SIn: The Early History of an Idea

"Sin: The Early History of an Idea"[2012] by Paula Fredriksen is an interesting but challenging read about how the concept of sin changed over the first four hundred years of Christian history. Fredriksen looks at Scripture and other the extant writings concerning seven people: Jesus of Nazareth and Paul of Tarsus in the first century,  Valentinus, Marcion, and Justin the Martyr of the second century, Origen of Alexandria in the third century and Augustine of Hippo in the fourth.

Jesus and Paul were two first century leaders that believed that the apocalypse was at hand. Jesus, as he is recorded in the gospels, was concerned with the fate of the Jewish people. Paul, on the other hand, concerned himself in his writings with the fate of gentiles and the rest of creation. So their ideas on sin differed.

After the rise of Constantine and his conversion to Christianity in 312 CE, the church in Rome sought to  “orthodoxize” the extant writings of earlier Christian writers. In Marcion, they practically succeeded; very few of his works remain. As a result, this type of analysis is particularly difficult when it comes to the second century writers. Nevertheless there remain plenty of writings by orthodox writers condemning his “heresies,” and it is from those writings that the author has made some interesting conclusions about him, Valentinus and Justin. Each represents a different view based on the facts that Jerusalem had been destroyed and Jesus had not yet returned.

Finally she looks at the prolific writings of Origen and Augustine. Both are worthy of examination. Augustine was the last great mind of the early Christian era. The Vandals who had earlier sacked Rome were practically at his door in Hippo as he lay on his deathbed. Nevertheless, his writings survived him and “became a font of subsequent Latin Christian doctrine.”  As such, they continue to affect modern definitions of sin and virtue, condemnation and salvation, and the nature of a severe, all-powerful God, etc. Origen also remains important. Starting from the same sources as Augustine, his writings and conclusions represent “a road not taken by the church.”

People who enjoy reading about theology, philosophy, language, ideas and early church history will enjoy this book.