Sins in different faith traditions

AMM

A Beggar
Supporter
May 2, 2017
1,725
1,269
Virginia
✟329,845.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
In Relationship
A bit of an odd question, hopefully it makes sense! But within the different traditional denominations, do any of them consider something a sin -- or not a sin -- that your faith would consider a sin? Share below! State your church body, and if you can think of examples of this.
 

Monk Brendan

Well-Known Member
Supporter
Jul 21, 2016
4,636
2,875
72
Phoenix, Arizona
Visit site
✟294,430.00
Country
United States
Faith
Melkite Catholic
Marital Status
Private
Politics
US-Others
A bit of an odd question, hopefully it makes sense! But within the different traditional denominations, do any of them consider something a sin -- or not a sin -- that your faith would consider a sin? Share below! State your church body, and if you can think of examples of this.
As you know. Orthodox and pre-reformation Christians generally do not consider the consumption of alcoholic beverages a sin.

But some protestants do.

Others believe Gentile Christians are still bound by the dietary rules in the OT.
 
Upvote 0

All4Christ

✙ The Handmaid of God Laura ✙
CF Senior Ambassador
Supporter
Mar 11, 2003
11,682
8,018
PA
Visit site
✟1,013,527.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Married
There are certainly some morality differences between some of the traditional churches. Abortion, for example, is a sin no matter what circumstances surrounding the pregnancy. From what I understand, some groups, such as the ELCA, consider abortion to be acceptable in some situations. Likewise, beliefs on other moral issues differ between traditional churches.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Newtheran
Upvote 0

dzheremi

Coptic Orthodox non-Egyptian
Aug 27, 2014
13,500
13,648
✟426,176.00
Country
United States
Faith
Oriental Orthodox
Marital Status
Private
Not exactly what you're looking for, maybe, but I've been told by EO that you guys have some sort of regulation or canon somewhere regarding how many liturgies you can miss before potentially being denied communion. I hope I've got that right, because it's been a while since we discussed it. Also, the Roman Catholic Church in particular is famous for making missing Mass without an appropriately grave reason a "mortal sin".

We in the OO communion never developed such a thing, because it was never secure in many of our territories that we would have a church to go to or otherwise have the ability to hold a liturgy from one week to the next. So that seems to be a difference right there, though I don't know that it's a matter of 'sin' so much as a matter of differing circumstances.
 
Upvote 0

All4Christ

✙ The Handmaid of God Laura ✙
CF Senior Ambassador
Supporter
Mar 11, 2003
11,682
8,018
PA
Visit site
✟1,013,527.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Married
Not exactly what you're looking for, maybe, but I've been told by EO that you guys have some sort of regulation or canon somewhere regarding how many liturgies you can miss before potentially being denied communion. I hope I've got that right, because it's been a while since we discussed it. Also, the Roman Catholic Church in particular is famous for making missing Mass without an appropriately grave reason a "mortal sin".

We in the OO communion never developed such a thing, because it was never secure in many of our territories that we would have a church to go to or otherwise have the ability to hold a liturgy from one week to the next. So that seems to be a difference right there, though I don't know that it's a matter of 'sin' so much as a matter of differing circumstances.
While we do have an unofficial “rule” of not partaking of communion if we miss more than 3 weeks, there are circumstances where it is not “wrong” to miss a service. If we are in an area that doesn’t have an Orthodox Church, or if we are sick, or if there is inclement weather making travel unsafe, etc., we are supposed to pray the typika in lieu of the liturgy. That said, it isn’t a replacement of liturgy if a liturgy is available.
 
  • Informative
Reactions: dzheremi
Upvote 0

All4Christ

✙ The Handmaid of God Laura ✙
CF Senior Ambassador
Supporter
Mar 11, 2003
11,682
8,018
PA
Visit site
✟1,013,527.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Married
Thanks for clarifying, All4Christ. I knew I had read something about it, but I couldn't remember the duration involved or what level of 'officialness' it has.
I’ve never been told a specific number of weeks from my priest. My in-laws taught me the three week part of it - so it’s at least part of the Russian tradition. The main thing for communion is that you need to be properly prepared. If you deliberately miss multiple weeks for no good reason, you probably aren’t properly prepared.
 
