Archimandrite Sophronius Sakharov on Sin

Archimandrite Sophronius Sakharov

Sin is primarily a metaphysical phenomenon whose roots lie in the mystic depth of man’s spiritual nature. The essence of sin consists not in the infringement of ethical standards but in a falling away from the eternal Divine life for which man was created and to which, by his very nature, he is called. Sin is committed first of all in the secret depths of the human spirit but its consequences involve the individual as a whole. A sin will reflect on a man’s physcological and physical condition, on his outward appearance, on his personal destiny. Sin will, inevitably, pass beyond the boundaries of the sinner’s individual life, to burden all humanity and thus affect the fate of the world.

*Taken from St. Silouan the Athonite.

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