Religions deliberately value saints who started as great sinners

Evidence

For the 10-year-old (Ages 9–11): Milarepa’s life is one of the great redemption stories of world religion: a man who did real and terrible evil (causing deaths through black magic), who then, through sincere repentance and years of extraordinary effort and hardship, purified himself and reached enlightenment, becoming a beloved poet-saint. Tibetan Buddhism holds him up as proof that no one is beyond redemption. Compare this with other redemption tales — the Sufi Sheikh San’an (Week 6), the tamed goblin of the Jataka (Week 14). Why might a religious tradition WANT a great saint who began as a great sinner? What hope does Milarepa’s story offer that the story of a saint who was always good could not? — , A Year of World Stories, 8999

Categorization

• SEED: The question of why traditions NEED a great-sinner-turned-saint — what redemptive hope a flawless saint’s life cannot offer — is a promising essay angle on the function of conversion narratives.
• XREF: connects to: Religions should be judged by their best products rather than their worst

Broader Connections

• Religions should be judged by their best products rather than their worst #complicates (0.30)