CHAPTER I I PAUL’S TESTIMONY TO THE DOCTRINE OF SIN BY PROFESSOR CHAS. B. WILLIAMS, B. D., PH . D., SOUTHWESTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, FORT WORTH, TEXAS Theodore Parker once said: “I seldom use the word sin. The Christian doctrine of sin is the devil’s own. I hate it utterly”. His view of sin shaped his views as to the person of Christ, atonement, and salvation. In fact, the sin question is back of one’s theology, soteriology, sociology, evangelism, and ethics. One cannot hold a Scriptural view of God and the plan of salvation without having a Scriptural idea of sin. One cannot proclaim a true theory of society unless he sees the heinousness of sin and its relation to all social ills and disorders. No man can be a successful New Testament evangelist publishing the Gospel as “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth”, unless he has an adequate conception of the enormity of sin. Nor can a man hold a consistent theory of ethics or live up to the highest standard of morality, unless he is gripped with a keen sense of sin’s seductive nature. SIN A FACT IN HUMAN HISTORY Paul has an extensive vocabulary of terms denoting sin or sins. In the Epistle to the Romans, where he elaborates his doctrine of sin, he uses ten general terms for sin: 1. 'A/xapria (hamartia), 58 times in all, 43 in Romans, missing of the mark, sin as a principle. 2 . 'ApapTijpa (hamarteema), twice, sin as an act. 3. Ilapa/Jao-is (para- basis), five times, transgression, literally walking along by the line but not exactly according to it. 4 . HapanTta/M 25
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