Answer a few Questions

For my youth group we were asked to gather answers to a few questions, so I decided to post them here and record the answers. I need answers from Christians and non-Christians.

Are you a Christian?

What is Sin?

Are all people sinners?

Do people become sinners because they sin or do they sin because they are sinners?

What is Gods penalty for sin, if any?

Are there penalties that occur on earth for sins in a person's daily life?

Are you a Christian?

Yep.

What is Sin?

Sin is an action that goes against the Divine Law God set up.

Are all people sinners?

Usually, yeah, but you can get forgiven of your sins, which technically means you're not a sinner because you've been forgiven.

Do people become sinners because they sin or do they sin because they are sinners?

Both! Because if you're forgiven, but then sin, you weren't a sinner, but now you are!

What is God's penalty for sin, if any?

He judges us accordingly.

Are there penalties that occur on earth for sins in a person's daily life?

They have to participate in Celebrity Apprentice.

...no, seriously.

Are you a Christian?

No, but I believe in God and some of Christs teachings.

What is Sin?

Sin is an act that hurts another living being or yourself, physically or emotionally.

Are all people sinners?

Yes.


Do people become sinners because they sin or do they sin because they are sinners?

Humans are imperfect, so I think we are all born with the capacity to sin.

What is Gods penalty for sin, if any?

I'm not sure, but I think all sins have negative consequences. I don't believe Hell like the Bible teaches it, or Heaven like the Bible teaches it.

Are there penalties that occur on earth for sins in a person's daily life?

Yes.

Are you a Christian?

Yes, and very into my religion

What is Sin?

Doing something wrong in the Lord's eye

Are all people sinners?

The only one that was truely perfect and didn't need the antonement was Jesus himself, so yes

Do people become sinners because they sin or do they sin because they are sinners?

They become sinners because they sin. I don't believe you're born a sinner, because little children are so perfect and innocent to me. But once they hit a certain age everyone sins, but not because they're a sinner, just because we're all human.

What is Gods penalty for sin, if any?

Only he can be the judge on that, so if you don't repent it's whatever he decides, whether in this life or the next. And I believe even if you repent bad things can come from what you did, even if it's years down the road. It's in his own time and in his own way.

Are there penalties that occur on earth for sins in a person's daily life?

For sure. If you do something you shouldn't have you doom yourself. Sometimes you can erase it, sometimes you can't completely. When it comes to your punishments on earth usually you bring them on yourself.

Are you a Christian?
No, I am an apostatical permanent empirical agnostic atheist.

What is Sin?
1 John 3:4 says sin is lawlessness. Matthew 22:37-40 says the law can be summed up as "love God and love others". Ergo, sin is not loving God and/or not loving others.

Are all people sinners?
If you subscribe to the notion that committing one sin makes you a sinner forever, then yes.

Do people become sinners because they sin or do they sin because they are sinners?
By definition one cannot be a sinner before they sin, so the former. Of course, there is the Christian doctrine that everyone is inclined to sin, but at what point the inclination to sin becomes actual sin is quite unclear.

What is Gods penalty for sin, if any?
Proverbs 10:16 and Romans 6:23 postulate that the punishment for sin is death.

Are there penalties that occur on earth for sins in a person's daily life?
The second half of Romans 1 says God turned people gay and gave them over to depravity as a punishment for sin.

Those are the text-book Christian answers. As there is no concept of sin outside of religion I am happy to accept the definition of sin given above. However, as I do not subscribe to this (or any) religion, I do not accept that sin is bad, or that people are bad, or that people do bad things. There are not 'good people' and 'evil people', there are just people. There are not 'good actions' and 'bad actions', there are just actions with positive or negative consequences for different people. Sin included.

Also,

little children are so perfect and innocent

Only very little children. Babies learn deception as early as six months old.

Are you a Christian?

No...

What is Sin?

The intentional doing of an act which you deem harmful AND which harms another.

Are all people sinners?

No... Only 99.999999999% of them.

Do people become sinners because they sin or do they sin because they are sinners?

The former. And the latter. It is man's nature to sit, and yet some are not sinners.

What is Gods penalty for sin, if any?

God? What?

Are there penalties that occur on earth for sins in a person's daily life?

Yes, such as mental torment or imprisonment.

Are you a Christian?
Nope.

What is Sin?
A human construct; an action or thought that society deems to be "evil" or otherwise unacceptable.

Are all people sinners?
No.

Do people become sinners because they sin or do they sin because they are sinners?
One is viewed as a sinner when one commits an act that draws society's ire.

What is Gods penalty for sin, if any?
None, I don't believe in him/her/it.

Are there penalties that occur on earth for sins in a person's daily life?
Sure, is the act in question is illegal, or if the person is judged by his peers for it. Then again, you only face consequences if people know of your "sins."

These questions really are geared towards Christians, aren't they? It's difficult to answer them if you don't take sin as a given.

Are you a Christian? No, but I have a good understanding of Christian beliefs.

What is Sin? Anything which is wrong in the eyes of your God of choice.

Are all people sinners? Most Christians say that we are born with original sin, and so are all sinners. I reject the concept of sin, and so I would say that no one is a sinner.

Do people become sinners because they sin or do they sin because they are sinners? As I said above, I reject the concept of sin. I think it is dangerous to view ourselves as miserable sinners. It's not good for your mental health.

What is Gods penalty for sin, if any? According to a Bible passage (can't remember which one, sorry) "The wages of sin is death", unless of course you are absolved by accepting Jesus. There's also the idea that if you sin you are sent to hell. I would personally say that there is no ultimate, divine penalty for sin, because I do not believe in a divine judge.

Are there penalties that occur on earth for sins in a person's daily life? That is dangerous territory. I would certainly hope that there are no direct, divine intervention penalties. If there were, how would you judge what was punishment and what was accident? That sort of thinking leads to people saying that floods and earthquakes were God's punishment for sin, which is simply a disgusting concept.
I would not say that being punished for an illegal actions is the same as some kind of cosmic punishment for sin, because the concept of sin encompasses far more than just law-breaking.