palmer@amelia.nas.nasa.gov (Grant E. Palmer) (01/16/90)
Another question came up while I was talking to my Baptist friend. She said Jesus was totally without sin his entire life. I thought what is the definition of sin? Is there a list of sins somewhere. Is it a sin to get angry and think ill of people because Jesus certainly got angry at various people and things. Jesus certainly ate and killed bugs and bacteria in his food and drink. And he must have stepped on the odd ant or two. Is it not a sin to kill any living creature? My point is was Jesus truly without sin, what designates sin, and is this whole question purely a matter of faith? On a completely different topic, why did Judas turn Jesus in to the Romans? He certainly didn't do it for the money. Weren't they friends once? Grant "no sig line" palmer [The recent tendency is to identify sin not as specific actions but as a state of being, of being in rebellion against God. Anger may be sin or not depending upon whether it is justified. Jesus' anger against the moneychangers is certainly not considered a sin. Anger is dangerous, because it can lead into acts that violate the basic Christian concepts of love of neighbor. But it's not necessarily a sin to be angry when we see evil going on around us. It's unclear to me why killing bacteria would be a candidate for sin. Maybe you're confusing Christian with Hindu? Christians are opposed to murder, but not necessarily to justified killing, and certainly not to killing animals as necessary for people to live. --clh]