Anger, when is it mortally sinful?

  • Thread starter Thread starter YehoiakhinEx232
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
YehoiakhinEx232 said:
Has no father or doctor of the Church written about this!?!
Click to expand...
God is “slow to anger”. God cannot sin.

Go here and do a word search on “anger” and read the various passages from the Catechism, and read the footnotes to find the corresponding Scripture.
 
I was able to go to confession yesterday and ask the parish priest about this, his answer was extremely vague, he didn’t seem to distinguish between mortal and venial but said that anger is “sinful” when it causes us to act or think “abnormally,” I sort of took this mean, it becomes mortally sinful when one hits someone or thinks about hitting someone, should I take it that way? Should I read this explanation into St. Thomas Aquinas’ explanation?
 
YehoiakhinEx232 said:
I was able to go to confession yesterday and ask the parish priest about this, his answer was extremely vague, he didn’t seem to distinguish between mortal and venial but said that anger is “sinful” when it causes us to act or think “abnormally,” I sort of took this mean, it becomes mortally sinful when one hits someone or thinks about hitting someone, should I take it that way? Should I read this explanation into St. Thomas Aquinas’ explanation?
Click to expand...
If you want to read what Aquinas had to say, check out these questions in his Summa.

I’ll preface by saying that I don’t know your full situation, so you’ll have to take what I say and interpret it as best you can.

In short, it seems Aquinas says that anger has competing desires. One is the desire for the good of the angered through just vengeance. The other is the desire for evil upon he who draws your ire. Anger desires evil insofar as it is requisite for just vengeance, which is good. Anger is ethical when the desired vengeance and strength of the passion are reasonable when compared to that which brought forth the anger. He also offers up three stages of anger: bile, ill-will, and rancor. The first is an instantaneous reaction, the second is the ensuing grief that causes anger to fester, and the third is restless and hungry for vengeance.

If your anger is over a petty issue or you haven’t given deliberate thought to doing something egregiously evil (disproportionate to what’s been done to you), then I would not consider the anger a mortal sin. However, ask yourself, if you received the retribution you seek, would you be satisfied? Or would you still be at odds with the person?

In my opinion, if it is within your capacity to be charitable (that is, to emanate God’s love for you through the way you conduct yourself by giving love unto others), then that would be far more advisable. If you can bear the suffering and grief that this person has laid upon you without retaliating, do try to.
 
Thanks, that actually helped a lot.

This whole thing actually started with me being at odds with someone for a very longtime, I’m going to try and talk to her tomorrow about this, and try and resolve things. I have actually had another very brief spat with her this morning and struggled a bit with angry thought afterwards, but I think I avoided more serious thoughts though it’s still struggle.

However if anything I said here has caused you concern, please let me know.
 
Last edited:
YehoiakhinEx232 said:
I have actually had another very brief spat with her this morning and struggled a bit with angry thought afterwards
Click to expand...
This all happened on an online forum site, and just a couple of minutes ago, I saw another comment on that thread that was incorrect and I corrected it. However, after I made my correcting comment, I started be worried that other people would get mad and start arguing with me over it and that led to me having angry argumentative thoughts over it. (In fact I just had some a few moments ago while typing this.) When I started praying my evening prayers, I had difficulty focusing because of the angry thoughts, is that a sign that my anger has turned me away from Love of God and neighbour, and is therefore mortal?
 
You know, you don’t need to be on that forum. Turn it off, leave it. Forget about it. It’s an attachment you don’t require. We are called to detach ourselves from worldly things.
 
Last edited:
Please! I need a clear answer! I just struggled with really angry thoughts this morning that may have been mortally sinful, but I don’t know for sure because I don’t have clear understanding of when anger becomes mortally sinfully. Someone please answer the question, when does anger become objectively mortally sinful?
 
Last edited:
Bro, I say this with zero malice, but you really need to calm down and stop spazzing. The body of your posts suggests you are kind of unhinged. I really think you could benefit from talking to a mental health professional. You may have some issues and that you are interpreting as spiritual problems when in fact they are medical.
 
You said you would have to wait until after Easter to make an appointment so you can really delve into this with a priest. How have you progressed on that?
 
I haven’t made an appointment yet, I’ll check tomorrow, after confession, I still doubt whether any priest in my diocese is available.

Right now I’m more worried whether confession will be available tomorrow.
 
Please at least consider seeing a secular mental health professional. I really think it might do you a lot of good
 
Please do what your parents have suggested and see that mental health professional.

Your parents already have a professional waiting to help you.
 
Last edited:
I just want to emphasize that it’s entirely possible that your problems are medical, not spiritual. You’re just interpreting them through a spiritual lens because you’re a religious person. Please take advantage of the resources available to you. There’s nothing shameful about attending to your mental health, and there’s nothing anti-Catholic about it. It’s not really any different than seeing a doctor to set a broken bone.

You seem like a good dude who is going through some hard times. I really hope you take care of yourself.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top