tjmiller:
It is an official dogma of the Catholic Faith that, apart from a special revelation, no one can know with the certainty of faith whether or not he or she is in a state of grace.
It is true, though, that one cannot “accidentally” or “unknowingly” commit mortal sin.
Those two seem to contradict each other. If we can know whether we are in mortal sin, why not whether we are in the state of grace?
Perhaps one should define “state of grace”. Or are we to believe that after baptism or a sincere confession we still can’t know that we are in the state of grace?
I compared the dogma in Ott with the declaration by Trent, and Trent does not use the phrase “state of grace”, but rather “has achieved the grace of God”, which corresponds to the Summa’s phraseology of “has sanctifying grace” several centuries earlier.
But the Summa has some interesting insights:
There are three ways of knowing a thing:
first, by revelation, and thus anyone may know that he has grace, …
Secondly, a man may, of himself, know something, and with certainty; and in this way no one can know that he has grace. For certitude about a thing can only be had when we may judge of it by its proper principle. Thus it is by undemonstrable universal principles that certitude is obtained concerning demonstrative conclusions. Now no one can know he has the knowledge of a conclusion if he does not know its principle. But the principle of grace and its object is God, Who by reason of His very excellence is unknown to us, according to Job 36:26: “Behold God is great, exceeding our knowledge.” And hence His presence in us and His absence cannot be known with certainty, according to Job 9:11: “If He come to me, I shall not see Him; if He depart I shall not understand.” And hence man cannot judge with certainty that he has grace, according to 1 Cor. 4:3,4: “But neither do I judge my own self . . . but He that judgeth me is the Lord.”
Thirdly, things are known conjecturally by signs; and thus anyone may know he has grace, when he is conscious of delighting in God, and of despising worldly things, and inasmuch as a man is not conscious of any mortal sin. And thus it is written (Apoc. 2:17): “To him that overcometh I will give the hidden manna . . . which no man knoweth, but he that receiveth it,” because whoever receives it knows, by experiencing a certain sweetness, which he who does not receive it, does not experience. Yet this knowledge is imperfect; hence the Apostle says (1 Cor. 4:4): “I am not conscious to myself of anything, yet am I not hereby justified,” since, according to
Ps. 18:13: "Who can understand sins? From my secret ones cleanse me, O Lord, and from those of others spare Thy servant."
…
Reply to Objection 2: It is an essential condition of knowledge that a man should have certitude of the objects of knowledge; and again,
it is an essential condition of faith that a man should be certain of the things of faith, and this, because certitude belongs to the perfection of the intellect, wherein these gifts exist. Hence, whoever has knowledge or faith is certain that he has them. But it is otherwise with grace and charity and such like, which perfect the appetitive faculty.
Summa Theologica
Whether man can know that he has grace?
catholicprimer.org/summa/FS/FS112.html#FSQ112A5THEP1
This provides the very revealing notion that grace is not of the intellect, but of the will. For grace is directly related to charity. We can only know we have charity indirectly and by our actions.
Matthew 12:33 Either make the tree good and its fruit good: or make the tree evil, and its fruit evil.
For by the fruit the tree is known.
From this we also gather that we may not be aware of all our secret sins (sins of omission).
I should point out that the Church teaches that the priest in confession serves also as a judge, and part of that is to help determine whether a sin is mortal or venial, because we don’t always “know”.
To be consistent, if we can know with intellectual certainty that we have grace, then neither can we know our all our sins with the same certainty. (Except by revelation).
And if we can know our mortal sins “with certainty”, then we can also know whether we are in the “state of grace” with the same certainty. (E.g. after confessing them)
I have definitely learned something in researching this.
hurst
that since to commit mortal sin, one must knowingly and willingly consent to something which one believes to be a mortal sin, hence you would know if you committed a mortal sin…one cannot commit a mortal sin with the power to condemn one to Hell without knowing it!
