Hamartiology 101
Many concepts in the ancient Church are presented in greek, a language of notable nuance and clarity. The “missing the mark” described as “sin” in the West is in fact derived from the greek “hamartia” (hamartanein). Hamartiology is a branch of theological study in the West, exhausted by its dominant juridical view on the subject. While the Christian East makes use of legal imagery from the scriptures, the overtone surrounding hamartia is holistic rather than legal. While the West defines sin by complex categories and inferences, the Christian East describes it as misusing the Life-giving Energies of God.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17). As the faithfulness and changelessness of the Holy One is the foundation for all orthodox theology, it is easy to understand that it is the Life-giving Breath that all creation depends on everyday. Saint Paul’s one-point sermon on Mars Hill projects this tone. “…he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else” (Acts 17:25). “For in him we live and move and have our being” (verse 28). From this life link with the Originator of All Things Life-Giving, the Christian East derives its understanding of sin as a malignant growth. It is described as a disease which steals nutrients designed to give life and uses them to make a heavy tumorous mass.
From this posture, being “Weighed down by sins” (2 Timothy 3:6) is an accurate description of the sinner. The blessings given to him are turned into curses, such that he requires even more Divine Mercies to even sustain himself (see Romans 6:1). Being a blessing to no one, the sinner looks to acquire and store up for himself. This expresses itself in the forms of covetousness, gluttony, avarice and all forms of selfishness (see Galatians 5:19). These can be viewed as not only transgressing the commandment of God, but as missing the mark of the Divine Nature, the Blessing of the Blessed One.
Blindness could be considered stage two of this disease. Rather than food being used to nourish the body for the cultivation of good works, it is seen as a source of temporal enjoyment. Sex is removed from its life-giving mystery and used for recreation. Religion itself becomes a way to relieve guilt and bolster the ego, rather than to connect with the Source. Motives are confused and fragmented and the sinner is lost in a fog of psychological reasoning. Justifying himself by avoiding “technical sins”, he drifts farther and farther from Divine purpose. God-given rational power can paralyze authentic regeneration.
The point of reference for sin migrates from the East to the West. The legalistic view of sin, originating from the theology of the West, accurately reveals a much deeper problem in the East. Sin reveals a transgression against God’s Life-giving Energies, alienating the sinner from the Invisible Source. While the dogma of sin in the West compares God to a High Court Judge, the hamartiology of the East judges men against God’s Life-giving qualities.
Joshua Ben Nun 
Reblogged this on Audacity and Supposition and commented:
Interesting perspective and well worth the read.