Can an 8 year old commit a mortal sin?

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guernz

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In 3rd grade, I cheated on a Science test and ironically a Religion test. And remembering back (I’m in 8th now) I had a fairly well-formed conscience. Is it possible for an 8 year old to have filled all 3 conditions for a mortal sin and in this situation. I don’t think I knew was a mortal sin when I was 8 though I just knew it was REALLY REALLY BAD:banghead: .I’m asking this cause I read a dream of John Bosco describing innocence (from mortal sin) preserved by penance and I was wondering if this would rule me out of the innocent category. I pray not.:confused:
Any help is GREATLY APPRECIATED:)

P.S. Don’t worry I’m not scrupulous about this. 😉 I’m simply curious and I’ve already gone to confession long ago for it.
 
I think it is. Even if an 8 year old didn’t know it was a mortal sin, but still knew that it was bad enough to be a sin, then I think it would be a mortal sin (especially if all 3 conditions were met).
 
8 years old is usually not considered the age of reason. I, too, look back at things that I did when I was young with regret but there isn’t much we can do about it now. The things you and I did pale in comparison to what Sts. Peter and Paul did.
 
I’ve often wondered if the condition of full knowledge can be met if you are not fully aware and understanding of the consequences of that sin. If not, then I doubt an 8 year old can commit mortal sin with things like cheating on tests.

(If not, I wonder if even I, at 19, can always be fully culpable for things that I look back on and regret).
 
Timothysis said:
8 years old is usually not considered the age of reason. I, too, look back at things that I did when I was young with regret but there isn’t much we can do about it now. The things you and I did pale in comparison to what Sts. Peter and Paul did.
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Traditionally the age of reason is actually 7, but I believe on a matter like this an 8 year old can definitely have sufficient understanding to know that cheating is a serious (grave) sin, and to cheat freely and willingly anyway. They would thus meet the conditions.

Only OP and their confessor can sort out whether this applies in their particular case.
 
8 year olds can’t commit mortal sins. Cheating in a exam when you are 8 doesn’t constitute towards a mortal sin. Sure it’s a sin, but children don’t necessarily have the firmness of morality impressed in them. Neither do they have as much self control an adult.
 
If a child, ex. me, did not know it was a mortal sin but knew it was really bad, would it still be a mortal sin. Would the sinner’s age affect the circumstance? I know one thing, as a child then, I would never have wanted my eternal damnation for a few extra points on a test. I cant know for sure though cause it was so long back.
 
Thanks for the reply Harmony, I was thinkin along those lines. But my last question do you have to know a sin is mortal for it to be a mortal sin (not knowing it will result in Hell, seperation from God), yet knowing its a grave matter.
 
Harmony1988 said:
8 year olds can’t commit mortal sins.
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I think that’s a bit too much of a blanket statement. :o

The age of reason is traditionally around 7 anyway, so… it really depends.
Harmony1988 said:
Cheating in a exam when you are 8 doesn’t constitute towards a mortal sin.
Sure it’s a sin, but children don’t necessarily have the firmness of morality impressed in them. Neither do they have as much self control an adult.
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What about when you’re 9? 10? 11? Where do you draw the line?
The potential for mortal sin gets drawn at the age of reason: newadvent.org/cathen/01209a.htm
And even “the age of reason” isn’t a particularly well-defined point in time.

…that period of human life at which persons are deemed to begin to be morally responsible. This, as a rule, happens at the age of seven, or thereabouts, though the use of reason requisite for moral discernment may come before, or may be delayed until notably after, that time.

So it might. It’s hard to imagine, I’ll grant you, and in fact it might be very very rare, if it ever happens… but it’s really going to depend on the child. And at the same time, children at that age might also have many more “extenuating circumstances” that diminish guilt, or they might also be of such a mind that they are much more likely to repent.
 
LilyM said:
Traditionally the age of reason is actually 7, but I believe on a matter like this an 8 year old can definitely have sufficient understanding to know that cheating is a serious (grave) sin, and to cheat freely and willingly anyway. They would thus meet the conditions.
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7 is a pretty arbitrary number. Why 7 and not 8, or even 6? It all depends on the child. A 7 year old can rarely understand the consequences of sin, much less mortal sin. Besides, cheating on an exam would rarely, if ever, constitute a mortal sin.
 
guernz said:
If a child, ex. me, did not know it was a mortal sin but knew it was really bad, would it still be a mortal sin. Would the sinner’s age affect the circumstance? I know one thing, as a child then, I would never have wanted my eternal damnation for a few extra points on a test. I cant know for sure though cause it was so long back.
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Sorry, you don’t have to want eternal damnation for it to count as a mortal sin - no sane person EVER wants eternal damnation, and you can’t mortally sin if you’re mad either. To use your logic means that none of us could ever sin mortally.

