Is it a sin to have an evil thought?

Elsewhere I made this observation:

Having evil thoughts is not sinning, indulging them is.​

In response I was assured that

If you're a true christian, sins are thoughts, words, and deeds. Everyone should know that. ​

As a test of that idea I propose this hypothetical: on his way to work a man encounters an attractive woman who is both stark raving naked and coming on to him like he's the last man on Earth. He immediately reports her to the police, continues on to work and doesn't give her another thought until he gets home and his wife asks him how his day went, when images of the incident naturally flash into his mind as he tells her all about it.

Now for those of you who believe it's a sin to have an evil thought, if that man didn't sin by looking at what was in his face in the morning, how did he sin by looking at what sprang into his consciousness unbidden in the evening?

 

What's evil about a naked woman?

 

http://bible.cc/matthew/5-28.htm
http://www.evangelicaloutreach.org/lust.htm
I guess you have to make your own choice how you view that passage.
Many christian religions take that to mean sins are thoughts, words, and deeds.

 

Oh, ok. This is why I didn't understand what you meant in that other thread. You think to lust means to willfully fantasize about sex or something like that?
Dictionary.com says that lust is:
1.
intense sexual desire or appetite.
2.
uncontrolled or illicit sexual desire or appetite; lecherousness.

It deals with the unconscious mind; so if he felt some strong but fleeting desire for her he's (*)(*)(*)(*)ed where the Christian god is concerned.

 

according to the bible, God preferred humans to be naked, it wasn't until they ate from the tree of knowledge that they no longer wanted God seeing their naked bodies

.

 

Thanks for nothing.

You start talking about it as a verb and then quote the definition for the noun. Why is that?

And just where do you get that idea?

You have no idea what you're talking about. If he saw it arising in him and didn't let it command his attention, there is no sin.

 

That was a pretty crummy tree to create, wasn't it?

I think people just got weird about it as the first clothing developed, and with it a clothes-based mode of thinking. O to be witness to those times.. It would be a most fascinating study!

It would be neat if it could be simulated today to see how clueless naked people would develop once they were given (or discovered for themselves, which is the more likely course by far) clothing. Unfortunately, that would pretty much require raising children in an isolated nudist environment to experiment upon. I don't see how else it could be tested, short of something even crazier and less likely, such as creating virtual people using computers

 

YW.
I'm not going to tell you how to interpret a passage or 2. But if a man lusts after a women, he supposedly commits adultary and will go to hell. (paraphrased a bit).
Also, if a man hates his brother, same as murdering, (again paraphrasing).

You interpret that how you think. But in most major christian religions, they took sin to be thought, word, and deed. Don't know if they are right or wrong as everyone usually develops their own version of religion anyways.

 

I wish the bible included a threat of hell for poor spelling.

 

I didn't think I needed to. Dictionary.com says: 6. to have intense sexual desire.
It's the same as the first noun definition but with "to have" in it.

Common sense man. What part of "intense sexual desire" sounds conscious to you? If a hot naked chick is all over this presumably straight guy he's going to feel lust subconsciously whether he wants to or not.

Whatever helps you sleep dude. Just know the chapter doesn't say any of that.

 

If you are judged by your thoughts, you are subject to thought crimes, and the enforcer of those thought laws is an enemy worse than any tyrannical dictator imaginable.

 

Who asked you to?

Which is why you misunderstand the issue: sin in this context is an action, wherefore one cannot sin merely by merely feeling something, any more than one can by merely seeing something.

All of it, if the man in question becomes conscious of it.

No, if he keeps his wits about him, he will be perfectly aware of it and it will be powerless to infect his soul.

This thread is not about those verses - which in any case make no pretense of expounding on the psychological dynamics of temptation, neither do they contradict anything I've said.

 

It is a sin to be cool.

 

Mary Magdalen was a babe with big knockers. I'm sure those facts didn't escape Jesus.

 

Except if you're merely feeling anger towards your brother.

According to which scripture?

These scriptures are pertinent though. Matthew 5 deals with the sinful subconscious feelings of lust and anger. Check out Matthew 15 too, it contains scriptures dealing with conscious evil thoughts like adultery. God clearly judges people for both consciously imagining adultery and for feeling lust towards someone other than their wives (whether they want to or not).

 

Nope, works the same for every negative emotion.

You don't need scripture when you have insight. And I do.

That's not much of a refutation, to say the least.

Sure they are, but you don't understand them, because you're wedded to the idea that no one can follow God's law, which is your excuse for holding it in casual contempt.

 

Why does this thread feel like an attempt to quell ones fear over his thoughts?

 

That's what I got out of it. And now in total denial.

Scriptures clearly state that lust and anger thoughts are equal to actual actions and therefore sins. That is the way most christian religions interpret them.
But, people generally change things to suit how they live and feel.

 

I believe I will toy with the lyrics of American Taliban a bit more.

If you are judged by your thoughts;
You are a subject of thought crimes
The Enforcer of those thought laws is
The Punisher of those thought crimes and is
An Enemy worse than any
Tyrannical dictator fathomable

 

Sounds like a personal problem.

Of what?

So as far as you're concerned the guy in the hypothetical is guilty of sin merely by having the image of the nude woman come into his mind. Have I got that right?

 

Scriptures clearly state that,

"'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife--with the wife of his neighbor--both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
"'If a man sleeps with his father's wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
"'If a man sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.
"'If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
"'If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that no wickedness will be among you.

... and so on. But, people generally change things to suit how they live and feel.

 

Thoughts can lead to actions. Traditional Judeo-Christian philosophy warns us against evil thoughts for that very reason. It also encourages treating others as you would like to be treated. Everyone has bad thoughts but there is a difference between having unwanted bad thoughts and actually mentally entertaining them. In this secular-humanist society, where moral relativity is pushed by at least half (the liberal half) of the population, one can expect more and more tearing of the societal moral fabric that traditionally held US together.

 

It sure does but you're the one who chose to talk about it on a public forum.

 

Yes, and one would not think this a difficult concept to grasp.

I didn't bring up your perceptual handicap. You're the one who did that, obviously hoping to steer this thread down a road to nowhere.

 

Me personally, No.
I have backed away from religion for now because of things like that. And because of interpretations and translations errors.

All I pointed out is what scripture says and how most major christian religions interpret them. According to most major christian religions, sins are thought, word, and deed.