Many and various have been the definitions of sin and the
explanations of its origin. Most primitive peoples defined it as
failure to perform certain ceremonial acts, or to bring tribute to
the gods. Morality and religion were rarely combined. The Hebrew
people were the first to define right and wrong in terms of
personal life and service. Sin as represented in Genesis 3 was the
result of individual choice. It was yielding to the common rather
than the nobler impulses, to desire rather than to the sense of
duty. The temptation came from within rather than from without,
and the responsibility of not choosing the best rested with the
individual. The explanation is as simple and as true to human
experience to-day as in the childhood of the race.
The Persian religion, on the contrary, conceived of the world as
controlled by two hostile gods, with their hosts of attendant
angels. One god, Ormuzd, was the embodiment of light and goodness.
The other, Ahriman, represented darkness and evil. They traced all
sin to the direct influence of Ahriman and the evil spirits that
attended him. During the Persian period a somewhat similar
explanation of the origin of evil appeared in Jewish thought.
Satan, who in the book of Job appears to be simply the prosecuting
attorney of heaven, began to be thought of as the enemy of man,
until in later times all sin was traced directly or indirectly to
his influence. This was the conception prevalent among the
Puritans. This view tended to relieve man of personal
responsibility for he was regarded as the victim of assaults of
hosts of malignant spirits. Does your knowledge of the heart of
man confirm the insight of the prophet who speaks through the
wonderful story of Genesis 3?