Chapter II: The Nomenclature of Actual Sin, § 7.

CHAPTER II: THE NOMENCLATURE OF THIS SIN

The terminology or etymology of the word.

§ 7. Now that we have dealt with these matters concerning the definition of the apostle and of Augustine, we shall go on to explain the proper nature of actual sins and their various species. We shall begin this treatise with an interpretation of the word and an explication of its synonyms.

According to Cicero (Parad. 3), to sin is “like leaping over the lines.” Among the ancient Latins, peccatus [“trespass”]¹ was used specifically for adultery, as if to say pellicatus [“concubinage”] (see Gellius, Noct. Attic., bk. 13, ch. 19). According to the interpretation of Augustine (Quaest. super Levit., bk. 3, ch. 20): “‘Failure’ [delictum]—as if ‘neglected’ [derelictum]; for he who fails, in what does he fail except the good?” In the same place, Augustine says that it does not appear [clear] to him whence it is called ἁμαρτία [“sin”]. But it is taken from ἁμαρτάνειν, which means shooting an arrow unaimed or missing the mark. On account of this, Suidas defines ἁμαρτία as “missing the good.” Some claim it is called ἁμαρτία as if it came from ἁμαρπτίαν, which is the alpha privative [α-] attached to μάρπτειν, which means “to attain.” Others deduce it from μὴ [“not”] and ἀρτάω [“fasten”], because it is something unfitting. In the same way it is called παράβασις [“transgression”] from παραβαίνειν [“transgress”], παράπτωμα [“trespass”] from παραπίπτειν (“to fall forward”), clearly because we fall beyond the right line of righteousness; or from παράπτεσθαι, which means “touching something rashly or with an erring hand.” It is called ἀδικία [“injustice”] from privation of δική [“judgment”], ἀσέβεια [“impiety”] from the alpha privative and σέβεσθαι [“revere”], ἀπoστασία [“apostasy”] from ἀφιστᾶναι [“renounce”], etc.

Synonyms.

§ 8. Certainly, since the crop of actual sins is extremely large and because of their various points of difference, various terms for sin occur, especially in the Hebrew and Greek languages. It is not beside the point to observe the proper meanings of these. Chemnitz (Loci theol., part 1, locus 7, ch. 2, p. 524) has collected the larger part of them, and we shall follow in his footsteps.

The Hebrews used these terms: (1) , and from the root (“he went astray, he deviated, he turned aside,” namely, from the target and the norm). The Septuagint renders it in various ways but most suitably with ἀνoμία. It is used for both original sin and actual sins (Ps. 51:3–5, etc.). Observe the text of Judg. 20:16, where it is used in its proper sense: “They used to sling stones at a hair and would not miss.” Some people assign the words from Job 5:24 here: “You will visit your tabernacle, and you will not sin,” that is, you will not go astray from it but will find it easily.

(2) The word (“iniquity, perversity”), from the root (“it was crooked”). Therefore it properly denotes crookedness. It is used as much for the evil of fault as for the evil of punishment,² as much for original sin as for actual ones.

(3) (“transgression”), from , which properly means “to transgress a covenant.” 2 Kings 8:20: “In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah.”

(4) (“inconsideration, thoughtlessness”) properly indicates sins of ignorance or of weakness, which the Septuagint calls παραπτώματα [“trespasses”] and ἀγνoίας [“mistakes of ignorance”]. It is from (“he acted inconsiderately”).

(5) (“pride, a bubbling of the heart”), from (“he swelled, he was arrogant”). Thus it indicates those sins which are committed out of stubbornness and deliberate choice.

(6) (“an abominable crime” or even an “abomination”), that is, it indicates the guilt of sin. At times it is used for the victim which is sacrificed to make expiation for sin, from the root , which means becoming an abomination for others so that they detest him with a snort. The Septuagint renders it mostly with πλημμέλεια [“crime, disgrace”].

(7) (“wickedness, restlessness”), from (“he acted wickedly and seditiously”). Thus it indicates voluntary and continued sins.

