Section D: 2.3 Religious perspectives on moral failure


A person’s understanding of sin is shaped by their religious vision, for example a person who sees God as the maker of laws and the granter of salvation may see sin as ‘the breaking of God's law’. In Christianity it is a rejection of God’s love. For others sin creates a distance and lack of harmony because what they have done is contradictory to their moral vision, and damages their relationship with those they claim to love and have concern for.



Past Exam Question

Compare the understanding of moral failure in a Christian denomination with the way that it is understood in one of the following world religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism


The key Christian response to moral failure is forgiveness and reconciliation. God is full of compassion, rich in mercy and love. The stories of Jesus show how radical his concept of mercy is – for example in John 8:1-11 Jesus encounters a woman caught in adultery, he tells her to ‘Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.’ The existence of forgiveness does not mean that following the law of love is easy; neither does it mean that sin is irrelevant. In the gospel of John, the symbol of sin is darkness. Sin is a power at work in us and in our world. Christ is the Light, who has overcome the darkness.


Christians celebrate God’s forgiveness in the sacrament of Reconciliation/Confession. While many can find the sacrament difficult, it can also be a joyful, healing experience. We fail in relationships, we let people down, but out of failure can come growth and healing. In the parable, The Prodigal Son, Jesus explains the forgiving, merciful nature of God. The joy of the father at his son’s return, reflects divine love, the boundless mercy of God, and God’s refusal to limit the measure of his grace.


The Islamic faith sees no need for a saviour to redeem people, as Christianity believes. The way to salvation is Islam is through obedience. Allah loves and pardons those who obey His will, and this will is revealed in the Qur’an and the teachings of Islam. Each person has the freedom to choose whether to obey or to disobey God. If they believe and practice the Five Pillars, and follow the example of Muhammad, they will experience peace and be saved. Those who do not follow this way will be condemned to hell, or exclusion from God’s presence.

According to Muslim tradition, two angels visit the dead and question them on how they have lived, but the final judgement belongs to God. On the third blast of the mighty trumpet the dead will rise to face the judgement of God, and those who are saved will cross into paradise. Those whose good deeds outnumber their evil deeds, will reach heaven.

Moral failure is primarily a religious concept. The great sin is the sin of shirk, calling any other god the true God. This is similar to the first and second commandments in the Judeo-Christian tradition, - the law that you should worship the Lord your God alone. The virtue of obedience is a primary virtue in Islam, and to go against the will of God is the great moral failure.

Similarities with Christianity are the belief in life after death, the judgement of sins and the existence of heaven and hell. Also, the presence of a scripture, the example of a prophet, and the emphasis on putting one’s faith into practice are common themes. The building up of a detailed body of Sharia law is similar to the Catholic Church’s tradition of providing manuals for confessors in the Middle Ages.

The Christian emphasis on a loving relationship with God, and the concept of reconciliation and forgiveness that is formalised in Catholic Christianity in the sacrament of reconciliation, are major differences between the traditions. For Islam, authority lies in the Sharia, whereas in Catholic Christianity, authority lies in the more unified teaching of church leaders. For Islam, there is no hierarchical system of authority: the truth is discovered by going back to the original sources. 

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