Explain Mortal Sin to a Freshman in High School

[grannymh]

Umm… this definition (?): “A grave infraction of the law of God that destroys the divine life in the soul of the sinner (sanctifying grace), constituting a turn away from God. For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be present: grave matter, full knowledge of the evil of the act, and full consent of the will.”

Look at what a teen has to understand in order even to begin thinking about this definition:

• Law of God
• divine life in the soul
• sanctifying grace
• grave matter
• full knowledge
• full consent of the will

Unless they already understand these (abstract (?)) theological notions, all they’ll hear in this definition is “blah blah blah **God **blah blah blah sinner blah blah blah evil.” Not exactly the best way to help them understand mortal sin, IMHO.

I was thinking about jaded teens . It could be that all they will hear is “blah blah blah **God **blah blah blah **sinner **blah blah blah evil.” Unless (in post 36) they already understand these (abstract (?)) theological notions.(I put an interesting issue about “notions” in bold.)

I have no trouble assuming that “blah blah blah” is true. My question is – How will they recognize “God” as a “person” in a teen analogy and recognize a “person” as a “sinner” in a teen analogy and recognize “evil” in a teen friendship when there are notions and not facts?

If one is going to be fair to a freshman, jaded or not, at some point, the flat out truth has to be mentioned. A couple of approaches could be used. The adult could say that so and so is God in the analogy. Or an adult could say God exists and this is what is important about God and His friendship relationship with a human creature which is you.

In the Catholic Church, this list of facts usually normally is not considered theological notions. Please refer to comment in post 36.

• divine life in the soul
• sanctifying grace
• grave matter
• full knowledge
• full consent of the will

 

[grannymh]

Correction to post 40.

The full list of Catholic theological facts which refers to the CCC definition of Mortal Sin is as follows.

Look at what a teen has to understand in order even to begin thinking about this definition:

• Law of God
• divine life in the soul
• sanctifying grace
• grave matter
• full knowledge
• full consent of the will

 

[Gorgias]

My question is – How will they recognize… when there are notions and not facts?

In the Catholic Church, this list of facts usually normally is not considered theological notions.

You’re missing the forest for the trees, I think. Try not to get distracted: if you prefer the term ‘concepts’ to ‘notions’, then think in terms of ‘concepts.’ My point stands, regardless.

If one is going to be fair to a freshman, jaded or not, at some point, the flat out truth has to be mentioned. A couple of approaches could be used. The adult could say that so and so is God in the analogy. Or an adult could say God exists and this is what is important about God and His friendship relationship with a human creature which is you.

Fair enough. But, in using the analogy, one would clearly conclude by identifying what the characters and actions represent.

 

[grannymh]

You’re missing the forest for the trees, I think. Try not to get distracted: if you prefer the term ‘concepts’ to ‘notions’, then think in terms of ‘concepts.’ My point stands, regardless.

Never did understand the “missing the forest for the trees” concept.


Apparently, what is really important when considering ideas, concepts, notions, or plain old information about explaining Mortal Sin to a Freshman is this valuable insight from post 36. I can switch to the playing field of theological notions/concepts.
The following is in reference to the CCC Glossary definition of Mortal Sin, page 889.

Umm… this definition (?): “A grave infraction of the law of God that destroys the divine life in the soul of the sinner (sanctifying grace), constituting a turn away from God. For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must be present: grave matter, full knowledge of the evil of the act, and full consent of the will.”

Look at what a teen has to understand in order even to begin thinking about this definition:

• Law of God
• divine life in the soul
• sanctifying grace
• grave matter
• full knowledge
• full consent of the will

To understand these six points, the first question is – Are these six theological notions/concepts true when it comes to understanding Mortal Sin? There is no benefit to giving a Freshman false information.

Everyone can jump in with their own ideas. This is a free speech public message board. Seriously, there could be a possible Freshman friendship relationship allegory which may help understanding Mortal Sin and the State of Sanctifying Grace. Note: I like the usefulness of various allegories provided the actual Catholic Doctrines are expressed at the same time.

 

[grannymh]

• Law of God
• divine life in the soul
• sanctifying grace
• grave matter
• full knowledge
• full consent of the will

There can be times when a Freshman may not completely buy a good allegory. It may sound very good, but the reasons for acceptance might have to be added. That possibility is why I am looking for some deeper Catholic truths.

The six elements found in the Catholic definition of Mortal Sin can be examined in the light of these three basics in Catholicism.

1. God as Creator exists.
2. God as Creator interacts personally with each individual human.
3. Every individual human has the inherent capacity to interact with
   God as Creator.

The allegories are interactions between teens or between a teen and parent. Looking at these general interactions on the human level, one can then bring in God as a Creator participant in a friendship relationship with a teen. This may come as a surprise. A local strong atheistic group can be so active that a child of a member, learning about atheism, can share this unbelief with their friends. (citation omitted for personal reasons) For the sake of this discussion, let’s posit that God exists.

In my humble opinion, point 2. divine life in the soul, will be the easiest for the Freshman simply because of teen society. Obviously, teen relationships depend on living teens. The question then becomes – How does God become one of my friends? Point 3, sanctifying grace, is a good start. Be sure to re-read this important comment in post 36 referring to the six points in the Catholic definition of Mortal Sin.
“Unless they already understand these (abstract (?)) theological notions, all they’ll hear in this definition is “blah blah blah **God **blah blah blah **sinner **blah blah blah evil.” Not exactly the best way to help them understand mortal sin, IMHO.”

