Comments on Why does the Bible repeatedly tout that sin begins in the heart — rather than the brain, mind, or other bodily organs?
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Why does the Bible repeatedly tout that sin begins in the heart — rather than the brain, mind, or other bodily organs?
- Undeniably, the heart can't physically cause the sins quoted below, as in the Matthew 15:18-20. Crimes against the person (manslaughter) are committed usually with the limbs and hands. False pretenses, fraud, perjury with the vocal tract. Sexual crimes with the penis or vagina.
Last but not least, in Anglo-American jurisdictions, crimes require mens rea. Thus if not the organs aforementioned above, it would be more sensible and realistic to attribute sin to the brain or mind. Why then does the Bible attribute sin to the heart?
- Is the Bible's attribution of sin to the heart related to why, in Chinese, 心 (heart) is the semantic component of 惡 which means evil, wickedness? Perhaps the Chinese gleaned this attribution from Christianity or Christian missionaries.
All Sin Originates in Our Heart
As authentic disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ we must understand all sin comes originates from the wickedness of our hearts. Jesus said in Matthew 15:18-20, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.”For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. “These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.” We often forget about the motives of our hearts, our attitudes, and the words we speak reflect the attitude of our hearts.
7 Sins Of The Heart That Christians Overlook Daily
Mark 7:21-23 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come–sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
And the Lord saw that the sin of man was great on the earth, and that all the thoughts of his heart were evil.
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