“But all sin is sin!” This was one of the first excuses (secular Auckland University Theology lecturers would call it a “theological argument”), and it’s one they give all the time!) given to me by a former paedophile when he was trying to justify his last conviction in God’s sight. So it’s no different from speeding in God’s eyes, and even you do that Warren.
No, I instantly shot back. It doesn’t say that anywhere in the Bible! I was bluffing, I knew I didn’t know for sure, but I didn’t remember seeing it anywhere in the New Testament at least. All sin is sin. It just didn’t sound right. I knew the Hebrew Bible had death penalty for many sins, but not all, so there must be some difference in consequence. He replied by quoting Romans 3:23. Ah, that was easy. It says HAVE sinned I said, all HAVE sinned, and do not keep on continuing after they are saved. Shall we continue in sin so that grace may abound? No way! He quickly replies, almost without even thinking. I can tell he has had this debate before. But, he says, the Apostle Paul had a thorn in his flesh, so he was a homosexual. That’s not what it means, I replied, it could just mean that he had to put up with pricks following him around! Or it could be poor eyesight, or anything. But it didn’t mean Christians could keep molesting kids, or watching his videos. He changed the topic, he was good at that when things weren’t going his way.
The first thing I did when I arrived home that night was check for the phrase. Thankfully it wasn’t there. And over the next few nights I double checked passages. While some struggled with things, they were still things there were supposed to give up. Some could even say that passages such as Hebrew 6:4-6 implied once you walk away you couldn’t come back. But while the “all sin is sin” excuse was all through my secular theology degree enabling homosexuals and others to legitimise their behaviour, they never gave students a chance in class or essays to question or debate the topic “Is all sin the same”. I am intending to deal with this as part of Theology of a paedophile.
But, until then, Michael Patton has an answer worth reading: Are All Sins Equal to God?
And what happens with some of those who argue “all sin is sin”? Paedophile jailed for assault at Auckland pool
