How old does a child have to be to consent to sin?

[SwordofLight]

I could use the answer, thanks

 

[theMutant]

Old enough to know that something is truly wrong; not just that they aren’t supposed to do it because they’ll get in trouble. Typically, the age of seven is used as a guideline, but it’s only a guideline.

 

[JimG]

Yes, “the age of reason” was traditionally the answer to this question, with age 7 being given as the typical age. Old enough to know right from wrong, and that doing wrong displeases God.

JimG

 

[spetreopn]

You should generally be able to tell in children, whom you know well, when the age of reason is reached. The way in which they think, act, and speak about things will begin to change.

 

[tee_eff_em]

The age of reason at 7 is encoded in Canon Law (not that Canon Law has particularly to do with sin, but it’s a good guideline anyway)

Can. 97 §1 A person who has completed the eighteenth year of age, has attained majority; below this age, a person is a minor.
§2 A minor who has not completed the seventh year of age is called an infant and is considered incapable of personal responsibility; on completion of the seventh year, however, the minor is presumed to have the use of reason.

But note that it is a presumption. If there is a reliable way to demonstrate “reason”, surely some younger children have attained it. Surely, mental illness or defect could demonstrate the opposite of someone in spite of having attained his seventh year.

(NB: For those, like me, prone to picket fence errors: The “completion of the *Nth * year” is what we typically call someone’s *Nth * birthday. You have your first birthday at the completion of you first year, right?)

 

[Prometheum_x]

(NB: For those, like me, prone to picket fence errors: The "completion of the *Nth *

year" is what we typically call someone’s *Nth * birthday. You have your first birthday at the completion of you first year, right?) Yes, for at your first birthday we then say, “You are one year old”, which means, “You have completed one year of life.”