Upvote 0

dzheremi

Coptic Orthodox non-Egyptian
Aug 27, 2014
13,500
13,648
✟426,176.00
Country
United States
Faith
Oriental Orthodox
Marital Status
Private
1*MIcK6DRrlt3mE4J8NPmvLw.jpeg
 
Upvote 0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums

~Anastasia~

† Handmaid of God †
Dec 1, 2013
31,133
17,452
Florida panhandle, USA
✟922,745.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Married
Thanks for clarifying, All4Christ. I knew I had read something about it, but I couldn't remember the duration involved or what level of 'officialness' it has.
I’ve never been told a specific number of weeks from my priest. My in-laws taught me the three week part of it - so it’s at least part of the Russian tradition. The main thing for communion is that you need to be properly prepared. If you deliberately miss multiple weeks for no good reason, you probably aren’t properly prepared.

I'd have to ask to be sure - but I think I might have heard that the canon (if we are talking about the same one) was about refraining from receiving the Eucharist when one attends Liturgy? It was cited as creating a disturbance among the community (maybe tempting people to speculate or gossip?) if one is with the congregation of the faithful but refrains from the chalice? And the Church doesn't excommunicate ... but the person excommunicates themselves by removing themselves from communion?

I don't think we have set in stone prescriptions about missing Sunday Liturgy of feast days? Only that - if we love God and we have the opportunity to go to Liturgy and we simply choose not to - then perhaps we don't really love God so much or our hearts are in a wrong place?

We just tend to be so concerning of what's really going on with a person, so we don't really tend to have "rules" regarding what is sin and how much sin it is such as Catholics do.

But I've never questioned deeply on possible multiple canons and such?
 
Upvote 0

All4Christ

✙ The Handmaid of God Laura ✙
CF Senior Ambassador
Supporter
Mar 11, 2003
11,682
8,018
PA
Visit site
✟1,013,527.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Married
I'd have to ask to be sure - but I think I might have heard that the canon (if we are talking about the same one) was about refraining from receiving the Eucharist when one attends Liturgy? It was cited as creating a disturbance among the community (maybe tempting people to speculate or gossip?) if one is with the congregation of the faithful but refrains from the chalice? And the Church doesn't excommunicate ... but the person excommunicates themselves by removing themselves from communion?

I don't think we have set in stone prescriptions about missing Sunday Liturgy of feast days? Only that - if we love God and we have the opportunity to go to Liturgy and we simply choose not to - then perhaps we don't really love God so much or our hearts are in a wrong place?

We just tend to be so concerning of what's really going on with a person, so we don't really tend to have "rules" regarding what is sin and how much sin it is such as Catholics do.

But I've never questioned deeply on possible multiple canons and such?
Yes I think this is more accurate. :) thanks for the clarification
 
  • Like
Reactions: ~Anastasia~
Upvote 0

ViaCrucis

Confessional Lutheran
Oct 2, 2011
37,342
26,787
Pacific Northwest
✟728,236.00
Country
United States
Faith
Lutheran
Marital Status
In Relationship
Politics
US-Others
There isn't, and never has been, some definitive or exhaustive "Big List of Sins" that we can all look at and go, "Ah, this is a sin." There are clearly certain things that are sins that we all agree on, because such things have been clearly identified as sin by God's commandments.

The usual go-to to basic summary of God's Law is the Decalogue ("The Ten Commandments"). All of the traditional churches use the Decalogue as a helpful summary of good and bad (it's not exhaustive, but it is illustrative, and useful for catechetical purposes). Of course there is also no uniform agreement on how to number the Decalogue: The Orthodox have their numbering, Catholics, Lutherans, (and Anglicans?) use the Augustinian numbering, while other Protestants use John Calvin's numbering. However, regardless of how they're numbered, they are still grouped as ten.

