SIN
which
was
felt,
even
at
this
early
stage
of
human
history,
as
to
the
origin
of
sin.
God
is
said
by
the
early
historian
of
David's
reign
to
have
been
the
author
of
the
king's
act,
because
'His
anger
was
kindled
against
Israel'
(2
S
24').
It
is
difficult
to
avoid
the
conclusion
that
at
one
stage
of
Hebrew
thought
God
was
looked
on
as,
in
some
respects
at
least,
the
author
of
evil
(of.
Ex
4''
T
14s,
Jg
923,
1
S
16"
18'°
199).
Nor
ought
we
to
be
surprised
at
this,
for
the
problem
is
one
which
was
sure
to
present
itself
very
early
to
the
minds
of
thoughtful
men;
while
the
numerous
instances
where
the
commis-sion
of
a
sin
seemed
to
have
been
made
subservient
by
God
to
the
exhibiting
of
His
power
and
love
afforded
presumptive
jpriTna
facie
evidence
that
He
Himself
willed
the
act
as
the
minister
of
His
glory
(see
the
history
of
Joseph
with
the
writer's
comments
thereon,
Gn
45s
502",
Ps
105";
of.
Job
l^-"
2i-',
Hos
2).
It
is
interesting
to
note
the
advance
made
in
speculative
thought
with
regard
to
this
still
unsolved,
and
perhaps
insoluble,
problem,
between
the
time
of
the
above-mentioned
historian
and
that
of
the
later
Chronicler
(1
Ch
21').
Here
the
name
of
Satan
or
'Adversary'
is
boldly
inserted
as
the
author
of
the
sin,
a
fact
which
reminds
us
of
the
categorical
denial
of
the
Son
of
Sirach,
'He
hath
not
commanded
any
man
to
be
ungodly;
and
he
hath
not
given
any
man
licence
to
sin'
(15^").
That
the
origin
of
sin
continued
to
be
debated
and
speculated
upon
down
to
a
very
late
period
is
evidenced
by
the
vehement
warning
of
St.
James
against
imputing
to
God
the
temptation
to
evil
(Ja
1"),
and
by
the
counter
assertion
that
God
is
the
Auttior
of
nothing
but
good
(v.").
1
4.
The
Erophets.-/-By
far
the
most
important
stage
In
the
history
of
the
OT
doctrine
of
sin
is
that
which
is
marked
by
the
teaching
of
the
Prophets.
The
four
practically
contemporary
prophets
of
the
8th
cent,
are
Amos,
Hosea,
Micah,
and
Isaiah.
The
first
named
reveals
a
wide
outlook
on
the
world
at
large,
and
a
recognition
of
the
prevalence
and
power
of
sin
in
other
nations
4ian
Israel.
Damascus,
Philistia,
Tyre,
Edom,
Ammon,
and
Moab,
as
well
as
Judah
and
Israel,
all
come
under
the
displeasure
of
the
prophet
Amos.
Each
had
been
guilty
of
cruelty
and
wrong
to
the
people
of
Jehovah.
The
characteristic
faults
of
these
heathen
peoples
—
^lust
and
tyranny
of
the
strong
over
the
weak
—
had
invaded
Israel
too.
The
love
of
money,
with
its
attendant
evils
of
injustice,
and
robbery
of
the
poor
by
the
wealthy,
is
inveighed
against
by
both
Amos
and
Hosea
as
deserving
of
the
wrath
of
God
(cf.
Hos
12"-,
Am
4>
8").
This
degeneracy
of
the
people
of
the
Northern
King-dom
during
the
reign
of
Jeroboam
11.
was
as
much
in
evi-dence
in
the
ranks
of
prophets
and
priests
as
among
the
other
ruling
classes,
and
to
it,
as
the
cause,
is
assigned
the
downfall
which
so
speedily
follOiWed
(Am
3"
6'-'
2'
9'^;
Hos
4»
9"-
5>,
Mic
S'-
"
etc.)./
Both
Isaiah
and
Micah
mourn
over
the
same
moral
declension
(Is
5*
!'«'■,
Mic
2^
etc.),
and
it
may
be
said
that
it
is
owing
to
the
preaching
of
these
four
prophets
that
the
centre
of
gravity,
as
it
were,
of
sin
is
changed,
and
the
principles
cf
universal
justice
and
love,
as
the
fundamental
attri-4>utes
of
Jehovah's
character
and
rule,
are
established.
It
was
the
prophetic
function
to
deepen
the
conscious-gyiss
of
sin
by
revealing
a
God
of
moral
righteousness
to
a
people
whose
peculiar
relationship
to
Jehovah
involved
both
immense
privileges
and
grave
responsi-bilities
(Am
32,
Hos
3»ff-,
Mic
3«-
etc.).
Terrible,
how-ever,
as
were
the
denunciations,
and
emphatic
as
were
the
declarations
of
the
prophets
against
the
vices
of
greed,
oppression,
and
lust,
they
were
no
less
clear
in
their
call
to
repentance,
and
in
promises
of
restora-/
tion
and
pardon
(Is
l'"-,
Mic
7",
Hos
6',
Am
S"")/
The
story
of
Jonah
of
Gath-hepher
is
the
revelation
of
a
growing
feeling
that
the
righteous
dominion
of
Jehovah
was
not,
in
the
exercise
of
its
moral
influence,
confined
exclusively
to
Israel.
