THE CONCEPTION OF SIN

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22467, 30 July 1938, Page 21

THE CONCEPTION OF SIN

ATTITUDE OF CHRISTIAN CHURCH

REV. H. J. RYBURX’S ADDRESS An attempt to describe and clarify the conception of sin as understood by the Christian Church at the present day, was made by the Rev. H. J. Ryburn, in the third of a series of addresses at Canterbury University College. The Rev. S. E- Woods presided, and associated with him was the women’s vice-president of the Students’ Association tMiss M. L Mullan). *Tt is necessary to get a clear idea of the conception of sin, as the word is often uged in a popular and erroneous sense,” said Mr Ryburn. “It is purely a religious conviction, and its acknowledgment is a confession of faith: its nature can only be understood within the Christian religion. A person who has no belief in God. cannot apreciate the full nature of sux. which is a state of alienation from and hostility to God. It is a negative attitude, whereas faith is positive. "I wish to stress the absolute unversality of sin. that it is fhe_ nature of every man. woman, and child to oe sinful,” said Mr Ryburn. “This is not a mere dogma, but a fact of hurosn experience. Children do not come into the world with a clean slate, so to speak, but with a tainted heredity and into an evil environment. The scales are weighted against them from the very beginning. “Sin, then, is a helpless, hopeless state, out of which man cannot extricate himself. The German philosopher, Kant, once said, T ought, therefore i can.’ and by these words he departed from the Christian position. The total depravity of man is evident, though it does not mean that everything he does is wrong, but simply that every aspect of his being is tainted with sin. People who talk about man’s higher nature and attempting to build on it for the good of the world, are deluding themselves. Sin and Sins “It is necessary to distinguish between sin, which is a personal state or condition, and sins, used in the plural, which refer to specific acts resulting from and symptomatic of an. These symptoms are disruptive in effect, both against society and within the individual person. Anti-social actions are those against which laws have been made, such as murder and robbery, and inner conflict is often, though not always, indicated by symptoms such as selfishness, laziness, and irritability. “The multiplication by a millionfold of these things leads in the end to all social problems, and in this connexion I should like to mention a verycommon symptom of sin, that is. idealism. This may sound somewhat surprising, but it is a fact that we tend to make idols out of ideals such as pacifism, anti-pacifism, socialism, canmunism, and others. The Christian must be a Christian first, last, and all the time. One. may be a Socialist Christian or a pacifist Christian, but not a Christian pacifist or Christian Socialist. . „ , “Being an alienation from God. sm can only be cured by reconciliation with God, who must Himself take the initiative —no amount of confession or praying- will suffice. But He has already done this in Christ, and faitli and repentance are necessary on the part of man, who must recognise his total inability to cure himself. Following on this must come the confession of sin in the presence of God and one’s neighbour, not only publicly but privately. Private confession mould take a large part in religious life.-

“After confession, restitution in »o far as is possible must be made, and finally a complete surrender to* God must take place. The forgiveness of God is a concrete reality, which can. has, and does mak» a positive difference in life, and vmich can surmount all manner of disabilities."