Dave Brisbin 5.31.26
Sin is central to Western Christianity.
From original sin—understood as a genetic state of depravity, a separation from God unbridgeable by human effort—to our own personal sins—understood as unlawful behavior—all we can do is wait to be saved by an outside power—understood as an event, a granting of approval triggered by ritual practice or mental assent to doctrinal beliefs.
I know…putting it that way is a bit hyperbolic. But only a bit. Especially in contrast to Eastern Christianity, which understands salvation as a process of theosis—a life of becoming more and more God-like in awareness, intent, daily presence and practice.
By default, we’re all legalists, believing we must earn everything we get. That’s the physical reality of life around us, and human authority always uses reward/punishment to control behavior through fear. By the third century, the church had codified Jesus’ message into more law, ironically missing the fact that Jesus constantly battled the religious legal system of his day that kept the people from their theosis, from direct experience of God.
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We say sin leads to separation, but sin is separation itself. Any act that leads to separation is sinful, but to focus on behavior, on symptom, is to lose sight of the cause—our separation anxiety. The Good News is that God’s love is not legal, conditional, but the bedrock reality that any sense of separation is illusion. Pure egoic projection.
To wake us from our illusion of separation, take away our sin, is Jesus’ mission. For if we believe everything must be earned, nothing is freely received. We’re either guilty or entitled. Never grateful. Never free to pursue our theosis.
