A Comparative Study of the Concept of Sin in Christian Religion and African Indigenous Religion

Abstract

The study examined the biblical concept of sin in Christian Religion. It explored the concept of sin in Ifá Corpus of African Indigenous Religion. This was done with a view to eliciting an intercultural understanding of the concept of sin in Yorùbá and biblical cultures. The selected texts of the Bible were interpreted using “Theological Interpretation of Scripture” (TIS) method, while the data collected from both Yorùbá and biblical cultures were analysed using the ‘Intercultural Hermeneutics Principles.’ The result shows that Sin è̩s̩è̩ in Ifá corpus is conceived as às̩ìs̩è (a mistaken deed, a deed that is wide of the mark), àìtọ́ (that which is not straight forward), àìyẹ (unbefitting, unbecoming), àìgbọràn (disobedience), ìrúfin (breaking of the law), àìs̩ótítọ́ (untruthfulness), àìs̩òdodo (unrighteousness) and iniquity (àìs̩edéédé). Also, Sin is conceived as Èèwò̩ (things forbidden, taboo) or A kìí s̩e é (it is not done). All these cognate with the Hebrew words for Sin in Old Testament: Pesha (breaching of morals, passing a reasonable boundary, or breaking a just rule), Chatha (to miss the mark), Awon (iniquity, guilt or punishment) and the Greek words for Sin in the New Testament: Parabaino (to transgress, break or deviate from the way), Parabasis (wrong doing), Paraptoma (trespass, offense, fall, sin, or fault), hamartia and hamartano (a missing of the mark), adikia (unrighteousness), anomia (breaking of the law), apeitheo (disobedience) and apistos (unbelief). The study concluded that there is an intercultural understanding of the concept of sin in both Yorùbá and biblical cultures, as the two cultures regarded sin as a negative value.