Not Good, But Evil: On Sin in Abrahamic Religions Quiz

Answer: Romans

Specifically, it's Chapter 6, Verse 23. Similarly, Galatians 8:6 says that those who sow to please themselves will only reap destruction, whereas those who sow to please G-d will reap eternal life. In other words, sinners can only expect death and misery as a reward in the long run.

Answer: Ashamnu

'Ashamnu' ('We have trespassed') is a list of sins beginning with each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, from aleph ('Ashamnu' - 'we have trespassed') to tav ('titanu' - 'we have misled others'). There is an English 'A-Z' version: 'We have Abused others and Betrayed them', and so on.

As for the other answers, 'Al Chet' ('For the Sin') is a much longer prayer listing various sins, both trivial and serious, and asking G-d for forgiveness. 'Avinu Malkeinu' ('Our Father, Our King') is a prayer recited on both Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. 'Ki Hinei Ka'Chomer (rough translation, 'We Are Like Clay')' is a song likening G-d to a skilled worker, such as a blacksmith or a potter, who shapes humans like raw materials according to His will.

Answer: Idolatry

Shirk is the opposite of tawheed, the belief in one god, and literally means placing 'partners' alongside Allah, whether those partners be spiritual (such as other gods), or material (such as the golden calf worshipped by the Israelites). The Qu'ran states: "Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin most heinous indeed." (Surah 4:48). Shirk can only be forgiven if a person who commits the sin repents of it sincerely before death.

Answer: Mammon

Mammon is the personification of greed and materialism; origins of the term are unclear, and words such as the Aramaic 'mamon' ('riches') have been suggested as its source. Mammon gets a mention in the Gospels; for instance, Luke 16:13 states, "You cannot both serve G-d and Mammon." Some translations replace the word 'Mammon' with 'money'.

Beelzebub, Lucifer and Asmodeus are the corresponding demons for the sins of gluttony, pride and lust, respectively. They also appear in the British occultist Francis Barrett's classification of demons, and are associated with certain evil people or behaviours; in this instance, Mammon represents temptation.

Answer: 10

In the Hebrew calendar, the Ten Days of Repentance are the first ten days of the month of Tishrei, starting on Rosh Hashana and leading up to Yom Kippur. During this period, Jews are given the opportunity to do teshuvah, or repent, by asking those whom they have wronged for forgiveness, giving to charity (tzedakah) or reciting the selichot, prayers of repentance.

Some Jews may also observe the Fast of Gedaliah on the third day, a half-day fast. If Shabbat happens to be during this period, it is known as 'Shabbat Shuvah', the Shabbat of Return.

Answer: Tawba

Allah will always accept tawba as long as it is sincere; indeed, one of Allah's 99 names is 'Ar-Raheem', the Most Merciful (similar to the Jewish 'Ha'Rachaman'). According to Hazrat Ali, there are six conditions for tawba, which include asking forgiveness of the person who has been wronged, and resolving not to do the sin again in future.

As for the other answers, zakat, or charity, is one of the Five Pillars of Islam; inaba is sincere penitence; and da'wah, which literally means 'invitation', is the preaching of Islam.

Answer: Hamartiology

Hamartiology comes from the Greek 'hamartia' (literally, 'missing the mark'). It deals with issues such as original sin - the idea that humankind is tainted by the fall of Adam - motives for sinning, the degree and seriousness of various sins, and forgiveness. The Hamartiology article on Got Questions? cites Romans 3:23-24 as an important verse in understanding sin: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of G-d, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ."

As for the other answers, eschatology is the study of death, ecclesiology is the study of the Church, and soteriology is the study of salvation and redemption.

Answer: False

Jews do not believe that humankind are tainted by the fall of Adam and Eve, or that they are the reason why people die. Rather, humans are born neither good or evil; however, they may choose to do evil, and are born with the 'yetzer ha'ra', the 'impulse to evil' which must be kept in check. The counter to this is the 'yetzer ha'tov', the impulse to good which, according to the Talmud, is what distinguishes adults from children, the reason why adults (theoretically) have more control over their bad behaviour.

As for the subject of death: according to Genesis 3:22-24, angels and a flaming sword guarded the Tree of Life, so that no-one may eat from it. Had Adam and Eve also eaten from the Tree of Life, they would have become immortal, but G-d cast them out of the Garden of Eden before that could happen.

Answer: No

The rationale for the seven major sins comes from the hadith Sahih Muslim, in which the Prophet Mohammed warns of the 'seven noxious things'. They are idolatry; practicing magic; murder; consuming the property of an orphan; usury; retreating from a battle; and slandering chaste women.

However, other Islamic scholars believe that there are as many as 70 major sins, all of which are acts which are either forbidden in the Qu'ran, by the Prophet Mohammed, or are punishable under Islamic law.

Answer: Goat

The word 'scapegoat' is derived from this practice. It's actually the result of a mistranslation; William Tyndale read the word 'Azazel' as 'ez ozel', which literally means 'goat which departs', and translated it accordingly for the 1530 edition of the Bible.

'Azazel', incidentally, also features in Islam. According to hadith, it was the original name of Iblis (Satan), a fallen angel who refused to bow down before Adam, and later tempted Adam to eat the forbidden fruit.

Depending on what sort of synagogue you're in, the rabbi, the cantor and even, sometimes, the entire congregation will prostrate themselves at the parts of the Temple Service where the High Priest recites the Tetragrammaton. Some Reform and Reconstructionist congregations omit the Temple Service altogether.