The opposite of sin

Your question arises not from a lack of knowledge about English, but rather a lack of understanding about Christianity. Christianity, unlike Hinduism, is not a religion of works. Sin exists (indeed we are born in sin) just like the sun and the moon. One does not accumulate points to earn their way to heaven. It is only through grace and faith that one gets to heaven. 'Good works' could be considered an antonym of sin, but it's a rather subjective phrase and implies that one can get to heaven by performing good works while lacking faith.

Your search for an antonym to sin is not really a question of lexicality but one of religious doctrine. However, for the sake of understanding, I propose the hyphenated phrase 'Jesus-like.' It comes nearest to describing in Christian terms what the opposite of sin is since Jesus was the only person to ever walk on the earth who lacked sin.

I put this question to a pair of fellow Valentine's Day diners. One, a lapsed Catholic and my wife, immediately suggested "virtue". Residue of pre-confirmation, I figured. The other, a New Zealander of unknown denomination, went with "fun". Is everything inverted there? My own Northern Hemispheric conclusion, "drudgery".

I can remember (way) back in catechism, learning that Grace defines these "credits." As it was explained to me at the time, a stairway, of sorts, to heaven can be built, step by step, through acts of Grace.

As for the closest definition of Grace I was given, it was those (holy) acts after which you felt a certain spiritual enlightenment, coming from having been brought closer to God. I remember describing such a feeling to my catechism teacher (who was pretty much a dictator.) It came after I had done an entire rosary. (I was in fourth grade at the time.) My teacher told me i had achieved a state of Grace temporarily. While still practicing Catholicism, this was the only time i can remember such a feeling.

As so many do, I have since left the Catholic Church, for many reasons. But I can tell you that through meditation, I have come to know this sensation quite well, and achieve it much more often.

Why not virtue?

I confess I am quite intrigued with the suggested financial approach -debits and credits- to religion. As someone who has never understood why assets and liabilities must always, exactly equal each other, I find both religion and accounting require acts of faiths to accept certain mysteries.

Then there is the issue of our degree of honesty when personally confronting each topic.

And who among us does not, in some small way, dread Audit Day?

Hrrm.

There are different meanings of the word "sin".

If by "a sin" as in an particular act, Catholic theology offers us "a sacrement" or "an act of grace".

"Grace" being the word which is the opposite of "sin" as in "that quality of soul which damns a person".

The other word which is often used as the opposite of "sin" is "virtue" - but this is more in a dative sense.

The word "sin" in New Testament Greek is "hamartia" = to miss the mark (as in archery), literally, anyway. So, maybe "aim true" or "sure shot" would work.
;-)
Tracy

"sin" refers to "left handedness" so maybe the best word would be to do something "right" or "righteous"?
Say, wait a minute, seems I've heard that before.
(Being left handed, all this erks me, makes me want to do something nasty. Which I'm very good at. Comes naturally to me. ; )

Glenn, the sinister.

From the Prodigal Toronto Serial Diners Collective:

On the subject of faith vs. good works, one Diner -- a Catholic -- observed, "Asking whether faith or good works is more important is like asking which blade of the scissors is more important."

Meanwhile, we have a few suggestions for the word that would represent the opposite of a sin: a "virtuon" (a particle of virtue); a "ne-gates" (i.e., not Bill Gates); a "zing" (just sounds non-sinful); and a "nis" (think about it).

The opposite of sin? I think 'Glenn the Sinister' has it down. Sin involves relationship. Righteousness to me means simply 'right relations.' I vote 'righteousness' as the word for the opposite for sin. Jack Jones (also a left-hander and therefore 'sinister.'

Within the context of Biblically-derived scripture, the opposite of sin is obeying that which G-d commands us to do or not to do. Thus, the Hebrew word "mitzvah" is accurate.

Jewish tradition holds that there are 613 explicit commandments in the Torah, 248 positive and 365 negative. Failure to fulfill a positive or transgressing a negative commandment is a "sin". Fulfilling the will of G-d through obeying a positive or negative mitzvah is the opposite of sin.

It is impossible for anyone to fulfill all 613 commandments. Some commandments apply only to women, others to members of the priestly caste (Kohanim, Levites), while only a small subset of the 613 apply to gentiles.
Some commandments apply only when there is a standing Temple and Sanhedrin. Nearly a third of all the commandments have to do with the observation requirements of specific holidays and festivals.

St. Thomas Aquinas defines "sin" as a morally bad act; accordingly, the opposite of a sin would be a morally good act -- a mitzvah, as Aaron Gross states. Why English speakers (myself included) haven't seen a pressing need for a word that means "a morally good act" is a question for another forum.

"Virtue," incidentally, is defined by Aquinas to be a habit; its opposite is "vice." "Grace," meanwhile, is a gift, while a "sacrament" is a sign. Neither a habit, a gift, nor a sign can properly be said to be the opposite of an act.