e Bible.
According to the rabbinical figure, "sin appears at first as thin as a
spider's web, but grows stronger and stronger, until it becomes like a
wagon-rope to bind a man." Or, "sin comes at first as a passer-by to tarry
for a moment, then as a visitor to stay, finally as the master of the
house to claim possession." Therefore it is incumbent upon us to "guard"
the heart, and not "to go astray following after our eyes and our
heart."(735)

4. According to the doctrine of Judaism no one is sinful by nature. No
person sins by an inner compulsion. But as man has a nature of flesh,
which is sensuous and selfish, each person is inclined to sin and none is
perfectly free from it. "Who can say: I have made my heart clean, I am
pure from any sin?"(736) This is the voice of the Bible and of all human
experience; "For there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good,
and sinneth not."(737) The expression occurs repeatedly in Job: "Shall
mortal man be just before God? Shall a man be pure before his Maker?"(738)
Even Moses is represented in numerous passages as showing human foibles
and failings.(739) In fact, "the greater the personality, the more
severely will God call him to account for the smallest trespass, for God
desires to be 'sanctified' by His righteous ones."(740) The Midrash tells
us that no one is to be called holy, until death has put an end to his
struggle with the ever-lurking tempter within, and he lies in the earth
with the victor's crown of peace upon his brow.(741) When we read the
stern sentence: "Behold, He putteth no trust in His holy ones,"(742) the
rabbis refer us to the patriarchs, each of whom had his faults.(743)
Measured by the Pattern of all holiness, no human being is free from
blemish.

5. In connection with the God-idea, the conception of sin grew from crude
beginnings to the higher meaning given it by Judaism. The ancient
Babylonians used the same terminology as the Bible for sin and
sin-offering, but their view, like that of other Semites, was far more
external.(744) If one was afflicted with disease or misfortune, the
inference was that he had neglected the ritual of some deity and must
appease the angered one with a sacrificial offering. Any irregularity in
the cult was an offense against the deity. This became more moralized with
the higher God-idea; the god became the guardian of moral principles; and
the calamities, even of the nation, were then ascribed to the divine wrath
on