All you have to want is your own will, or your own good, or your own pleasure, above what you know God wants, in a matter that is gravely displeasing to Him, and do the displeasing action freely (ie no-one actually putting genuine mental or physical threat upon you to do it).

Now an 8-year-old can appreciate that God REALLY REALLY doesn’t like certain things, such as murder or theft, so if they did either of those freely they’d be guilty of mortal sin. They may be able to appreciate the same for cheating. And there may be some instances where there is either a lot of peer pressure or parental pressure on them that leads to the cheating, but that wouldn’t ordinarily be the case.
 
Age of reason aside, in what conceivable circumstance would an elementary school exam be considered a ground for “grave matter?” We’re members of a Church which will not say that even Hitler is in Hell, but some of us want to burn 8-year olds for all eternity. Sad.
 
ThuribleGuy45 said:
Age of reason aside, in what conceivable circumstance would an elementary school exam be considered a ground for “grave matter?” We’re members of a Church which will not say that even Hitler is in Hell, but some of us want to burn 8-year olds for all eternity. Sad.
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I don’t want anyone to burn for all eternity, least of all an 8-year-old. That’s WHY I’d rather overestimate than underestimate the seriousness of any given sin and advocate confession when in doubt. And no, I don’t think cheating on a school exam is necessarily (or even probably) grave matter.

The question of this thread, though, wasn’t simply whether cheating is a grave sin, but as the title indicates, a much more general one as to whether it is possible AT ALL for an 8-year-old to commit ANY mortal sin. And they certainly can, otherwise we wouldn’t be sending kids to confession at that age, would we?

I know I started a lot earlier, more like five or six, and I know I was sufficiently intelligent and sufficiently sinful to need it at times too.
 
My inclination is to say that an elementary school exam isn’t grave matter.

Grave matter aside, I think it would be rare for an eight year old to commit a mortal sin. I think most eight year olds don’t have a clear enough idea of what sin really is. Any child can tell you that a sin makes God unhappy, but to really understand those words is something else entirely. Not understanding the nature of a sin would, I think, reduce culpability to venial at most.
 
I just read through this thread whereby God takes on many different usernames…😉
 
LilyM said:
I don’t want anyone to burn for all eternity, least of all an 8-year-old. That’s WHY I’d rather overestimate than underestimate the seriousness of any given sin and advocate confession when in doubt. And no, I don’t think cheating on a school exam is necessarily (or even probably) grave matter.

The question of this thread, though, wasn’t simply whether cheating is a grave sin, but as the title indicates, a much more general one as to whether it is possible AT ALL for an 8-year-old to commit ANY mortal sin. And they certainly can, otherwise we wouldn’t be sending kids to confession at that age, would we?
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I absolutely agree. Once you know right from wrong (which is the very definition of what it means to have reached the age of reason), you have the capacity to sin. If you have the capacity to sin, you have the capacity to mortally sin. Is it more difficult for an 8 year old to commit a mortal sin? Quite likely. But it is certainly possible.

That’s one of the main reasons Pius X pushed to have the reception of the Eucharist given to children at age 7. I cannot remember the exact quote, but it was something to the effect that as soon as children have the capacity to sin, they should be given opportunity to receive the best defense against sin that the Church can give them: the Eucharist.
 
guernz said:
If a child, ex. me, did not know it was a mortal sin but knew it was really bad, would it still be a mortal sin. Would the sinner’s age affect the circumstance? I know one thing, as a child then, I would never have wanted my eternal damnation for a few extra points on a test. I cant know for sure though cause it was so long back.
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What’s the real question? For my :twocents: , the situation you describe meets the criteria by which a sin can be confessed without approaching the bounds of scrupulosity. It was bad. You knew it. And the fourth criterion I would apply here is DOES THIS STILL BOTHER ME?

If yes, then confess it. Twittering around about whether it was “mortal” or “venial” is just a waste of spiritual energy. Confess it. You will be relieved.

Cyber-hug comin’ atcha.
 
Harmony1988 said:
8 year olds can’t commit mortal sins. Cheating in a exam when you are 8 doesn’t constitute towards a mortal sin. Sure it’s a sin, but children don’t necessarily have the firmness of morality impressed in them. Neither do they have as much self control an adult.
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I must have been an exceptional 8-year-old because I knew right from wrong and did it anyway.

As an adult, coming into the Catholic Church, when I prepared for my life confession, I realized that those “little” sins of my childhood were not so little after all but had seeded the ground for the sins of my adolescence and adulthood. They were forerunners of an ongoing pattern.
 
mercygate said:
Twittering around about whether it was “mortal” or “venial” is just a waste of spiritual energy. Confess it. You will be relieved.
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I think this paragraph should be cut and pasted in every thread that starts with “Is this a mortal sin?”

We often spend so much time and energy on whether or not this was a mortal sin or a venial sin. Regardless, we should get our butt to Confession and move on!
 
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