(8) (“defection, desertion, apostasy”), from the root (“to recede from a superior, to throw off the domination of a superior”), because sin is a turning away from the highest good. Josh. 22:22: “Israel will know in rebellion or in transgression against Jehovah.”

(9) (“aversion”), from [“he turned back”], because through sin man is turned away from his Creator.

(10) (“evil”), from the root (“he was evil”) or (“he acted wickedly”).

(11) (“transgression”). This is properly used about voluntary sins against conscience and committed out of obstinacy, and it comes from (“he surpassed, he set himself against the one to whom he ought to be inferior and obedient”).

§ 9. The Septuagint translators in the Old Testament and the apostles in the New use these terms: (1) ἁμαρτία and ἁμάρτημα, which are general words denoting original sin as well as actual sins. Matt. 1:21: “Christ will save His people from their ἁμαρτιῶν, from all their sins without exception.”

(2) Παράπτωμα (“fall, transgression”). This properly denotes actual sins and even those which are committed out of weakness. Gal. 6:1: “If anyone has been overtaken in a fault.”

(3) Ἀνoμία [“lawlessness”] is a general word denoting an aberration from the Law. 1 John 3:4: “Sin is lawlessness.”

(4) Παρακoή (“disobedience”) indicates voluntary sins.

(5) Παράβασις (“transgression”), though it includes the species of actual sin.

(6) Ἀδικία (“unrighteousness, iniquity”) properly indicates reigning, actual sin.

(7) Ἀσέβεια (“impiety”) properly denotes sins against the First Table of the Decalogue [Exod. 20:3–11].

(8) Ἀπoστασία (“defection”) properly indicates an extreme level of sin, namely, the rejection of all religion.

(9) Πλημμέλεια (“crime, disgrace”) occurs only in the Old Testament and is metaphoric, being taken from the flooding of rivers which destroys whatever it encounters. Augustine forms it from πλὴν [“without”] and μέλει [“concern”].

(10) In 1 Cor. 5:8 κακία and πoνηρία (“malice” and “evil”) are conjoined, and opposed to them are εἰλικρινεία and ἀλήθεια (“sincerity of faith and life”).

(11) Ἥττημα (“diminution, failure”), from ἡττᾶσθαι (“to have been overcome”), because they succumb to the sins of the flesh and to the temptations of Satan.

(12) Ὀφειλήματα (“debts”), because sins are the neglect of obedience owed, and thus they establish us as people indebted to punishment before God.

(13) Πταίειν (“to offend, to strike out against”) is used about daily sins committed out of weakness (James 3:2).

The differences between terms.

§ 10. Let us take a look at some differences between these words noted by others.

Demosthenes (Orat. περὶ στεφάνoυ): “One does injustice [ἀδικεῖ] willingly; one sins [ἐξήμαρτε] unwillingly.” But ἁμαρτία is used generically in the language of the Holy Spirit.

Phavorinus: “One sins [ἐξήμαρτε] against God; one retaliates [ἐξύφρισεν] against men.” But Scripture does teach that sin [ἁμαρτία] is committed against men: “If your brother sins against you” (Matt. 18:15); “The man who sins sexually sins against his own body” (1 Cor. 6:18).

Jerome (on Ephesians 2): “We are asking what the difference is between παραπτώματα and ἁμαρτίαι. For they say that παραπτώματα are like the beginnings of sin, when a silent thought creeps in and we ignore it to some extent, and yet it does not drive us to ruin; but it is sin when it works its consummation and achieves its end.” Yet the fall of Adam is called παράπτωμα in Rom. 5:18, and the first impulses of lust are said to be ἁμαρτία in Rom. 7:5, etc.

Augustine (Quaestion. super Levit., bk. 3, question 20): “Παραπτώμα indicates a failing; πλημμέλεια, negligence.” Ibid.:

If sin [peccatum] and transgression [delictum] were to differ from each other not at all, and if they were two names for one thing, Scripture would not be so concerned that there be one sacrifice for each. Sin perhaps is the perpetration of evil, while transgression is the desertion of good, because in a damnable life it is one thing to turn away from good and another thing to do evil, just as in a laudable life it is one thing to turn away from evil and another thing to do good.

