Richard,

Your definition of sin does seem quite objective, but I think it falls down a little in some aspects.  First, creativity is not dependent upon first a destruction of previous elements.  Take my (rather odd) hobby of constructed langauges.  Such is a creative effort, but no destruction is required.  God’s creation of the universe required no destruction of anything.  That is the first point.

The second: John 3:16 says, "Whoever believes in him shall not perish," not, "If all of you (or all of humanity) believes in him, they shall not perish."  Since the "wages of sin is death", we have to assume that the "believing" is the answer to the "perishing", in other words, salvation from sin.  And, although I agree with you that we are in community, and corporate sin affects the corps, I disagree that this corporate redemption is the only way by which we can be saved… I believe that is mentioned elsewhere in Scripture…

I agree with most of what you have said above with regards to the overlooked sins of our time.  I disagree, I guess, with your conclusions.

What do you mean by, "For me, this was God’s aim through Jesus: to redeem evil by making that evil the basis of new creativity"?  I take it that "that evil" must be destroyed in order to base our new creativity, rather than thinking up new and exciting ways to commit evil! :-D

I have enjoyed reading your comments, because it has provoked a lot of thought, and would like to hear more of your views, especially on how your ideas affect personal redemption/holiness.

Thanks! 

"It’s not how long we’ve been standing here,
It’s that we haven’t moved forward…"