I have a question....crime and sin

Generally speaking, if one accepts as correct the notion that up to the time of the wide-spread acceptance of Xty in the ancient world it lacked a sense of sin and, further, that crime was regarded as pollution serious enough in its various manifestations to bring divine retribution if left unpunished, to what degree, if any, was the prevalent Hellenistic attitude toward crime imported into or used as a template for the Xtn concept of sin and its consequences? (I am of c aware of the Hebrew Bible's positions toward sin and its punishment and am taking them into account as adopted by Xty.) I was reading along toward the end of Nirenberg's Communities of Violence, pp 239ff when this question hit me. I have looked in Brown, Herrin, and others for a discussion of this and have found nothing. The influence, or lack of it, of prevailing pagan practices upon Xty strikes me as an important issue which I would like to know more about. Can anyone give me some relevant bibliographic hints?