Can one commit a sin in ignorance?

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Is it possible to commit a sin–mortal or venial–in invincible ignorance?

And, a related question: When something is declared by the Church to be “sinful” or not, does She speak of “objectively” sinful things or only those which are “subjective”, i.e., dependent on the disposition of the one committing the act?

Thanks.
 
You can do and act that is sinful and not lnow any better.

For instance a little kid who takes the Lord’s name in vain because the grown folks around him do it.
 
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Hitler believed he was doing God’s work in murdering millions of people. I’m fairly certain God would not agree.
 
MysticMissMisty said:
And, a related question: When something is declared by the Church to be “sinful” or not, does She speak of “objectively” sinful things or only those which are “subjective”, i.e., dependent on the disposition of the one committing the act?
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The act itself may be inherently sinful. Whether the individual is culpable for that sin, and to what degree, is going to depend on their knowledge and whether they willingly committed the sin.
 
White_Tree said:
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Hitler believed he was doing God’s work in murdering millions of people. I’m fairly certain God would not agree.
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Too simplistic and legalistic…we may one day find ourselves in heaven, worshipping God between Hitler and Judas!
 
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dscath said:
Too simplistic and legalistic…we may one day find ourselves in heaven, worshipping God between Hitler and Judas!
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You may be right (and I hope you are), but I suspect, based on the teachings of Jesus, that if we make it there, we will be surprised at how few people are in heaven, not how many notoriously gratuitous sinners made it in spite of their long litany of crimes against humanity.
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. – Matthew 7:13-14
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Another implication of that quote, by the way, is that not finding the path can bar one from entering the strait gate. That is to say, those who are in ignorance of the narrow way will not be able to enter.
 
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From experience, you can commit sins in ignorance, but as you mature in Faith, Wisdom and Maturity the Repentance and guilt feel just as stronger if not stronger than committing the sin without ignorance.

As I grow older I reject the world even more and am grateful to have been corrected. I feel a lot of love for Christian households who were raised with more awareness of sin and righteousness. But given my circumstance, I’m just grateful I got there. I often pray for others to get there. The only fault of righteous households is they may posses contempt or judgement, but again that is forgivable. For me, I identify with Paul in that as a sinner like the prodigal son entering the world I cannot boast. So, I’m more prone to prayer, understanding and forgiveness.
 
We would like to believe that since we are “ignorant” therefore we cannot be guilty of committing sin. Ah also it is convenient that we can point to an entity that blares to the 4 winds which behaviors are sinful and extrapolate that these ideas are man made so we could disregard them.
Truth is that we humans have been given a sort of roadmap to what is good and what is evil. It is the result of the fall. Before the fall we did not have this attribute. Now we do. We know when we behave badly.
What happens to us is that some are less keen in listening to that natural internal voice that is telling us “This is bad, don’t do it”.
The more we sin, the more our judgement is clouded. It is like a drug addict. At first a little drug makes a lot of effect then more and more drug is required to achieve the result.
Some interesting studies have been done in behavioral science with kids to determine if they have a moral code built in from birth rather than a learned one.
Peace!
 
My understanding is that if a person does not know that a sin is a sin, it is still a sin but God won’t hold it against them.
 
While a good analogy, I wouldn’t suggest that Hitler is in hell. We have no proof of if he had final repentance at the point of his death or if mercy was shown to him. As such, speculation or assumption is merely presuming someone to be in hell which is not a good thing to do
 
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We might, we can’t know or judge their hearts at the point of their deaths. Only God knows. To speculate would be a sin.
 
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The Catechism discusses “invincible ignorance” here:

IV. ERRONEOUS JUDGMENT

1790 A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn himself. Yet it can happen that moral conscience remains in ignorance and makes erroneous judgments about acts to be performed or already committed.

1791 This ignorance can often be imputed to personal responsibility. This is the case when a man "takes little trouble to find out what is true and good, or when conscience is by degrees almost blinded through the habit of committing sin."59 In such cases, the person is culpable for the evil he commits.

1792 Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others, enslavement to one’s passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, rejection of the Church’s authority and her teaching, lack of conversion and of charity: these can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct.

1793 If - on the contrary - the ignorance is invincible, or the moral subject is not responsible for his erroneous judgment, the evil committed by the person cannot be imputed to him. It remains no less an evil, a privation, a disorder. One must therefore work to correct the errors of moral conscience.

https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a6.htm

Jimmy Akin also discusses “vincible” and “invincible” ignorance here:


When a person commits a sin through invincible ignorance it is called a “material” sin (as opposed to a “formal” sin which occurs when a person freely chooses to sin knowing in their conscience that the act is sinful). However, as Pope St John Paul II notes (in Veritatis Splendour at 51) even when a person commits a material sin through invincible ignorance, it still damages the “communion of persons” (so every person should do their best to form their conscience properly):

“When [people] disregard the law, or even are merely ignorant of it, whether culpably or not, our acts damage the communion of persons, to the detriment of each.”

http://www.vatican.va/content/john-...hf_jp-ii_enc_06081993_veritatis-splendor.html
 
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