Category — Ghandi Quotes

Previously all Gandhi quotes were categorized under Ghandi Quotes, clearly a misspelling of Gandhi. Well, duh. I just noticed that since the inception of this blog Gandhi has been misspelled.

A new Gandhi Quotes Category has been created to fix this, just in case anybody cares.

Yesterday’s post about regarding iniquity in your heart brought my mind to the popular “love the sinner hate the sin” quote. I have heard this quote in 2 variations:

“God loves the sinner but hates the sin.”

“Hate the sin, love the sinner.”

So, are these Bible or Not? Neither are from the Bible although you’ve likely heard them from the pulpit. OK, so they are not from the Bible, but is it true that God loves the sinner but hates the sin, or does he hate both sin and sinner? There are Bible verses to support both positions (it’s up to you to go find them, so if you haven’t cracked open your Bible this past week here is a great opportunity).

The first quote, “God loves the sinner but hates the sin,” is atributed to St. Augustine, a Catholic Bishop and writer. His letter 211 (c. 424) contains the phrase “Cum dilectione hominum et odio vitiorum”, which basically means “with love for mankind and hatred of sins.” So it’s not exact but the idea is God loves all of mankind and therefore loves the sinner, yet has a hatred of the sin. On a humorous note, something that you’ll only find in the Catholic church, St. Augustine is also the patron saint of brewers.

Over the years the quote has morphed into a simpler form, and taken on as advice of how we ought to treat others: we should as Christians ”hate the sin, love the sinner”. This attitude has served many outreach programs well and supports the teachings of Christ to “judge not” and to love all mankind. It has even been adopted by non-Christians as we find the quote ”hate the sin and not the sinner” in the 1929 autobiography of Mohandas Gandhi.

This quote reminds us to maintain a healthy humility. While self confidence is an admirable trait, there is a line between that and pride or arrogance.

It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.

Is this quote from the Bible’s book of Proverbs, or from some other secular or religious author?