The
consciousness
of
sin
and
the
power
of
repentance
have
now
their
SIN
place
in
the
lives
of
nations
outside
the
Abrahamic
covenant.
Hitherto
the
prophetic
teaching
was
largely
confined
to
national
sin
and
national
repentance.
It
is
not
till
the
days
of
Jeremiah
that
the
importance,
in
this
respect,
of
the
individual
begins
to
manifest
itself.
The
lament
of
Jeremiah,
it
is
true,
frequently
expresses
itself
in
terms
of
national
infidelity
(Jer
2'"
8'
35"-"
3128
32SM-
etc.).
At
the
same
time
an
element
of
in-dividualistic
thought
enters
largely
into
his
teaching
(cf.
17'°
32").
On
its
darker
side
he
notes
how
univer-sally
present
sin
is
seen
to
be:
'from
the
least
even
unto
the
greatest,'
'from
the
prophet
even
unto
the
priest'
all
are
infected
(8"',
cf.
v.»).
It
is
impossible
to
find
a
man
either
just
or
truth-loving
(5');
and
the
explana-tion
is
not
far
to
seek,
for
sin
is
a
disease
which
affects
the
individual
heart,
and
therefore
poisons
the
whole
life
of
each
man
(cf.
13'
5^^
7^
etc.).
The
nature
of
the
disease
he
characterizes
as
desperate
in
the
awful
deceit
which
supervenes
(17').
A
hopeless
pessimism
seems
at
times
to
have
pervaded
the
prophet's
teaching,
and
such
of
the
people
as
were
aroused
by
his
appeals
were
smitten
by
a
blank
despair
(lO^s
2^
18'"
IS^"
etc.).
As
the
prophet
grows
older,
however,
and
gains
a
wider
knowledge
from
his
own
bitter
experiences,
he
discovers
a
way
of
escape
from
the
overpowering
influences
of
sin.
As
the
heart
is
the
seat
of
evil,
it
is
found
that
the
creative
act
of
God
can
provide
a
remedy
(31"
32'*
24').
A
new
heart
straight
from
the
hand
of
God,
beating
with
new
and
holy
impulses,
is
the
sure,
as
it
is
the
only,
hope
for
men
(32'").
Every
individual,
from
the
least
to
the
greatest,
in
whom
the
Divine
activity
has
been
at
work
shall
have
the
felicity
of
hearing
the
blessed
sentence,
'
I
will
forgive
their
iniquity,
and
their
sin
will
I
remember
no
more'
(31'*).
Following
up
and
developing
this
tendency,
Ezekiel
is
express
in
his
declaration
of
the
moral
independence
of
each
man.
Repudiating,
as
Jeremiah
did,
the
doctrine
that
the
sin
and
moral
guilt
of
the
fathers
are
imputed
to
the
children,
he
elaborates
clearly
and
emphatically
the
truth,
which
to
us
seems
axiomatic,
that
the
soul
of
the
father
is
personally
independent
of
the
soul
of
the
son,
with
the
terrible
but
inevitable
corollary,
'
the
soul
that
sinneth,
it
shall
die
'
(Ezk
18'-
™,
cf.
vv.
lo-^").
The
profound
truth
which
lies
at
the
basis
of
the
ancient
belief
in,
the
close
interaction
of
individual
and
racial
guilt
is,
of
course,
valid
for
all
time,
and
has
been
sanctified
by
the
historical
fact
of
the
Incarnation.
The
life,
work,
and
death
of
Christ
have
their
value
in
the
re-establishment
of
this
truth,
and
in
the
re-creation,
as
it
were,
of
the
concurrent
truth
of
the
solidarity
of
the
whole
human
race
(cf
.
the
expression
'we
are
ail
become
as
one
that
is
unclean,'
Is
64»).
5.
Psalms.
—
We
turn
now
to
the
Psalms,
and
there
find,
as
might
be
expected,
the
deepest
consciousness
of
personal
guilt
on
the
part
of
the
sinner.
Of
course,
it
is
to
be
remembered
that
the
Jewish
Psalter
is
the
product
of
different
epochs
in
the
national
history,
ranging
probably
from
the
heyday
of
prophetic
religion
to
the
age
immediately
succeeding
the
Captivity,
if
not
much
later.
It
may
be
said,
indeed,
that
this
volume
of
sacred
poetry
constitutes
a
kind
of
antiphonal
response
to
the
preaching
of
the
Prophets.
Confession
of
and
repentance
for
sin,
both
personal
and
national,
constitute
the
prominent
features
of
the
authors'
attitude.
A
deep
love
for
God
breathes
through
each
poem,
and
a
profound
hope
that
at
some
future
date
Israel
may
once
again
be
restored
to
the
favour
of
Jehovah.
"The
religious
instinct
of
the
compilers
displays
itself
in
their
choice
of
those
Psalms
which
form
a
preface
or
intro-duction
to
each
of
the
five
sections
or
books
constituting
the
entire
volume,
setting
the
music,
so
to
speak,
of
each
part.
"The
First
Book
(Pss
1-41)
opens
with
a
Psalm
which
is
simply
an
expression
of
the
power
of
sin
and
of
the
awful
danger
to
which
men
are
exposed
by
dallying
with
it.
It
is
thus
well
fitted
to
be
the
prelude
to
such
outbursts
as
occur
in
