‘To Err Is Human, to Forgive Is Divine’ okay

What Does the Phrase ‘To Err Is Human, to Forgive Is Divine’ Mean?

Erring is “making a mistake, an error.” An error is not always a sin, and there is more to sin than making an error. All human beings make mistakes and commit sins, but not everyone forgives. In fact, forgiveness is a divine gift.

Ancient Roots of a Modern Proverb

The saying “to err is human, to forgive is divine” has been in use since it was coined by Alexander Pope in the early 18th century. One source suggests that Pope was inspired by a poem by Thomas Jones in which he wrote, “To err, is human; to recover, is Angelical; to persevere is Diabolical.”

A further source locates the inspiration for Pope’s statement even further back to the time of Plutarch, a Greek philosopher from the 1st century AD. There is no such saying in the Bible, although its sentiments are evident.

Error Vs. Sin

Everyone makes mistakes. An example of an error, which is not a sin is making a mistake on a test due to anxiety, forgetting the answer, or just not knowing because the information was not taught. Choosing a wrong turn on a long road trip and winding up at the end of a no-through road is not a sin but an error. Breaking an ornament while cleaning is an unfortunate mistake.

Sin, however, is failing to know the answer because instead of studying, the student was lazy or distracted, attending parties and watching random videos on the internet. Sin is stubbornly refusing to ask for directions and becoming lost due to that prideful tendency. If one is cleaning carelessly, with no thought for the belongings of other people, selfishness is the sin.

What Is Forgiveness?

Forgiveness, as worded by Sam Storms, is “deciding to live with the painful consequences of another person’s sin. You are going to have to live with it anyway, so you might as well do it without the bitterness and rancor and hatred that threaten to destroy your soul.”

Christ forgave us while we were still sinning (Romans 5:8) and continues to forgive us as we make mistakes and sin outright. He expects us to repent of our sins but does not wait for sinners to be good enough for his grace and mercy. Jesus ate with sinners, not because he loved their sin. He loved the people who sinned.

After seeing the faith of a paralyzed man and his friends, Christ declared to the paralytic, “Man, your sins are forgiven you” (Luke 5:20). He said this before healing the man’s body because forgiveness was Jesus’ offer to restore them to relationship with God — the supreme healing.

Forgiveness is a free gift of God, bought by Christ at the cross. It is also a command: “as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Colossians 3:13).

Why Is Forgiveness Divine?

1. Forgiveness was a statement of Jesus’ divinity. By forgiving the paralytic, Jesus was stating that he was One with God. Forgiveness, as in forgiveness of debt (pardon), is a divine prerogative. “The scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, ‘Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’” (Luke 5:21).

They did not care so much about the physical healing because there were other healers around at the time. As Dr. John Dickson explains, “there are numerous reports of healing and exorcism from the period of Jesus [...]. [Jesus] fits into a cultural context well accustomed to the supernatural; it was a ‘magical’ world.”

2. Forgiveness is a pardon. Only God can restore someone to a relationship with himself. Wayne Jackson writes that although “all Christians are to forgive one another, i.e., have a forgiving disposition (Ephesians 4:32), ultimately, only God can bestow absolute pardon [...]. The Lord did not grant that right to the apostles or anyone else.”

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). This is not the same as offering them a pardon before the Lord.

3. Forgiveness seems impossible without Christ. Psalm 118:8 confirms that man is not to be trusted so “it is better to take refuge in the Lord.” Forgiving someone means saying “I do not want vengeance upon you.” Many unbelievers hope that “what goes around comes around,” which means that, eventually, all bad people will be caused to suffer.

They are essentially saying “I am a good person.” In humility, the Christian realizes that there is no way to sustain this argument and still believes that Christ died for our sins. Only God is good. (Mark 10:18).

“人皆有错，宽恕乃神明”这句话是什么意思？

“犯错”就是“犯错，犯错误”。错误并不总是罪孽，罪孽不仅仅是犯错。所有人都会犯错，都会犯罪，但并非每个人都会宽恕。事实上，宽恕是神圣的恩赐。

现代谚语的古老根源

“人皆有错，宽恕乃神明”这句话自18世纪初亚历山大·蒲柏提出以来，一直被沿用。一种说法认为，蒲柏的灵感来自托马斯·琼斯的一首诗，他在诗中写道：“犯错是人之常情；改过自新是天使之举；坚持不懈是魔鬼之举。”

另一种说法认为，蒲柏这句话的灵感可以追溯到公元1世纪的希腊哲学家普鲁塔克时代。圣经中并没有这样的说法，尽管它表达的情感显而易见。

 错误与罪孽

每个人都会犯错。错误的例子并非罪孽，例如，由于焦虑、忘记答案或仅仅因为没有教过而不知道答案而考试出错。在长途旅行中选错了路，最终走到了一条不通的路的尽头，这不是罪孽，而是一个错误。打扫房间时弄坏装饰品是一个不幸的错误。

然而，罪孽是学生因为懒惰或分心、参加聚会和在网上观看随机视频而没有找到答案。罪孽是固执地拒绝问路，并因为这种骄傲的倾向而迷路。如果一个人粗心大意地打扫房间，不考虑别人的物品，那么自私就是罪孽。

