What Is the Study of Hamartiology in Theology?
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Hamartiology is the study of sin. Hamartiology intends to explain why, how, and the consequences of human beings ‘missing the mark’ given how we were created to live according to God’s good purposes.
What Does Hamartiology Mean?
The root word of hamartiology discloses what it means to sin or to be a sinner. The Hebrew khata and its Greek parallel hamartia mean to “miss the mark.” Hamartia, meaning to “miss the mark,” is combined with -ology, the study of a subject.
What Does Hamartiology Focus on as a Theological Study?
For the one whose hope has been put in Christ, to study sin is not an endeavor that ends in dismay. Rather, it is a journey that both begins and ends with grace. For the Christian, understanding hamartiology is having a solid foundation on which a sound faith can be built.
The theological study of sin deals with questions regarding its nature, origin, and consequences. Essentially, what exactly is sin? Where did sin come from, and why do we do it? And what are the wages of sin?
Hamartiology deals with these questions in its main subjects.
What Are the Main Subjects in Hamartiology?
1. The nature of sin. To “miss the mark” as a human being is to behave in any way that is not according to God’s law, the law of love. As people created to image a life-giving, triune God, who has, from the beginning, been a relational being, we were created to mirror Him in our cultivation and perpetuation of life and of love in relationship.
Anything which compromises that design is to sin. It is to “miss the mark” of what it means to be truly human, a creature designed to love and to be loved. Jesus expresses this in Matthew 22:36-40 when he says, loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind” is the first and greatest commandment. Further, he says the second greatest commandment is similar: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus tells his audiences, “all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:40, NIV).
It is why, when Jesus explains what His kingdom on earth will look like, He takes the Mosaic laws but doesn’t get rid of them. He brings them into their fullest state. Someone truly loving not only resists the urge to murder their brother but does not even have anger in their heart. They do not simply refrain from committing adultery; out of love for God and the people He created, they don’t even entertain a lustful thought (Matthew 5).
This is why Christian doctrine does not teach the pursuit of sinlessness as an endeavor in sheer grit, denying the passions. It teaches that sinlessness is a life lived passionately in love with one’s Creator and, thus, His creation.
2. The origins of sin. It all started with a man, his wife, and a tree. Actually, many trees. A whole garden full of them. If you were born or raised in a culture shaped by one of the Abrahamic religions, you recognize the names Adam and Eve. Adam, formed from clay and placed in the garden. Eve, his wife and helpmate. They lived in a unique garden where God’s presence dwelt with them.
There was unity between Adam, Eve, and their Creator. Love and life were Eden’s trademarks, with one stipulation. The middle of the garden contained the tree of knowing good and evil. God warned that if they were to eat of this tree, “they would surely die” (Gen. 2:17).
They had a choice. Would they trust God’s intentions for them and obey, or would they dethrone God as the king of their life and become their own masters, choosing what seemed wise in their own eyes?
As we have all done since, they ate. Sin entered the world, and we now have life as we know it. A world full of people bent on denying God’s authority and wisdom. On defining good and evil according to their own wisdom. What originated in Adam and Eve now finds its origins in the hearts of every single man and woman on earth (Matthew 15:19).
3. The consequences of sin. The most mentioned passage regarding sin’s consequences sin is Romans 6:23. It begins, “for the wages of sin is death.” That pithy little statement is often repeated in Christian circles and sounds straightforward enough. But is it? What does it mean that the loss of life is the payment due to one who has sinned?
Again, an understanding of Genesis 3 is crucial here. When Adam and Eve were in the garden before they had eaten the fruit of the tree, God, the giver of life, sustained them. Their connection with Him was their physical and Spiritual source of life. But the invitation they extended to darkness to enter their souls made it impossible for them to dwell safely with God, whose goodness is an extinguishing fire of corruption and evil. They were therefore sent outside of the garden. Outside God’s presence. It ended a perfect relationship with their Creator. It brought spiritual death. Without the giver of life, outside the garden, a painful physical death would surely come next.
We see in this portrait of Adam and Eve a picture of our own experience with sin. The darkness in our hearts creates a breech between our sustainer and us. When we choose things opposed to God’s goodwill, we choose that which is outside of paradise and God’s presence. We are choosing the things which inevitably lead to death. This could be a death of a relationship (with God or others), the death of what was true or good in ourselves, or the quickening of physical death.
What Are the Major Categories of Sin According to Hamartiology?
