Everything Is A Sin For A Catholic

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ucallmeJess:
I got into a conversation with some co-workers today about lust. Out of the blue, someone said that “everything is a sin for a Catholic.” That really upset me and I didn’t know the right way to respond.
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And they don’t know that Lust is a sin? Jesus said

Matt 5:27-28

You have heard the commandment “You shall not commit adultery” What I say to you is: anyone who looks at a woman has already commited adultery with her in his thoughts.

Everything is not a sin…Just because your friends don’t acknowledge what sin is doesn’t mean sin does not exist! people will have difficulty with you because you are facing up and confessing your sins…which are probably their sins too, and just being around you will remind them of their own inequities…Guilt is rough…but effective.

Welcome home, and God Bless…
 
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ahimsaman72:
Puzzleannie,

Where can I find a document(s) that explain the Catholic teaching that all people are basically good?

Thanks…
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Catechism of the Catholic Church
sections on Creation sections 279-315
God creates a good and ordered world, sec. 299
Providence and the scandal of evil, sec 309-310
Man, creation of, sec 355-368
the Fall sec 384 ff

Man is created in God’s own image and likeness, which is wholly good, therefore man is created wholly good
read of course the book of Genesis, and the CCC footnotes and biblical references in cited section

also do a library search on CA home page for creation
 
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ahimsaman72:
It’s interesting that you explain it this way. In Buddhism the philosophy is that inside each human is Buddha nature (Mahayana tradition). That is, everyone has the ability to liberate themselves by shedding their attachments to the world and thoughts and attaining nirvana - absolute release.
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There is a big difference here: Buddhists believe that to relieve pain and suffering the goal is to extinguish the soul forever. That is quite opposite of Catholic teaching.
 
If man is made wholly good, then isn’t it the effects of Original Sin that causes us to “fall” into sin so to speak?
 
Paris Blues:
If man is made wholly good, then isn’t it the effects of Original Sin that causes us to “fall” into sin so to speak?
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[377](javascript:openWindow(‘cr/377.htm’)😉 The “mastery” over the world that God offered man from the beginning was realized above all within man himself: mastery of self. The first man was unimpaired and ordered in his whole being because he was free from the triple concupiscence254 that subjugates him to the pleasures of the senses, covetousness for earthly goods, and self-assertion, contrary to the dictates of reason.

**405 **Although it is proper to each individual, original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin - an inclination to evil that is called concupiscence". Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ’s grace, erases original sin and turns a man back towards God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.

**418 **As a result of original sin, human nature is weakened in its powers, subject to ignorance, suffering and the domination of death, and inclined to sin (this inclination is called “concupiscence”).

[1264](javascript:openWindow(‘cr/1264.htm’)😉 Yet certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence, or metaphorically, “the tinder for sin” (fomes peccati); since concupiscence "is left for us to wrestle with, it cannot harm those who do not consent but manfully resist it by the grace of Jesus Christ."67 Indeed, "an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules."68
 
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buffalo:
There is a big difference here: Buddhists believe that to relieve pain and suffering the goal is to extinguish the soul forever. That is quite opposite of Catholic teaching.
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I’m not really equating Buddhist teachings with Catholic teachings. That’s just the way (in my head) I could understand the Catholic teaching. The protestant view is completely different in this regard (I’m learning) than the Catholic view.

Not to belabor the point, but Buddhists don’t believe in a soul so there’s nothing to extinguish. Whereas the Buddhist goal is quite different than the Catholic, the idea that there is something to be “transcended” seems very similar - and that’s what I was referring to.
 
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ahimsaman72:
I’m not really equating Buddhist teachings with Catholic teachings. That’s just the way (in my head) I could understand the Catholic teaching. The protestant view is completely different in this regard (I’m learning) than the Catholic view.

Not to belabor the point, but Buddhists don’t believe in a soul so there’s nothing to extinguish. Whereas the Buddhist goal is quite different than the Catholic, the idea that there is something to be “transcended” seems very similar - and that’s what I was referring to.
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Right. I shouldn’t have used the word soul.

From
Are Jesus and Buddha Brothers? If so, there’s a serious family feud.

he Four Noble Truths are these:

  1. *]Life is suffering.
    *]The cause of suffering is desire.
    *]To be free from suffering, we must detach from desire.
    *]The “eight-fold path” is the way to alleviate desire.

    The eight-fold path consists of right views, right intentions, right speech, and right actions along with livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration.

    The final goal of Buddhism is not merely to eradicate desire but to be free of suffering.

    Buddha also taught the “three characteristics of being”:

    1. *]All things are transitory.
      *]There is no self or personality.
      *]This world brings only pain and suffering.

      Based on these characteristics, Buddhism asserts that to accept the existence of anything is to give birth to its opposite (e.g., love and hate, joy and fear, etc.), which results in the duality of “good” and “bad.” Nirvana—literally, “extinguishing a flame”—is the extinction of self and the escape from the cycle of reincarnation.

