Beyond Sin: The Divine Nature of Human Experience

Sin vs. Experience

The concept of sin has been a constant companion throughout my life, hammered into me from childhood and throughout my journey as a Christian. Sin—what is it, really? I’ve been taught to see it as this evil seed embedded deep within our very nature, almost woven into our souls. Sin, in the way I was taught, isn’t something we choose; it’s something we can’t escape, like an organ or a body part. Just as I can’t be born without a heart, lungs, or eyes, I’ve been taught that sin is part of my DNA, embedded in me before I even took my first breath.

But then there’s experience. As children, we experience free will—choices, options, and judgments about what’s good or bad, divine or evil, perfect or imperfect. Take a child learning to walk. When they stumble and fall, we don’t call it sin. We don’t even call it a mistake. It’s simply part of the process, part of learning. No one condemns a child for falling while learning how to walk. A new employee on their second day at work will make choices—some good, some not so good. They may make errors in judgment, but none of it makes them evil. It’s just part of the learning process.

Yet somehow, over thousands of years, we’ve been planted with the idea that not only are we imperfect, but we are inherently evil—that sin is built into our very nature. That it’s a strand of DNA we’re born with, a legacy of darkness we can never escape.

But here’s the thing—I believe that the highest form of love is self-love. And how can we ever practice that if we’re conditioned to think that we’re inherently evil? How can we ever see the divine in us, let alone imagine that God resides within us, if we’ve been taught from birth that we are sinful by nature?

I believe we are divine beings. I believe that if we were made in the image of God, how could we be inherently evil? How could we be born with an evil nature woven into our very fibers? I question more than I accept answers. And there’s a lot to question. A lot.

When I think about the child or the employee, it seems we confuse errors and judgments as part of the human experience with evil itself. But if we look at it through that lens, it almost seems naïve to think that just because we have free will, we are inherently evil. The whole idea seems irrational, even a little silly. I respect differing opinions or theories, but to call it a fact? To claim it as a truth that not only you, but everyone, is born inherently evil? That’s beyond my imagination—both my rational and irrational minds. I get that we can commit what we can judge as evil deeds. These are even subject to scrutiny and questions since the example helps many others not to commit those by seeing what those choices cause. But if that’s what we call sin then sin is an action, a choice taken, not an inherent evil per se.

I often think about the Japanese term wabi-sabi, which refers to the beauty of imperfection. In nature, we see chaos—unsymmetrical trees, the waves crashing unpredictably, the stars scattered randomly across the sky. And yet, it’s perfect. It’s divine. It’s the way it was meant to be. To me, that’s true perfection—the kind that comes from the heart, not from the judgment of the human eye. Our eyes are not designed to see reality in its purest form. They only allow us to perceive what the human experience allows us to. Science shows us that we don’t even see reality as it is, but rather a perception shaped by our limitations.

Our souls, however, are limitless. Our souls are divine. Our souls are God within us. And we are not separate from God or from the universe. Our physical bodies may be limited, but I don’t believe they are inherently evil. And to claim that they are, or to teach that they are, seems not only irresponsible—it seems wrong.

But here’s the truth: this has been ingrained in me for so long. It’s not easy to just shake it off. I can’t stand on a high horse and say my opinion is fact. This theory I’ve been working through may not be the absolute truth. But I have to question it. I have to question the entire narrative—that we are born into sin, that we are inherently evil. I know the story of Adam and Eve, and I’ve gleaned many lessons from it. But I can’t say I believe it was a historical event in the way it’s often presented. After all, modern humans have been walking the Earth for over 300,000 years.

That said, I see the beauty in the story, the lessons it offers. But I don’t think one of those lessons is that we’re inherently evil. I don’t think that’s the message we should take away when we say we’re sinners. It’s one thing to admit that we make mistakes and errors in judgment as we learn and grow, but that doesn’t make us inherently evil. So when we look at ourselves, it’s not a matter of calling ourselves born into sin. It’s about recognizing the human experience for what it is—flawed, imperfect, but full of growth and divine potential.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this—what do you make of it all?