by Zakary Venturo

Created on: May 11, 2009   Last Updated: May 18, 2009

When the Christian faith meets with reason this question is a natural fit. For someone in the midst of a real search, there are curiosities that lead towards an investigation with a mind undoubtedly troubled with its own objectivity.

The question of sin is both personal and a reflection of a possibility of there being a loving God. Three basic Hebrew words convey the meaning of sin. One word, chatta'ah, conveys this meaning in both an accidental sense and as a willful choice. The second Hebrew word, pesha, means the breaking of established rules. The third word, avon, conveys a rebellious and willful act. In the Greek, the basic word for sin is hamartia. It is literally derived from a technical term in archery meaning to "miss the mark".

Everyone makes mistakes and has even willfully broken the rules. Missing the mark is an identifiable part of being human. The story of a savior who is God himself becoming a man to die for our sins is profound. That it is a story many people refuse to call a myth and point towards as the most influential fact in their life is almost startling. It has inspired many others into pondering the significance and need of a personal savior. Even people who disregard the story and call it a myth can point to a time when the life of Jesus Christ had to be given serious consideration.

Historically the existence of Yeshua HaMashiach, more popularly known as Jesus Christ in western culture, is not a great debate. At best the argument of Christ's non existence ends in the idea that the early works of Flavius Josephus, the Jewish Historian, might have been partially forgeries. When faith meets reason, the only question is, was Christ without sin?

On a substantial level, the New Testament is the only comprehensive entity that details the life of Christ. Jesus is described as a man with a radical philosophical view, performs miracles, and is often at odds with the established religious order of his time. Christ's philosophies, his actions, and the fall out they caused with Judaism do provide for an area for speculation on whether Christ sinned. Did Jesus miss the mark?

Possibly the greatest collision is the claim of Jesus being both man and God. While some theologians might argue whether Christ ever actually stated himself as God, the New Testament records the response of the religious authority of the period as willing to stone him for blasphemy.

John 8:54-59 (NKJV)
(54)Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My

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