrong for one man necessarily a sin if committed by another? Are men's tendencies to sin due to their inheritance or to impulses which they share in common with brutes, or to influences that come from their environment? In the light of this discussion formulate your own definition of sin.

Is the final test of sin a man's consciousness of guilt, or the ultimate effect of his act upon himself, or upon society?

May the woman in the Garden of Eden be regarded as the prototype of the modern scientist? Are there ways in which the scientist may sin in making his investigations? Ill.u.s.trate. How about vivisection?

Does sin bring moral enlightenment? Distinguish between Jesus'

att.i.tude toward sin and toward the sinner. What should be our att.i.tude toward the sinner?

If the man and woman had frankly confessed their sin, what, by implication, would have been the effect: first, upon themselves, and second, upon the att.i.tude and action of G.o.d?

Does temptation to sin, as in the case of Adam, often come in the guise of virtue? What is the value of confession to the sinner?

To society?

_Subjects for Further Study_.

(1) The Babylonian and Egyptian Idea of Sin. _Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible_, extra vol. 566-567; Breasted, _History of Egypt_, 173-175; Jastrow, _Religion of the Babylonians and a.s.syrians_, 313-327.

(2) Milton's Interpretation of Genesis 3 in Paradise Lost.

(3) The Right and Wrong of the Attempted Surrender of West Point from the Point of View of Benedict Arnold, Andre and Was.h.i.+ngton.

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