Augustine’s Definition of Sin

I find that there is much confusion and ignorance about sin nowadays. When we speak the word “sin” into our culture, we cannot assume that everyone hearing will reference a biblical notion of it in their heads. So what is the nature of sin? I think that perhaps the simplest and most helpful definition for our pleasure-indulged generation is one offered by the ancient theologian Augustine. Listen to what he says: “My sin was this: That I looked for beauty, pleasure and truth, not in Him, but in myself and in His other creatures.”

Augustine is saying that the essence of sin is seeking to find your ultimate pleasure in the things that God has made as opposed to in God Himself. In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul calls this maneuver, “worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). Nothing could be more foolish, and nothing could deserve greater judgment: Using the very things that God has given us to enjoy as a means by which to snub God personally. Augustine testifies that doing this only leads to misery. Listen to his words: it led “me…to pain, confusion and error.” Sure it did. We were made for the eternal, infinite pleasure of God. Settling for anything less is not only dangerous but dumb.

Something to think about from “The Kingdom Perspective.”

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”

~ Romans 1: 20-23