How much knowledge is required for mortal sin?

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I know that for mortal sin to occur there are 3 requirements, one being full knowledge.

But, full knowledge of what?

Do you have to just know the sin is grave for it to be full knowledge?

What if you know that is is grave in some circumstances, but not others and convince yourself that it is okay?

Do you have to be thinking about the consequences of committing the sin, knowing that you are rebelling against God and condemning yourself to Hell for all eternity? What if you are not thinking of that when you commit the sin?

I have always been kind of confused about this and just want to clear it up finally.
 
There are two mistakes that one can make with regard to discerning whether a particular sin is mortal or not. The first is when one rationalizes the sin away. “Well, it may be serious matter, but sometimes not, so I’m gonna say I don’t really, really know for sure.”

The other is to say that everything is a mortal sin. Scrupulosity.

It might help to keep in mind that we cannot sin outside of our free will. This implies taht one really knows (without rationalizing) that what he’s doing is seriously wrong. One can kill one’s consience over time, of course, but unless you do that, you know when you do something seriously wrong. Like one priest said at a Mass I attended some time ago, “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s most probably a duck.” You can always ask the priest in Confession and ask him to help you discern. That’s playing it safe. What you don’t want to do is play it loose, and just write it off. Better to find out and deal with it up front and get yourself to where you know you’re right with God and the Church.
 
NFrancis said:
I know that for mortal sin to occur there are 3 requirements, one being full knowledge.

But, full knowledge of what?
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The Catechism says:
  • 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[133] do not diminish, but rather increase, the voluntary character of a sin.
You need full knowledge that the act is sinful and opposed to God’s law. That is to say, it is insufficient for you to have been told that a particular act is sinful, you must know that assertion to be true.

For instance, I know because I have been taught all my life and I believe the teaching that choosing to miss Mass on Sunday is a mortal sin. Another person, raised in a different environment, say a Protestant, is unaware that choosing to skip Mass is a mortal sin. For him, it isn’t a mortal sin, because he doesn’t have full knowledge.

Even if I tell him, “hey! missing Mass is a mortal sin, you’re going to go to hell if you don’t get your butt to Mass on Sunday!”, unless he believes me, and sees the truth in what I tell him, he’s off the hook, because even though he has some knowledge, he still lacks “full knowledge”.
 
BillP said:
Even if I tell him, “hey! missing Mass is a mortal sin, you’re going to go to hell if you don’t get your butt to Mass on Sunday!”, unless he believes me, and sees the truth in what I tell him, he’s off the hook, because even though he has some knowledge, he still lacks “full knowledge”.
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So, what if he is pretty sure the sin is grave but, isn’t totally sure and someway convinces himself it is okay?
 
NFrancis said:
I know that for mortal sin to occur there are 3 requirements, one being full knowledge.

But, full knowledge of what?

Do you have to just know the sin is grave for it to be full knowledge?

What if you know that is is grave in some circumstances, but not others and convince yourself that it is okay?

Do you have to be thinking about the consequences of committing the sin, knowing that you are rebelling against God and condemning yourself to Hell for all eternity? What if you are not thinking of that when you commit the sin?

I have always been kind of confused about this and just want to clear it up finally.
Click to expand...
You can fool some of the people, some of the time, but you can never fool God. He knows what you know, and will hold you to it.
 
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