Because “these (abstract (?)) theological notions” refer to God as Creator, one may need to refresh a teen’s memory to get rid of the “blah blah blah.”

 

[grannymh]

You’re missing the forest for the trees, I think. Try not to get distracted: if you prefer the term ‘concepts’ to ‘notions’, then think in terms of ‘concepts.’ My point stands, regardless.

Because both concepts and notions can refer to a belief, I have no preference between the two. And since the point stands, regardless, it is easier to quote a comment in the original. It is no problem for me to switch to another playing field --provided that the six points of the Catholic definition of Mortal Sin remain for discussion.

 

[Gorgias]

To understand these six points, the first question is – Are these six theological notions/concepts true when it comes to understanding Mortal Sin?

Who would doubt that they are true?!?

Yet… Calculus is true, too – and you wouldn’t jump right in with Calc with the average freshman… would you?

There is no benefit to giving a Freshman false information.

There is also a dearth of benefit of giving a freshman information that he isn’t ready for, yet. Baby steps: give a little info, give it a chance to sink in, give them the chance to ask questions and discover for themselves what the allegory is trying to say. Then – and only then, I think – do we have the opportunity to discuss why it’s only an allegory and what truths it expresses (and which truths it didn’t address).

 

[Gorgias]

In my humble opinion, point 2. divine life in the soul, will be the easiest for the Freshman simply because of teen society. Obviously, teen relationships depend on living teens.

However, “living teens” does not imply “divine life”, let alone “divine life in the soul.” If they’re having problems with that concept, then it’s going to be difficult to move forward even from there!

Because “these (abstract (?)) theological notions” refer to God as Creator, one may need to refresh a teen’s memory to get rid of the “blah blah blah.”

That’s true. When you asked “how do I explain mortal sin to a Catholic high school freshman?”, you didn’t say that what you really meant was that they were even having problems with the concepts of ‘God’, ‘God as Creator’, ‘a personal God’. Your problem, then, isn’t mortal sin, I’m afraid: it’s even more basic than that… :sad_yes:

 

[grannymh]

However, “living teens” does not imply “divine life”, let alone “divine life in the soul.” If they’re having problems with that concept, then it’s going to be difficult to move forward even from there!

Living is living. It is that simple. There is an old joke about how to tell the difference between a dead cow and a live cow. Unfortunately, my older than dirt brain does not remember it.

I do remember sneaking into the local funeral home to see a young boy in a coffin. Both he and I were young. As winds rose in a coming storm, he had been swept off the pier and drowned. I could not imagine this young person being dead. I had to see for myself. Naturally, I had been to wakes for this elderly relative or that elderly relative etc. This time, as I stood at this boy’s side, all my feelings left me. It was that hard to comprehend someone that young being dead. Fortunately, I had the good sense to leave before anyone saw me.

As the suicide rate for young people rises, more teens are seeing their friends dead. At this point, I am not quite sure how to express the following idea

Teens need to know that there is another life which is known as divine life. Do we start with the Divine Life of God as Creator? Can we expand the allegory of sharing teen friendships to the fact that we can share in God’s life?
Information source.The dramatic shift from Genesis 1: 25 to Genesis 1: 26-27; CCC 343; CCC 355-356

As I work through this thread, I am beginning to recognize that a sound basic allegory about teen friendships could help a young person understand Catholic theology facts when they are first presented.

When you asked “how do I explain mortal sin to a Catholic high school freshman?”, you didn’t say that what you really meant was that they were even having problems with the concepts of ‘God’, ‘God as Creator’, ‘a personal God’. Your problem, then, isn’t mortal sin, I’m afraid: it’s even more basic than that… :sad_yes:

You bet your sweet life that is correct.

When I started this thread, I was only interested in explaining Mortal Sin to a Catholic Freshman in high school.

When you said ---- “Unless they already understand these (abstract (?)) theological notions, all they’ll hear in this definition is “blah blah blah **God **blah blah blah **sinner **blah blah blah evil.” Not exactly the best way to help them understand mortal sin, IMHO”

:newidea: ---- I realized that it is possible that a high school Freshman would not completely understand all the words in the CCC Glossary definition of Mortal Sin. The amount of understanding depends on their Catholic formation in grade school, either in a Catholic grade school or in some kind of a CCD program. Not all Catholic grade schools are equal as far as teaching the depth of Catholicism. When I was young, I learned Catholic doctrines as facts. Thus, there was a kind of logical progression from simple facts to the more complex mysteries. Consider chapter 6, Gospel of John. To completely understand it, one has to start with the facts in the first three chapters of Genesis. Currently, those same chapters are being attacked in ways from A to Z . (A for Adam and Z for the fact that we are not living in a zoo.)

What I am now thinking is that maybe the adult explaining Mortal Sin to a Freshman in High School needs a cheat sheet.

 

[Gorgias]

What I am now thinking is that maybe the adult explaining Mortal Sin to a Freshman in High School needs a cheat sheet.

LOL! Absolutely! The older I get, the more I realize that my experience as a teen isn’t anywhere near to the experience of a contemporary teen!