Bap: A Critical Comparative Analysis of the Understanding of Sin in Thai Culture and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)

This article undertakes a comparative analysis of bap, the Thai concept of sin rooted in Theravada Buddhist language and popular culture, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church's teaching on sin. Drawing on dictionaries, folk sayings, songs, films, and television dramas alongside Church doctrine, the author traces how bap is understood as karmic transgression, suffering, and social disharmony, and sets this alongside the CCC's understanding of sin as an offense against God and a rupture of relationship. The study argues that Thai popular notions of bap and Catholic teaching on sin, though arising from different worldviews, are mutually enriching rather than contradictory, and it proposes adjustments to catechetical language and liturgical prayer so that Thai Catholics can more authentically integrate their cultural understanding of bap with the Church's faith.