Bede (on Leviticus 6): “Some think that transgression [delictum] is less significant than sin [peccatum].”

Bellarmine (De amiss. grat. et stat. pecc., bk. 1, ch. 1): “Sin [peccatum] is the name for the operation of evil, which is opposed to the operation of virtue. But vice [vitium] is the name of an evil habit³ which is opposed to virtue when virtue means a habit.” However, this distinction is not observed in the holy language which, to be sure, declares that all are constituted sinners through the fall, even those who did not actually sin in the likeness of Adam’s trespass (Rom. 5:[12–14]). Nevertheless, in the same place, the apostle declares that they all have sinned (v. 12). Therefore, in the idiom of Scripture, “sin” indicates not only actions contrary to the Law, nor merely vicious habits, but any lawlessness in general, whether it inheres in the nature or is seen in the actions.

The homonyms of sin.

§ 11. The homonyms of the word must also be examined. “Sin” is used (1) for the entire relation—that is, for sin and guilt as a unit—and it does this in a twofold manner: First, for the corruption inhering formally in the nature or actions and making people guilty of divine wrath and subject to its penalties. Examples of this meaning are met in many places throughout the Scriptures.

Second, it is used for sin not inhering formally but imputed, and for the guilt or the punishments following the imputation of another’s sin. Thus 1 Pet. 2:22: “Christ, who knew no sin” (that is, in whose nature or actions there was no formally inherent corruption of His own). 2 Cor. 5:21: “God made Him to be sin for us.” (That is, God imputed to Him our sins and placed upon His shoulders the load of our sins and the punishments due because of our sins, Isa. 53:12 and 1 Pet. 2:24.) The antithesis proves this explanation in this place: “Him who did not know sin God made to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” [2 Cor. 5:21]. Just as the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, so our sins are imputed to Christ. Just as we are freed from the punishments for our sins through the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, so through the imputation of our sins Christ was made subject to the punishments which were owed to us. (See Chrysostom on this passage.)

(2) By synecdoche it is used for only part of the relation, and this again in two ways: First, only for the foundation, that is, for the corruption inherent in the nature and actions, without a connotation of guilt. Deut. 24:16: “Every man will be put to death for his own sin.” 2 Cor. 5:21: “Christ knew no sin.” 1 Pet. 2:22: “Christ committed no sin.” Second, only for the result, that is, for the guilt. Gen. 43:9 [Vg]: “I shall sin before you all my days,” that is, I shall be guilty of sin all my life. Exod. 5:16: “Your people sin,” that is, they are considered guilty of sin and thus are afflicted harshly. When sin is used for the sacrifices intended to expiate sins (of which meaning very many examples occur in Leviticus), the meaning can be assigned here. Hosea 4:8: “They feed on the sins of My people,” that is, on their sacrifices, according to the interpretation of Augustine (Contra duas epist. Pelag., bk. 3, ch. 6). In Heb. 12:4 “sin” seems to be used specifically for false religion.

Severe epithets for sins from the ancients.

§ 12. The devout ancients and especially Augustine add severe epithets to sin, which should justly instill a hatred of it in our souls.

Augustine (on John, tractate 49): “Sin is the death of the soul.” De baptismo contra Donatistas (bk. 1, ch. 11): “Sins are the darkness of souls.” De contrit. cord. (ch. 7): “Sins are the bonds of souls.” QQ. V. et N. T. (question 42): “In the Scriptures, sins are called ‘thorns.’” De ovibus (ch. 9): “By sinning, one makes himself an enemy of God.” De praesent. Dei ad Dard. (ch. 7): “By sinning, we place ourselves far away from God.”

Ambrose (Letter 18): “There is no heavier burden than the load of sins and the weight of disgraceful acts.”

