Expert: Griff Ruby - 1/20/2005

Question
Hello:

I am currently working on a personal project about the nature of Sin. I am the artist and co-author of a religious, contemporary graphic novel focusing heavily on Sin. I want to include more than just the Christian viewpoint, though that will be the main focus, so am contacting experts of various different religions in order to gain a better understanding of the world view of Sin. I was hoping you could give me a rundown of Sin and your understanding of it, anything you have to offer me is helpful and much appreciated, I am open to absolutely any information concerning the subject, and I thank you in advance.

Alyssa Mogil

Answer
The root meaning of the word "sin" implies a lack, a "being without" something needed, and inadequacy.  A more ancient rationale for understanding the concept would be the phrase "missing the mark," as in one shooting at a target and failing to get the bull's eye, they "missed the mark," that is, the dot at the center of the target towards which they were aiming.
The Church tells us that there are two kinds of sin, namely "original sin," and "actual sin."  Original sin is something passed on to us from our ultimate earthly parents Adam and Eve, much in the nature of a genetic condition or even a generational curse.  "In iniquity I was concieved," the Psalmist (King David) writes at one point (Psalm 50 or 51 or so), because of this intrinsic sin with which we are born, and which the sacrament of Baptism is meant to remove all penalties for.  This is why even babies are baptized, so that original sin will not be held against them, and in a manner of speaking, is even "washed" away from them.  With original sin, all of us descendants from Cain onward (with the remarkable and extraordinary and miraculous exception of Mary, whose sinless conception was a result of a direct intervention by God) are therefore "sinners," even before ever committing any actual fault.
This brings me to the second kind of sin which is our actual sins, that is to say, the things we should not do (but did), or the things we are obliged to do (but failed to do).  From the moment in our lives that we have the power to make any choice about anything, from that moment on we can (and typically often do) fall into sin with our own defective decisions or weakness or even malice.
Actual sins are divided by the Church into two basic categories, by their intensity, namely venial and mortal.  Venial sins are actual sins of a minor nature, like stealing a paper clip from the office, and mortal sins are those which are far more serious, such as stealing a car.  Oftentimes (as for example in the case of the sin of theft), there is something of a continuum from the venial to the mortal sin, but like sticking a knife into a person's chest, there is some particular distance you can stick the knife in without killing the person, but beyond that point one will kill them likewise there would be some amount of worth (to be adjusted for inflation and also other such factors as the relative wealth of the one stolen from or even one's legitimate need for the stolen item (in cases where a starving person steals just enough food for a needed meal), and so forth) beyond which theft passes from a venial to a mortal sin.
In other areas, some things are mortal sins for sure, such as taking a life (apart from immediate self-defense, fighting in a lawful war, or carrying out the approved execution of a lawfully tried and convicted criminal) which is always a mortal sin, regardless of whether the life taken is one's own (suicide) or another's.  Some mortal sins are actually rather common and easily committed, such as failing to attend Mass without good reason, or any sort of unchastity.
Sins need to be forgiven, or else one is in serious trouble.  Therefore there exists the sacrament of confession where this forviness is obtained.  Sins cannot be forgiven of until they are truly repented of, which means there must be a true purpose of amendment (to undo, as much as possible, the sin, such as by returning what is stolen), purpose of penance (to accept what temporal punishments the sin justly warrants), and resolve never to repeat the sin again.
You say you want to write a "graphic" novel.  I am not sure what kind of novel could be written to such a description without its being read (or written) itself being a sin.  Usually when someone says of a novel that it is "graphic" they refer to it having "every grunt, every wiggle," and as such nothing positive or constructive could possibly come from such a work.  Or else it refers to violence "every scream, every spatter of blood," which is no better.
Of course, if you have planned some way to rise above all that (as for example C. S. Lewis did with his Screwtape Letters), I would be glad to hear of it.
Sin is such a ubiquitous thing that it really does not make sense to make a special treatment of it, as though it were some rare condition worth noting about.  One could write about how to live at the bottom of the sea (like Jacques Cousteau), or on the Moon (like the astronauts), but who would write about living on the land breathing the air as though that alone were some sort of special situation?  One could, for example, focus on the subtler details of sin, the sins we all commit without even thinking of it as sin, the bits of pride, or pharisiacal scandal or gossip and calumny that people commit every day not realizing the monsterous damage they do.
Far mor interesting (and vastly unusual and therefore worthy of a writer's attention) would be those who have by and large managed to avoid sin (the saints) and how they did this, and the amazing accomplishements they had as a result of a nearly sinless life.  Now that's something exceptional and amazing.  Anyway, presumably you already have some sort of idea what you plan to write and I realize that little I can say will change it appreciably.  All the same, I pray that your work should end up being something of genuine value, whatever form that should take, and not just another trashy excuse for the reader to vicariously share in the sins of fictional characters.