什么是宽恕？

 正如萨姆·斯托姆斯所说，宽恕就是“决定承受他人罪孽的痛苦后果。无论如何，你都得承受，所以你最好抛开那些威胁着摧毁你灵魂的苦毒、怨恨和仇恨。”

基督在我们仍在犯罪时就宽恕了我们（罗马书 5:8），并且当我们犯错并公然犯罪时，他仍然宽恕我们。他期望我们悔改自己的罪，但并不等待罪人变得足够善良才能得到他的恩典和怜悯。耶稣与罪人一起吃饭，并非因为他爱他们的罪。他爱那些犯罪的人。

看到瘫痪者和他的朋友的信心后，基督对瘫痪者说：“你的罪赦了”（路加福音 5:20）。他在医治瘫痪者的身体之前说了这句话，因为宽恕是耶稣为了恢复他们与神的关系而提供的——这是至高无上的医治。

 宽恕是上帝白白赐予的礼物，由基督在十字架上赎买而来。它同时也是一个命令：“主怎样饶恕了你们，你们也要怎样饶恕人”（歌罗西书 3:13）。

为什么宽恕是神圣的？

1. 宽恕是耶稣神性的体现。耶稣饶恕瘫痪者，表明他与上帝同在。宽恕，如同免除债务（赦免），是上帝的特权。“文士和法利赛人就对他说：‘这说僭妄话的是谁？除了神以外，谁能赦罪呢？’”（路加福音 5:21）。

他们不太在乎身体上的医治，因为当时周围还有其他医治者。 正如约翰·迪克森博士所解释的那样，“耶稣时代有大量关于治愈和驱魔的报道[...]。[耶稣]身处一个对超自然现象习以为常的文化背景；那是一个‘魔法’世界。”

2. 宽恕是一种赦免。只有上帝才能恢复人与祂自己的关系。韦恩·杰克逊写道，尽管“所有基督徒都应该彼此饶恕，即拥有饶恕的性情（以弗所书 4:32），但最终，只有上帝才能赐予绝对的赦免[...]。主并没有赋予使徒或任何其他人这种权利。”

“并要以恩慈相待，存怜悯的心，彼此饶恕，正如神在基督里饶恕了你们一样”（以弗所书 4:32）。这与在主面前给予他们赦免是不同的。

3. 没有基督，饶恕似乎是不可能的。 诗篇118:8证实人不可信赖，因此“投靠耶和华为妙”。宽恕他人意味着说“我不想报复你”。许多非信徒希望“善有善报”，这意味着最终所有坏人都会遭受苦难。

他们实际上是在说“我是个好人”。谦卑的基督徒意识到这种说法站不住脚，仍然相信基督为我们的罪而死。只有上帝是良善的。（马可福音10:18）

4.“真正的宽恕追求的是关系和修复。”

4. “True forgiveness pursues relationship and restoration. True forgiveness is not satisfied with simply canceling the debt. It longs to love again.” Sam Storms defines what is difficult to stomach and to understand in a vengeance-hungry society.

Christ, by his forgiveness of all people who will believe in him for salvation, though they nailed him to the cross by their sins, demonstrated that his disciples are expected to do something the world cannot understand and does not support. Only by following Jesus’ divine example can we do something so radical. True forgiveness is truly divine.

When Forgiveness Is Divine

Forgiveness is divine under certain circumstances:

1. One forgives out of obedience to Christ. This is not an autonomous act but an example of obedience. “Your responsibility is to do whatever you can within your power to be at peace. If they refuse to be at peace with you, the fault is theirs. You will at least have fulfilled your responsibility before God.”

2. Forgiveness must be real, not just words. It begins with the heart, not with the mouth.

3. Forgiveness is costly. Romans 12:20 instructs us “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.” When we forgive in Christ-like fashion, we continue to want the best for that other individual rather than pretending they do not exist.

We pray to pray for and even help such people in practical ways. This is perhaps the most convincing reason why one cannot forgive without God. One can walk away and cease thinking about someone, but this “cutting out” is a kind of murder: a way of nullifying that individual.

4. Forgiveness glorifies God. A choice to forgive so fully as to turn around and love (though not necessarily trust) the other person “disarms” the offender, says Storms. “The last thing they expect is sustained kindness and strength” (Ibid.). Curiosity should lead the offender to wonder about the forgiver’s Christ-like attitude.

5. Forgiveness must be done with humility. The forgiveness we offer to others was first given to us by Christ. His sacrifice was for all sin, for all time, and no one needs that gift more than any other person. We are all equally indebted to God and only the work of Christ satisfied that debt for all who believe.

A Continued Plea

Consequently, we continue to ask the Lord to forgive us. We ask although we know the answer if we ask with true repentance (or else we have not truly sought forgiveness.) Our intention is to stop erring or sinning because we love the Lord and wish to obey him as a result.

We truly repent by trying to turn away from sin with the Lord’s help. Meanwhile, he still loves sinners when they fall down. “Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me” (Micah 7:8). God is perfect, and he did not make a mistake at the cross.