Nazianzen (Orat. funeb. in patrem⁴): “Sin leads to death, for it is the destruction of the soul.” For the description of the defilement which Scripture attributes to sin, see our Medit.

(3) A sin is just as great an evil as the good is great from which we are turned away by that sin. But God is an incomprehensible good, from which it follows that it is impossible for us to comprehend how great an evil is mortal sin, by which one departs from God.

In the schools, it was customary to call sin “nothing,” not because it is a negative entity and should be esteemed as nothing, but (1) “on account of the fact that it is a defect, because formally sin is the corruption of a good and not something subsisting in itself; (2) on account of the fact that it is a defect, for sin annihilates a person and makes him defect from true being; (3) on account of the fact that it is despised, for it makes a person vile and unworthy of reward.” (These are the reasons which Bonaventure assigns in his Comp.)

Some sin is original; some is actual.

§ 13. The first division of sin (considered in man, for the sin of devils is not discussed here) is into original and actual. We spoke of the first type of sin above [On Original Sin, Commonplace XII]. It remains to speak about the latter.

Synonyms for actual sins.

The Holy Spirit calls actual sins “works of the flesh” (Gal. 5:19); “bad fruits of a bad tree” (Matt. 7:17–18; Luke 6:43); “the evils which an evil person produces from the evil treasury of his heart” (Matt. 12:34); “evil thoughts, words, and deeds which proceed from the heart” (Matt. [15]:19); “sins which are committed in the likeness of the transgression of Adam” ([cf.] Rom. 5:14); “the stains of the world” (2 Pet. 2:20); “fleshly passions” (1 Pet. 2:11); “the sins which indwelling sin and corrupt concupiscence produce and perform” (Rom. 7:8; James 1:15); “works of darkness” (Eph. 5:11); “acts of the old man” (Col. 3:9); “dead works” (Heb. 6:1); “evil works” (Col. 1:21); “iniquitous deeds” (2 Pet. 2:8); “works of iniquity” (Jude 15); “fruitless works” (Eph. 5:11), “whose end is death” (Rom. 6:21); etc. In the Old Testament, actual sins are called “the evil way” [Prov. 2:12; 28:10; Jer. 18:10; 23:22; 25:5; 26:3; Ezek. 13:22; 20:44; Jon. 3:8, 10], “the affairs of Belial” [cf. 2 Sam. 22:5 Vg], “transgressions” [praevaricationes], etc.

Some of these expressions have in view the proximate cause⁵ of sin, namely, the corruption of nature itself; some have in view the form itself, namely, “lawlessness” [ἀνoμία]; finally, some have in view the effect and consequence, namely, the wrath of God and temporal and eternal punishments. Augustine (Enchirid., chs. 44 and 50) calls them “added sins and one’s own sins,” and (ch. 64) “sins committed actively.” Chrysostom says, “We have increased the interest on the debt brought from Adam with our later sins.” Bernard (Homil. de pass.) calls them “personal sins,” because they belong to each person, just as original sin is common to the entire human nature, from which it is called “natural.”

1 The masculine noun peccatus (“fault, trespass”) is related to the neuter noun peccatum (“sin”).

2 An evil of fault (malum culpae) is an evil that is constituted by deliberate fault or guilt. An evil of punishment (malum poenae) is the punishment that God renders for sin according to His justice. This is not “evil” in the English sense of the word, but rather “bad” to the one who experiences it.

3 See above, p. 33 n. 1.

4 Read patrem with Cotta instead of partem.

5 A “proximate cause” is the nearest and immediate cause of something, also called “first cause,” because it moves the effect primarily and is linked with it most closely (Micraelius, Lexicon philosophicum, s.v. “Causa”). A proximate cause attains an effect through itself and immediately. For example, fire is the proximate cause of heat (Johann Adam Scherzer, Vade mecum sive Manuale philosophicum [Leipzig: Christian Kirchner, 1675; repr., Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt: Frommann-Holzboog, 1996], part 1, s.v. “Causa”).

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