As we look around at the back and forth of ordinary life—all the telephone calls, incidental conversations, television, newspapers, and magazines—we might wonder whether the word sin had been packed up and spirited away one night when no one was looking.
A few years ago the title of a popular book raised the question Whatever Became of Sin? The author mused: "In all of the laments and reproaches made by our seers and prophets, one misses any mention of 'sin,' a word which used to be a veritable watchword of prophets. It was a word once in everyone's mind, but now rarely if ever heard." He asked, "Does that mean that no sin is involved in all our troubles—sin with an 'I' in the middle?" Karl Menninger, M.D., Whatever Became of Sin? (New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1973), p. 13 .
Perhaps we're tempted to respond, "Well, it's a good thing in a way. The gloom of old–time views had to go." But we'd have to concede the world's population of sinners doesn't appear to be in sharp decline. Maybe there's still something needing attention!