Just as it is tempting to blame Adam and Eve for the sin that we are afflicted with, it is equally as enticing to blame others or our circumstances for our own sinful nature. Living in a victimhood culture exasperates this temptation.
The problem is that it doesn’t acknowledge the timely truth that no matter how hard a cup of pure goodness is hit, it will never spill over filth. If one’s heart is filled with the love of God, then no matter what comes its way, from it will only come the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). This understanding is necessary when discussing the three theological categories of sin, all beginning with one’s understanding of Adam and Eve’s sin.
1. Imputed sin. Imputed sin is the teaching that Adam’s sin has been imputed to every human after him. Adam’s guilt is our guilt. Scholars have a range of views on to what extent imputed sin exists. Much of the debate surrounds Augustine’s translation (or mistranslation) of Romans 5.
2. Inherited sin. Inherited sin means an inherited sinful nature has been passed down through every generation, starting with Adam and Eve. This nature enslaves us to perform sinful acts. It is a wiring within our bodies and minds creating the environment from which sinful acts are brought forth.
3. Personal sin. Personal sin is the category we are most familiar with—the sin we can see and measure. Personal sin refers to the things we do per our inherited sinful nature. It is what we are held accountable for before God.
What Does Hamartiology Say about the Nature of Sin?
Some see God as a big bully in heaven who gets mad if one of us humans doesn’t abide by His arbitrary lists of do’s and don’t’s. Studying what the Bible says about sin gives a more honest understanding of its nature and God’s character.
Rather than a random list of behaviors that God has haphazardly thrown together so that His wrath will have a place to land, sin is anything we choose to do out of God’s loving command. Instead of a harsh ruler that loves to lay heavy burdens upon His subject’s backs, God is a generous Creator who has ordered this world to flourish in a particular way and divulged such information unto the people He loves.
Hamartiology also eradicates any belief in the possibility of earning one’s way to heaven through good works. It completely does away with the stratification of sinners before God because it declares that we are all unworthy and incapable of dwelling in God’s presence. Yes, some sins indeed reap more devastating consequences. It is also true that every one of us has chosen the way of death. Furthermore, none of us can repair what’s been broken in our relationship with God on our own. We all need a savior. If the Law could have gotten us to heaven, Jesus would not have had to die on the cross.
How Can Hamartiology Help Us Understand Salvation Better?
The moment of conversion occurs when someone repents from their sin, accepts Christ’s forgiveness made available through His death and resurrection, and surrenders their life to Him. This moment is what Christians refer to as “being saved.”
One can both have put their hope in Christ and know that they are saved, and lack a complete understanding of what salvation entails. A deep understanding of salvation will inevitably reap a richer spiritual life, bringing one closer to their Savior.
A proper theology of sin makes this possible. What, exactly, were we saved from? And what does this salvation mean for us as we move forward? As previously discussed, sin is an invitation extended to darkness to enter into the life of one who was made by and for God, who “is light” and in whom “there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). To choose sin is to dethrone God in one’s heart. It is choosing to dwell” outside the garden,” where death is inevitable.
Our plight goes much deeper than mere acts of the will that occasionally happen. The sin we see is a byproduct of our nature, one which loves the darkness rather than the light. The weight of our sin is a debt that we could never repay. We cannot, on our own, enter back into paradise, into God’s presence.
We need forgiveness. We need to be washed clean. We need a savior.
That is where Christ comes in—the only One who can save. In carrying our sins to the cross, He was given over to the punishment that we deserved: death. He bore our sins. Death did not win in the end, for Jesus was raised on the third day. Love won in the end. So now, “if you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Salvation is the forgiveness of sins, a release from the just punishment that is due every sinner.
It is also an invitation extended to light in place of darkness. When you turn from your old ways to Christ, the door is opened for the Holy Spirit to dwell in you (Romans 8:9). To create a clean heart in you. Your inherited sinful nature is transformed as the Holy Spirit cleanses you through sanctification. Thus, salvation is also a present freedom in your daily battle with sin.
Lastly, the theology of sin reveals the eternal nature of earthly decisions. It refutes the notion that hell is unfair. It is, after all, the choice of everyone who ends in hell to dwell there. Or, as C.S. Lewis said in his book The Great Divorce, “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’” When Jesus died on the cross and was raised, He made way for future salvation for all who choose to put their hope in Him on this side of heaven. A final laying aside of the corrupted self, when the bodies of all who have called on Him will be ‘buried in brokenness, but raised in glory” (1 Cor. 15:43).
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Andry Djumantara
