David Talley, author of the article “Dealing With Hidden sin,” declares that hidden sin is a devastating struggle. This article can be found on the Bible Study Tools website. This website discusses a multitude of different biblical topics and offers advice on how to deal with problems. In this article the author explains how hiding your sin hurts a person’s metal state and conscience.

The article discusses several ways I. Which hiding sin is harmful. One way that makes hidden sin devastating, is that hiding your sin often multiplies into more sins to keep your original sin hidden. Most people are extremely scared of their sin being discovered. Often because they are ashamed and they believe others will judge them. Unfortunately people often take desperate measures to keep their sin hidden. Lots of people will lie and commit other sins to make sure their sin isn’t discovered. For example, after David commits adultery with Bathsheba, he tries to deceive Uriah into sleeping with his wife in order for him to believe that the child is his. After that fails he plans Uriah’s death, while making it look like an accident. Oftentimes one sin doesn’t just stay one sin. It multiplies because people don’t want to discovered, just like how David’s sin multiplied to keep his adultery hidden.

A second way, in which hidden sin harms people, is by making you feel horribly and guilty. Hiding sin causes a tremendous amount of guilt, people’s thoughts are consumed by their mistake and our horrible they are. People often believe that their sin is unforgivable and they beat themselves up. People feel ashamed and are unwilling to confess their sin because they don’t want others to judge them. Guilt will eat people up, and sadly sometimes it can cause people to kill themselves. Fortunately, God is merciful and gracious and he will forgive our sin no matter what as long as we are repentant.

Relation to the Novel: These problems relate to the novel in many ways. In the novel we see Dimmesdale weaken alive by his guilt. He feels absolutely horrible and worthless. He feels like nothing he does is good enough to make up for his sin. He feels so guilty that he beats himself with a whip, violently. Hidden sin is truly a major issue that many people often deal with.