What is Sin? Can you control what you do? Lessons from Paul and Science

Send us Fan Mail (https://www.buzzsprout.com/2602688/fa...) Sin is a hard topic because it makes us feel ashamed. It makes us worried about being saved. But most of all it is confusing. In this fascinating episode, I talk about the science of sin. Do we have instincts like animals? Do animals sin? Must something be intentional to be sin? These are confusing questions, because we have been taught to fear sin. Paul tells us a lot about Sin in Romans 6 in a very interesting way. If you look closely, you can see that Paul invites us to not worry about sin, but to just be in Jesus. If Sin is a character in a play and Death comes from Sin, then Jesus is makes it so we don't have to be afraid, because when we are in Jesus we have already died and been raised in him in new Life! Paul makes these like characters so we can look at them without fear and that we can just live full lives without having to keep score about sin.  Romans 6 begins the heart of Paul's letter. Paul speaks in an imaginary dialogue in his arguments to the Romans. He asks a rhetorical question like "Should we continue in Sin in order that grace may abound?" and then says "By no means!" again and again. Sin is portrayed like a character and Christ is the alternative that defeats Sin. We don't have to be slaves to Sin anymore! In this episode, I talk about Sin expansively. What make destructive behavior in animals not sinful? Why is it sinful when humans do these things? Most people will say it is because animals have no choice and they operate out of instinct, but humans are far more instinctual than we realize. So there much be another explanation. Matthew Croasmun's book provides a fascinating discussion about the emergence of Sin in the Christian consciousness. I also reference my discussion with Mattie Mae Motl in Season 2, Episode 15 and her recent Substack article on Romans 6 & 7. Resource:  The Emergence of Sin: The Cosmic Tyrant in Romans by Matthew Croasmun, 2019