Editing Christianity and Judaism (section)

===Sin===
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{{Main|Jewish views of sin|Christian views on sin}}
In both religions, offenses against the will of God are called [[sin]]. These sins can be thoughts, words, or deeds.

Catholicism categorizes sins into various groups. A wounding of the relationship with God is often called [[venial sin]]; a complete rupture of the relationship with God is often called [[mortal sin]]. Without salvation from sin (see below), a person's separation from God is permanent, causing such a person to enter [[Hell]] in the [[afterlife]]. Both the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church define sin more or less as a "macula", a spiritual stain or uncleanliness that constitutes damage to man's image and likeness of God.

Hebrew has several words for sin, each with its own specific meaning. The word ''pesha'', or "trespass", means a sin done out of rebelliousness. The word ''aveira'' means "transgression". And the word ''avone'', or "iniquity", means a sin done out of moral failing. The word most commonly translated simply as "sin", ''het'', literally means "to go astray". Just as Jewish law, ''halakha'' provides the proper "way" (or path) to live, sin involves straying from that path. Judaism teaches that humans are born with [[free will]], and morally neutral, with both a ''[[yetzer hatov]]'', (literally, "the good inclination", in some views,{{which|date= November 2018}} a tendency towards goodness, in others{{which|date= November 2018}}, a tendency towards having a productive life and a tendency to be concerned with others) and a ''[[yetzer hara]]'', (literally "the evil inclination", in some views,{{which|date= November 2018}} a tendency towards evil, and in others,{{which|date= November 2018}} a tendency towards base or animal behavior and a tendency to be selfish). In Judaism all human beings are believed to have free will and can choose the path in life that they will take. It does not teach that choosing good is impossible—only at times more difficult. There is almost always a "way back" if a person wills it. (Although texts mention certain categories for whom the way back will be exceedingly hard, such as the slanderer, the habitual gossip, and the malicious person)

The rabbis recognize a positive value to the ''yetzer hara'': one tradition identifies it with the observation on the last day of creation that God's accomplishment was "very good" (God's work on the preceding days was just described as "good") and explain that without the yetzer ha'ra there would be no marriage, children, commerce or other fruits of human labor; the implication is that yetzer ha'tov and yetzer ha'ra are best understood not as moral categories of good and evil but as selfless versus selfish orientations, either of which used rightly can serve God's will.

In contrast to the Jewish view of being morally balanced, [[Original Sin]] refers to the idea that the sin of [[Adam and Eve]]'s disobedience (sin "at the origin") has passed on a spiritual heritage, so to speak. Christians teach that human beings inherit a corrupted or damaged human nature in which the tendency to do bad is greater than it would have been otherwise, so much so that human nature would not be capable now of participating in the afterlife with God. This is not a matter of being "guilty" of anything; each person is only personally guilty of their own actual sins. However, this understanding of original sin is what lies behind the Christian emphasis on the need for spiritual salvation from a spiritual Saviour, who can forgive and set aside sin even though humans are not inherently pure and worthy of such salvation. Paul the Apostle in Romans and I Corinthians placed special emphasis on this doctrine, and stressed that belief in Jesus would allow Christians to overcome death and attain salvation in the hereafter.

Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and some Protestants{{who|date= November 2018}} teach the Sacrament of [[Baptism]] is the means by which each person's damaged human nature is healed and [[sanctifying grace]] (capacity to enjoy and participate in the spiritual life of God) is restored. This is referred to as "being born of water and the Spirit", following the terminology in the Gospel of St. John. Most Protestants believe this salvific grace comes about at the moment of personal decision to follow Jesus, and that baptism is a symbol of the grace already received.