Can a sin be charged to someone who doesn't realize it is a sin?

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MysticMissMisty

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Hello.

Forgive me if the answer to this question is obvious, but I am still learning about Catholic theology as I seek to discern whether I am called to conversion.

At any rate, the question is pretty basic, and I presume the answer will be as well, though I’m not at all sure of it.

Does God charge a sin to someone’s account even if a person doesn’t realize that what he is doing is sinful? My question applies to both venial and mortal sins. If someone sincerely and legitimately has no knowledge that something he/she is doing is a sin, is it still charged to his account, whether as a venial or mortal sin? Or, rather, does God completely overlook it until the time if and when the person comes to realize the sinfulness of his/her action? So, if a person dies who has committed such sin without realizing it and if he can be said otherwise to be in a state of Grace, will he/she be taken into Heaven, or, rather, will he/she at least suffer some pains in Purgatory?

Thanks.
 
No. Sin is not charged to the account because of ignorance. Using your account analogy they account already has debt when opened. (original sin) and baptism clears that. Then you are charged for what you know is sinful. But here is the rub… There may be things you claim you didn’t know but you really did. Murder, sexual sins etc… You may not have had the Church to tell you that it is mortal sin but you did have your God given natural law and intellect.
 
You can’t commit a mortal sin without knowledge that it is a sin (see the three conditions for a mortal sin below). You can accidentally commit a venial sin, but not realise it is a sin until later, perhaps during an examen of conscience. According to NewAdvent website:
'Venial sins do not need the grace of absolution. They can be remitted by prayer, contrition, fervent communion, and other pious works. Nevertheless it is laudable to confess them.

Conditions for mortal sin:
  • Its subject matter must be grave .
  • It must be committed with full knowledge (and awareness) of the sinful action and the gravity of the offense.
  • It must be committed with deliberate and complete consent.
 
God knows a person’s and will judge completely fairly and completely justly. If a person was in all innocence ignorant of the sinfulness of an act, then God will not hold him culpable.

However, if the person ought to have known but decided not to educate him- or herself so as to avoid that knowledge, that will be counted.

And if they rationalize the sin, as we sometimes hear people say that God wants them to be happy as the th. abandon their family and run off with someone else, that’s going to be like a red flag to God!
 
But if one doesn’t know if it is venial or mortal, how do they have full knowledge? Also, what if they think a sin is bad but not super bad?
 
Dourbest said:
But if one doesn’t know if it is venial or mortal, how do they have full knowledge? Also, what if they think a sin is bad but not super bad?
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By the very definition or mortal sin, you need to know and it has to be serious. And it is pretty obvious when a sin is a serious or grave one as opposed to one that is not serious. If you steal, you know it is serious and it is wrong. If you go ahead and do it anyway, then you have given consent to the serious sin so it meets all the conditions of mortal.
Sins that aren’t serious, or you don’t know how serious they are, or don’t give full consent (are forced to do), then these are venial. Common sense comes into play here. Simply pleading ignorance doesn’t work if you basically know the sin is serious.
 
If a person commits an act which he can not decide is mortal or venial, he needs to discuss his situation with a priest. Either he suffers from scrupulosity, or he is endangering his soul.
 
You may have been surprised by these answers when you the thought answer was so simple and obvious, and the question almost not worth asking. Perhaps you’ve seen some threads where a question involved a “sin” where the person genuinely didn’t and couldn’t know something was sinful, such as copyright violations they were completely unaware of. The answer in these cases “No sin at all”. The Catholic Church teaches however that the ten commandments (summed as “love of God and your neighbour as youself”) are written on the heart, and hence our heart troubles us when we’ve sinned even when our intellect says we haven’t.

It can get thorny however. For example, our culture is so adamant that “love” outside marriage is healthy and good that maybe someone could be completely unaware of its sinfulness in some situations. It should certainly be confessed on becoming a Catholic however, and left to God. Ditto for divorce (as the abandoned spouse) and remarriage. There would be other cases too where it’s possible to be unaware of a sin because of prevailing culture or personal situation. But confess and leave it to God. We naturally do that when we become aware of the sin.

BTW a previous response said that theft is a mortal sin. That’s not the whole story. Theft and dishonesty are both sins which are always sinful but are venial or mortal according to the degree. But if you were completely unaware of the theft of dishonesty then there is quite definitely no sin.
 
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Edmundus1581 said:
BTW a previous response said that theft is a mortal sin. That’s not the whole story. Theft and dishonesty are both sins which are always sinful but are venial or mortal according to the degree. But if you were completely unaware of the theft of dishonesty then there is quite definitely no sin.
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That was me, and what I said was that theft was serious and wrong, and that (to most people anyway), we know it is wrong - after all, one of the commandments says that we shouldn’t steal, so we know it is wrong to do. So it is always a sin, but whether or not it is mortal depends upon all three conditions being met. If there are extenuating circumstances then that could alleviate culpability, for example, a child stealing candy from a store, a person being forced to do something against their will, etc. Theft is a sin, but what kind of a sin depends on other factors. I don’t think I was unclear about that.
 
I was unclear, sorry, and slightly wrong. I said mortal sin, when I should have said “grave matter”. Yes, theft is always sinful matter, but not necessarily grave matter. A small theft, eg. dishonesty with 50c change at the till, is not grave matter. The rest I agree with you. So when the theft is grave matter the other conditions for mortal sin come into consideration, as you say, and there may be no sin.

Apologies.
 