Sometimes sin is explicit--"Do not murder" for example. But other times sin is more implicit, we are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves, as such anything which is not loving can be called sinful. Not everything is necessarily sinful in all circumstances, and so situation and context is important. It's not sinful to make money through hard work in one's vocation, but if my accumulation of wealth is based upon the oppression of the poor, or directly hurts my neighbor, then it is problematic. Having isn't sinful, but if I am greedy and hoard my wealth, especially when given opportunity to help someone who is needy, then I am guilty of sin. Situationally, circumstantially, based upon nuance, and oftentimes more morally grey areas can affect what is sinful or not. But that is why we look to the Ten Commandments and to Christ's Great Commandment that we love God and love our neighbor as the fixed rule of what God desires from us.

The fixed rule we should seek to apply is what Christ Himself gave us as the Great Commandment, and we can also look to the Golden Rule which the Lord refers to as being the sum of all the Law and the Prophets. Fundamentally God's command is to love others, to do good to everyone. If our our thoughts, words, and deeds are at odds with this basic rule, then we have violated God's commandment, and thus have sinned.

Further, St. Paul goes so far as to say, "All that is not from faith is sin."

-CryptoLutheran
 
Upvote 0

hedrick

Senior Veteran
Supporter
Feb 8, 2009
20,250
10,565
New Jersey
✟1,147,348.00
Faith
Presbyterian
Marital Status
Single
It may surprise some to know that the mainline tradition also believes in sins. This includes the 10 commandment type stuff, yes including adultery. The kinds of things the prophets condemned: failure to help widows, orphans, poor, immigrants, generally those who are powerless.

It will not surprise you to know that in sexual ethics we tend to emphasize informed consent, rather than the gender of the participants. We’re pretty uptight about things like relationships between adults and children, and people like pastors and teachers with those they’re responsible for, and for abusive relationships within the family. I've not heard sermons about it, but we condemn inappropriate contentography.

I’ve never heard anyone in our church say it’s OK to have premarital sex (though I have seen ethicists say so). Our de facto approach is the same as everyone else’s (even though most people deny it): it would be better off if you didn’t have sex outside marriage, but if you do it had better involve informed consent and proper protection.

I know of three cases involving church discipline, though surely there are more, since they tend to be confidential. One was for marginal sexual contact between married pastor and member (hugging). One was a husband leaving his wife. One was someone using a racial insult against a leader and refusing to apologize.
 
Upvote 0
This site stays free and accessible to all because of donations from people like you.
Consider making a one-time or monthly donation. We appreciate your support!
- Dan Doughty and Team Christian Forums

Truth Lover

Active Member
Aug 21, 2016
125
63
St Louis, MO
✟22,173.00
Faith
Catholic
Marital Status
Married
Catholics say it is a sin to receive Communion while in a state of serious sin. For example, The Bishop of Illinois said that the legislators who recently voted in favor of unlimited abortion should not present themselves to receive Communion. This action is based on
1 Corinthians 11:
27 "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died."
Since most Protestants believe that Communion is only symbolic, it is not a sin to receive it while in serious unrepented sin.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Athanasias
Upvote 0

All4Christ

✙ The Handmaid of God Laura ✙
CF Senior Ambassador
Supporter
Mar 11, 2003
11,682
8,018
PA
Visit site
✟1,013,527.00
Country
United States
Faith
Eastern Orthodox
Marital Status
Married
Catholics say it is a sin to receive Communion while in a state of serious sin. For example, The Bishop of Illinois said that the legislators who recently voted in favor of unlimited abortion should not present themselves to receive Communion. This action is based on
1 Corinthians 11:
27 "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. 30 That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died."
Since most Protestants believe that Communion is only symbolic, it is not a sin to receive it while in serious unrepented sin.
FWIW, most traditional Protestants don’t believe it is only symbolic. That said, I don’t know if they consider unworthily taking it to be a sin - or just dangerous to the soul. When I was Pentecostal, I was taught that it is a grave matter to partake of communion unworthily. I don’t know if we called it a sin, but it certainly was considered to be dangerous spiritually if we did so.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0