Sunday Feature: The Idea of Sin

Series in which the Rev Richard Coles discusses the ideas of sin and atonement through the centuries, from the dawn of ethics to the full force of Judeo-Christian damnation and salvation. 2. Richard explores temptation and the way sin has become not merely an archaic idea in many contemporary societies but a positively attractive tool in the hands of commerce and advertising. He talks to senior figures in the advertising industry about the rise of the 'naughty but nice' school of commercial and explores the way sin has been marginalised by modern secular societies while remaining central to others. Can the law operate entirely without reference to sin and 'in this world of sin' are children still being encouraged to establish values and judgements that owe their origins to religious ideas of sin and good?