Sin and Freedom

Τὸ δ' ἐκούσιον ἢ τὸ κατ' ὅρεξίν ἐστιν, ἢ τὸ κατὰ προαίρεσιν, ἢ τὸ κατὰ διάνοιαν. Αὐτίκα παράκειταί πως ταῦτα ἀλλήλοις, ἁμάρτημα, ἀτύχημα, ἀδίκημα. Καὶ ἔστιν ἁμάρτημα μὲν, φέρε εἰπεῖν, τὸ τρυφητικῶς καὶ ἀσελγῶς βιοῦν· ἀτύχημα δὲ τὸν φίλον, ὡς πολέμιον, ὑπ' ἀγνοίας βαλεῖν· ἁδίκημα  δὲ ἡ τυμβωρυχία ἤ ἡ ἱεροσυλία. Τὸ δὲ ἁμαρτάνειν ἐκ τοῦ ἀγνδεῖν κρίνειν ὅ τι χρὴ ποιεν σῦνίσταται, ἢ τῷ ἀδυνατεῖν ποιεῖν· ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ βόθρῳ περιπίπτει τις, ἤτοι ἀγνοήσας, ἢ ἁδυνατήσας ὑπερβῆναι δι' ἀσθένειαν σώματος. Ἀλλ' ἐφ' ἡμῖν γε ἢ τε πρὸς τὴν παιδείαν ἡμῶν παράστασις ἢ τε πρὸς τὰς ἐντολὰς ὑπακοή· ὦν εἰ μὴ μετέχειν βουληθείημεν, θυμῷ τε καὶ ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἐκδότους σφᾶς αὐτοῦς ἐπιδόντες, ἁμαρτησόμεθα, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀδικήσομεν τὴν ἑαυτῶν ψυχήν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ Λάϊος ἐκεῖνος κατὰ τὴν τραγῳδίαν φησιν· Δέληωεν οὐδέν τῶνδέ μ', ὦν σὺ νουθετεῖς· Γνώμεν δ' εχοντά μ' ἡ φύσις βιάζεται. τουτέστι, τὸ ἔκδοτον γεγενῆσθαι τῷ πάθει.  Ἡ Μήδεια δὲ, καὶ αὐτὴ ὁμοίως ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς βοᾷ· Καὶ μανθάνω μὲν οἴα δρᾷν μέλλῳ κακά· Θυμὸς δὲ κρείσσων τῶν ἐμων βουλευμάτων. Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ Αἴας σιωπᾷ μέλλων δὲ ἑαυτὸν ἀποφάτειν, κέκραγεν· Οὐδὲν οὖν ἦν πῆμα ἐλευθέρου Ψυχήν δάκνον οὕτως ὡς ἀνδρὸς ἀτιμία. Οὕτως πέπονθα καί με συμφορούσα Βαθεῖα κηλὶς, ἐκ βυθῶν ἀναστρέφει, Αὐσσης πικροῖς κέντροισιν ἠρεθισμένον. Τούτους μὲν οὖν ὁ θυμός· μύρίους δὲ ἄλλους ἡ ἐπιθυμιά τραγῳδεῖ, τὴν Φαιδραν, τὴν Ἀνθίαν, τὴν Ἐριφύλην, Ἥ χρυσὸν φίλου ἀνδρὸς ἐδέξατο τιμήεντα. Τὸν γὰρ κωμικὸν ἐκεῖνον θρασωυνίδην ἄλλη σκηνὴ Παιδισκάριόν με, φησὶν, εὐτελὲς καταδεδούλωκεν. Ἀτύχημα δὲ νοῦ παράλογός ἐστιν ἁμαρτία· ἡ δὲ ἁμαρτία ἐκούσιος ἀδικία· ἀδικία δὲ ἐκούσιος κακία. Ἔστιν οὖν ἡ μὲν ἁμαρτία ἐμὸν ἐκούσιον· διὸ καὶ φησίν· Ἁμαρτία γὰρ ὑμῶν οὐ κυριεύσει· οὐ γὰρ ἐστε ὑπὸ νόμον, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ χὰριν· τοῖς ἤδη πεπιστευκόσι λέγων· Ὅτι τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν. Ἀτυχία δέ ἐστιν ἄλλου εἰς ἐμὲ πρᾶξις ἀκούσιος· ἡ δὲ ἀδικία μόνη, εὐρίσκεται ἑκουσιος, εἴτε ἐμὴ εἴτε ἄλλου. Ταύτας δ' αἰνίσσεται τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τὰς διαφορὰς ὁ Ψαλμῳδὸς, μακαρίους λέγων, ὦν ὁ Θεὸς τὰς μὲν ἀπήλειψεν ἀνομίας, τὰς δὲ ἐπεκάλυψεν ἁμαρτίας· οὐκ ἐλογίσατό τε τὰς ἄλλας, καὶ ἀφῆκε τὰς λοιπάς. Γεγραπται γάρ· Μακάριοι, ὦν ἀφέθησαν αἱ ἀνομίαι, καὶ ὦν ἐπεκαλύφθησαν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι· μακάριος ἀνὴρ ᾦ οὐ λογίσηται Κύριος ἁμαρτίαν, οὐδὲ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτου δόλος· Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Στρωματεων, Λογος Δευτερος, Κεφ ΙΕ'

What is voluntary is either what is by desire, or by choice, or by intention. Closely allied to each other are these things, sin, mistake, crime. It is sin, for example, to live luxuriously and licentiously, a misfortune to strike one's friend in ignorance taking him for an enemy, and a crime to violate graves or commit sacrilege. Sin comes about from being unable to judge what should be done, or being unable to do it, as someone falls into a ditch either by ignorance, or through inability to leap across on account of weakness of body. But in our power is improvement of our state and obedience to the commandments, with which if we wish not to engage in, by giving ourselves wholly to desire and passion, we shall sin, or rather, commit crime against our own soul. For Laius says in the tragedy:     'Nothing is is unclear to me for which you admonish me;    I am in my senses, nature compels me.' 1 That is, he abandons himself to passion.  And Medea herself likewise cries out on the stage:     'And I know what evils I am to do,     But passion is stronger than my resolutions.'  2 Further, not even Ajax is silent, but rather, about to kill himself, he cries out:     'There is no pain to gnaw the soul of a free man like dishonour.     Thus do I suffer and the deep stain of calamity     Overthrows me from the depths, vexed by the bitter stings of rage.' 3   Passion made these the subjects of tragedy, and desire made ten thousand others, Phaedra, Anthia, and Eriphyle:     'She who took precious gold for a dear husband.' 4   And a comedy has Thrasonides say on the stage:     'A worthless girl made me her slave.' 5 Mistake, then, is a sin contrary to calculation, and voluntary sin is crime, and crime is voluntary wickedness. Sin, then, is voluntary  on my part . Whence he says, 'Sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace.' 6 And speaking to those who have believed, he says, 'For by His stripes we were healed.' 7 Mistake is the involuntary act of another to me, while a crime alone is found to be voluntary, whether it is my act or the act of another. These differences of sins are alluded to by the Psalmist, when he calls those blessed whose iniquities God has blotted out, and whose sins He has covered. Others He does not weigh, and He forgives the rest. For it is written, 'Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, and in whose mouth there is no fraud.' 8 Clement of Alexandria, from the Stromata, Book 2, Ch 15.  1 Euripides, Laius, fragment 2 Euripides, Medea, 1078 - 1079 3 Sophocles, Ajax , not found in our version 4 Homer Odyssey, Bk 11, 327  5 Menander, Misoumenos, fragment 6 Rom 4:7-8  7 1 Pet 2:24  8 Ps 31 1-2