ABSTRACT
None of our confessors devoted much attention to defining sin. Augustine did later in his life, but not as part of his confession. He and the others simply assumed its existence disturbing our feelings about ourselves, infecting our relationships with each other, and separating us from the purposes of our Creator. The task of formulating its definition and place in the church’s body of belief fell to theologians and officials in the religious hierarchy, whose company Augustine later joined. Thus far, we have discussed the confession of sin without discussing any of its varied meanings. Virtually all its definitions arise from some human effort, scriptural or otherwise, to make sense of what has gone wrong in our world and what needs to be done about it.
