The issues of sin and justice have been on a back burner in my mind for several years. One particular aspect is the idea of moral equivalence - where all sins are considered equal. This older post by Kevin DeYoung is worth reading, the majority of which is also in Hole in our Holiness. In the book, he references The Holiness of God where R.C. Sproul states that all sins require atonement but all sins are not equal.
- We stop caring for the victim, because we fail to distinguish between the victim's sin nature and his/her innocence in relation to the abuse.
- The magnitude of the offense is minimized because isn't abuse (not just physical) just like any other sin?
- We minimize the need to pursue justice and confuse justice with vengeance because the victim is just as much a sinner as the perpetrator since all sins are equal.
- We expect people to just get over it because what they've gone through isn't worse than any other sin.
In the end, there is no right and wrong because both sides are equally wrong. There is no standard for justice because it's been reduced to the lowest common denominator. It may be just me, but this smells like the rotten fruit of postmodernism.
1. Hole in our Holiness, Kevin DeYoung, Crossway, 2012, pg. 72.
2. The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul, Tyndale, 1998, pg. 206.
[I]t seems humble to act as if no sin is worse than another, but we lose the impetus for striving and the ability to hold each other accountable when we tumble down the slip-n-slide of moral equivalence... When we can no longer see the different gradations among sins and sinners and sinful nations, we have not succeeded in respecting our own badness, we've cheapened God's goodness.1I agree with DeYoung and Sproul on this. But there's another side effect of moral equivalence that I've been considering in relation to domestic abuse. If we take moral equivalence to it's logical conclusion, we could lose our sense of compassion and justice.
The idea of gradations of sin is important for us to keep in mind so we understand the difference between sin and gross sin. Again, all of our sins require forgiveness. All of our sins are acts of treason against God. We need a Savior for our "little" sins as well as for the "major" ones. But some sins are more significant than others, and we need to identify which these are, lest we fall into the pharisaical trap of majoring in the minors.2
- We stop caring for the victim, because we fail to distinguish between the victim's sin nature and his/her innocence in relation to the abuse.
- The magnitude of the offense is minimized because isn't abuse (not just physical) just like any other sin?
- We minimize the need to pursue justice and confuse justice with vengeance because the victim is just as much a sinner as the perpetrator since all sins are equal.
- We expect people to just get over it because what they've gone through isn't worse than any other sin.
In the end, there is no right and wrong because both sides are equally wrong. There is no standard for justice because it's been reduced to the lowest common denominator. It may be just me, but this smells like the rotten fruit of postmodernism.
1. Hole in our Holiness, Kevin DeYoung, Crossway, 2012, pg. 72.
2. The Holiness of God, R.C. Sproul, Tyndale, 1998, pg. 206.
I agree with you (and DeYoung and Sproul) completely. Very wise words here.
ReplyDeleteJesus seemed to differentiate between the severity of sins. Also that they that are forgiven much love much:)
ReplyDeleteThe RCC had a mortal sin/ venial sin thing as you may or may not know. I never really liked it since the cut offs between the two were always based on man's guidelines, but I think there is a point to it.
Sproul mentions the RCC distinction as one reason why people like to think of all sins as being equal.
DeleteGreat topic. Valid points. And while all sins are not equal, man's standard of measuring the differences of offense or severity are often opposite God's own standard, which also presents a big problem. (And maybe it's entirely too early for me to do much thinking just yet.)
ReplyDeleteIt would seem to me that references to "better for him to have a millstone around his neck and cast into the sea" is clear inference that this sin is worse than others where Jesus said, "go and sin no more". Yes, all sin is rebellion against God. But some sins are more dastardly (cowardly and malicious) in their consequences to victim and perpetrator. We fine traffic speeders. We imprison murderers. Each is a rebellion against our civil law. Is murder worse than speeding? Yes, indeed.
ReplyDelete