hamartology
Definition
Hamartology (from Greek hamartia = sin + -logy) is the theological discipline that studies the nature, origin, scope, and consequences of sin. It encompasses questions about original sin, the nature of the flesh, the Fall, and the relationship between human guilt and God’s judgment. Hamartology stands in direct relation to soteriology: the diagnosis of sin determines the nature of salvation.
Usage in the Corpus
Overview
The five authors have strongly divergent hamartologies. Bullinger emphasizes total depravity: the human nature (the flesh) is not capable of improvement — only death and rebirth can radically change it. Nee/Lee distinguishes the flesh (old Adamic nature, connected to the soul) from the human spirit (which can be renewed by the Spirit). Jones connects hamartology to his restorationism: Adam’s sin is the ground of universal condemnation, but precisely therefore Christ’s righteousness is the ground of universal justification (Rom. 5:18). Warnock emphasizes that the full reality of sin is only truly overcome in the Feast of Tabernacles phase.
George Warnock — the old versus the new cross
In SLF Warnock places hamartology in the contrast between the old cross (the actual death of the sinner) and the modern cross (mere frustration without transformation). For Warnock, hamartology is not a dogmatic theme but an ethical and existential judgment on the reality of conversion: the complete death of the old self rather than behavioral modification. He argues that modern evangelism has reduced the cross to an instrument of adjustment rather than execution. He quotes A.W. Tozer:
“The old cross killed the sinner. The new cross merely frustrates him. The old cross was an instrument of execution. The new cross is an instrument of adjustment.” [b8, A.W. Tozer — cited by Warnock]
Warnock connects this critique to Galatians 2:20:
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” [b8, Gal. 2:20]
For Warnock, hamartology is therefore not a theoretical doctrine about sin but a call to genuine death of self-rule.