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Edmundus1581 said:
I was unclear, sorry, and slightly wrong. I said mortal sin, when I should have said “grave matter”. Yes, theft is always sinful matter, but not necessarily grave matter. A small theft, eg. dishonesty with 50c change at the till, is not grave matter. The rest I agree with you. So when the theft is grave matter the other conditions for mortal sin come into consideration, as you say, and there may be no sin.

Apologies.
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Apology accepted.
 
I dont agree that you have to know something is a sin for you to be guilty of it in terms of wrongdoing. For sure that may well make the difference between mortal and venial sins, yes I get that. I am not sure I can go with this banker type analogy cos I dont really understand that type of thing, my error. But the way I see it is each one of us has an innate sense of right and wrong given to us by God. If we through repeated exposure to sin, dull that, then that is our free choice to a lesser or greater degree, because of our environment, age, mental capacity etc. All of this God in his infinite mercy will take into account in the degree of sin (see Luke 12. 48 where Jesus tells us that he who did not know will get a light beating and those who know more, more will be expected). But if a person steals from another person it is still always going to have the potential to be a sin (and we should always consider it so), even if the person believes that they had a right to because they are poor and the other is rich or some sort of justifying principle that makes it right in their eyes. We can never ever be the one to judge such a thing, it is always up to God. I always lovingly say to God that I would not want his job. If a person does so by being pushed into a corner then the sin will be less (Jesus tells Pilate this at his ‘trial’) but it does not stop it being a sin potentially. Only God can grant remission for the sin (through priests while we are alive) . We for our own sanctification should just go to confession. If people who are not Christian sin and dont know it is a sin, then God still provides grace for them so that they may do works of mercy in their lives and at the end of their life they are given the same opportunity as anyone to accept God’s mercy. They may not call something they do a sin, but they will still often know something was off or not right and seek to put it right, that is God’s grace acting in them. Just because they dont know God, doesnt mean he does not know them. Remember the repentant thief on the cross was not a baptised Christian, or even a follower of Christ. What he was, was a sign of hope in God’s mercy.
 
Bluebright said:
I dont agree that you have to know something is a sin for you to be guilty of it in terms of wrongdoing.
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You need to know it is a sin for it to be a mortal sin, but yes, you can commit sins unknowingly. But in that case, they cannot be a mortal sin.That doesn’t mean though that they can’t be serious.

The OP asks the question ‘Can a sin be charged to someone who doesn’t realize it is a sin.’ And the answer is yes, but if the person doesn’t know it is a sin, then it can only be a venial sin, even if it is a serious sin (by definition of mortal sin). I would think though, that once a person has realized that they have sinned, especially if it is a serious sin, they should treat it as if it were a mortal one by attending confession as soon as possible. And once they know that it is a serious sin, then if they repeat it, it becomes a mortal sin because they know and act anyway.
 
nunsense said:
You need to know it is a sin for it to be a mortal sin, but yes, you can commit sins unknowingly. But in that case, they cannot be a mortal sin.That doesn’t mean though that they can’t be serious.

The OP asks the question ‘Can a sin be charged to someone who doesn’t realize it is a sin.’ And the answer is yes, but if the person doesn’t know it is a sin, then it can only be a venial sin, even if it is a serious sin (by definition of mortal sin). I would think though, that once a person has realized that they have sinned, especially if it is a serious sin, they should treat it as if it were a mortal one by attending confession as soon as possible. And once they know that it is a serious sin, then if they repeat it, it becomes a mortal sin because they know and act anyway.
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A sin CANNOT be committed accidentally, be it venial or mortal. All sin committed is deliberate.
 
thistle said:
A sin CANNOT be committed accidentally, be it venial or mortal. All sin committed is deliberate.
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I would have to see some source material for this statement as it doesn’t take into account unintentional sins. Jesus said, ‘Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.’ They sinned in killing him but in their ignorance they thought they were putting a blasphemer to death. I am not saying all of those who killed Jesus were innocent of intention, but some could have been misled.

There are many other occasions when a person’s ignorance can lead them to sin either ‘accidentally’ or ‘unintentionally’.
 
The important thing to remember, is that if you repent for your sins and confess them, your “account” is wiped clean. No records exist. Christ paid the debt for us.
 
An example would be if a person suffering from psychosis acted out against someone by physically hurting them.

The action was a bad action, the person was hurt.

But the person suffering from psychosis is not culpable, so the action wasn’t a sin.
 
nunsense said:
I would have to see some source material for this statement as it doesn’t take into account unintentional sins. Jesus said, ‘Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.’ They sinned in killing him but in their ignorance they thought they were putting a blasphemer to death. I am not saying all of those who killed Jesus were innocent of intention, but some could have been misled.

There are many other occasions when a person’s ignorance can lead them to sin either ‘accidentally’ or ‘unintentionally’.
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You cannot unintentionally commit a sin. Sins are deliberate acts.

CCC 1859 Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent . It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice. Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.
 
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thistle said:
You cannot unintentionally commit a sin. Sins are deliberate acts.

CCC 1859 Mortal sin requires full knowledge and complete consent . It presupposes knowledge of the sinful character of the act, of its opposition to God’s law. It also implies a consent sufficiently deliberate to be a personal choice . Feigned ignorance and hardness of heart do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.
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You have simply quoted the facts for a mortal sin, not a venial sin. And yes, I agree that a mortal sin cannot be unintentional. But unless you can find a source that states a venial sin cannot be unintentional, then I still stick to what I have already said.
 
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