      While Buddhism allows belief in an afterlife, such an allowance is called upaya, an expedient means to a real end. Upaya allows belief to exist as a means to an end; all belief, including that of Buddhism, is merely a construction. According to the logic of upaya, Christianity is allowable as a stage toward spiritual progression, leading eventually to the extinction of self, or nirvana.
 
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buffalo:
Right. I shouldn’t have used the word soul.

From
Are Jesus and Buddha Brothers? If so, there’s a serious family feud.

he Four Noble Truths are these:

  1. *]Life is suffering.
    *]The cause of suffering is desire.
    *]To be free from suffering, we must detach from desire.
    *]The “eight-fold path” is the way to alleviate desire.

    The eight-fold path consists of right views, right intentions, right speech, and right actions along with livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration.

    The final goal of Buddhism is not merely to eradicate desire but to be free of suffering.

    Buddha also taught the “three characteristics of being”:

    1. *]All things are transitory.
      *]There is no self or personality.
      *]This world brings only pain and suffering.

      Based on these characteristics, Buddhism asserts that to accept the existence of anything is to give birth to its opposite (e.g., love and hate, joy and fear, etc.), which results in the duality of “good” and “bad.” Nirvana—literally, “extinguishing a flame”—is the extinction of self and the escape from the cycle of reincarnation.

      While Buddhism allows belief in an afterlife, such an allowance is called upaya, an expedient means to a real end. Upaya allows belief to exist as a means to an end; all belief, including that of Buddhism, is merely a construction. According to the logic of upaya, Christianity is allowable as a stage toward spiritual progression, leading eventually to the extinction of self, or nirvana.
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    1. That article you cited is very well done. It wasn’t totally accurate, but very fair and unbiased in its portrayal of Buddhism and the differences between it and Christianity. The writer was a little confused because he wrote this:
      Buddha also taught the “three characteristics of being”:

      1. *]All things are transitory.
        *]There is no self or personality.
        *]This world brings only pain and suffering.
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      1. notice no. 2 and now look at the highlighted sentence below:
        Based on these characteristics, Buddhism asserts that to accept the existence of anything is to give birth to its opposite (e.g., love and hate, joy and fear, etc.), which results in the duality of “good” and “bad.” Nirvana—literally, “extinguishing a flame”—is the extinction of self and the escape from the cycle of reincarnation.
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        It’s funny, but I have read Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, “Jesus and Buddha as Brothers” and HHPJP2’s book, “Crossing the Threshold of Hope”. I loved both books. As a Christian, I started reading TNH and fell in love with Buddhism - which led to my study of the religion and renouncing Christianity. Now, I see the errors of Buddhism, but still love certain Buddhists, like TNH and HHDL. They are two very special people.
 
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ahimsaman72:
Puzzleannie,

Where can I find a document(s) that explain the Catholic teaching that all people are basically good?

Thanks…
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Here’s a link to the Catechism, with citations to source material. This link is to a discussion on the dignity of the human person:

The Dignity of the Human Person

Here’a another CCC link to the discussion on original sin and it’s impact on human nature (concupiscence).

The Fall and Original Sin

And here’s a direct quote from the CCC at section 405 and 406:
405 Although it is proper to each individual,295 original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin - an inclination to evil that is called concupiscence". Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ’s grace, erases original sin and turns a man back towards God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.
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406 The Church’s teaching on the transmission of original sin was articulated more precisely in the fifth century, especially under the impulse of St. Augustine’s reflections against Pelagianism, and in the sixteenth century, in opposition to the Protestant Reformation. Pelagius held that man could, by the natural power of free will and without the necessary help of God’s grace, lead a morally good life; he thus reduced the influence of Adam’s fault to bad example. The first Protestant reformers, on the contrary, taught that original sin has radically perverted man and destroyed his freedom; they identified the sin inherited by each man with the tendency to evil (concupiscentia), which would be insurmountable. The Church pronounced on the meaning of the data of Revelation on original sin especially at the second Council of Orange (529)296 and at the Council of Trent (1546).297
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295 Cf. Council of Trent: DS 1513.
296 DS 371-372.
297 Cf. DS 1510-1516.
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I hope these help.
 
Robert in SD:
Here’s a link to the Catechism, with citations to source material. This link is to a discussion on the dignity of the human person:

The Dignity of the Human Person

Here’a another CCC link to the discussion on original sin and it’s impact on human nature (concupiscence).

The Fall and Original Sin

And here’s a direct quote from the CCC at section 405 and 406:
I hope these help.
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Thanks for your help Robert! I found this part of the CCC most helpful:

[ **

[405](javascript:openWindow(‘cr/405.htm’);)[ Although it is proper to each individual,295 original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted](javascript:openWindow(‘cr/405.htm’)😉it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin - an inclination to evil that is called concupiscence".](javascript:openWindow(‘cr/405.htm’)😉

That’s really the meat of the matter. There’s a lot of material I need to read to get a grasp on this subject. It’s much more vast than a simple overview. Thanks again for your help 👍

Peace…
 
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