1. Terminology and contexts
Since the early Midde Ages, sin (German Sünde, French péché) has meant a culpable and punishable transgression of a divine commandment or an ecclesiastical law legitimated by a divine commandment by a responsible offender. Over and above the moral concept of “vice,” the religious or theological word sin always denotes an injury to the human relationship with God. In this (narrower) sense, it tran…