Adam and Eve in Scripture, Theology, and Literature : Sin, Compassion, and Forgiveness

possibilities of redeeming what was lost. Simenon's detective Maigret saw himself as a "mender of destinies.\u0022 The doctrine of original sin, the notion that human beings share a common vulnerability, can open the way to compassion and forgiveness. As Shakespeare illustrates in Measure for Measure, the awareness of weakness in ourselves should move us to compassion for others. The recognition of a kind of "democracy of sin\u0022 can keep us from considering ourselves better than others, unlike them in their weakness, and entitled to stand in judgment of them. Thus, compassion opens the door to forgiveness. The progress from sin to compassion to forgiveness forms the heart of this work. [Publisher's text]

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