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Holly3278
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Hey everyone. Is it a mortal sin to intentionally and willfully entertain doubts about the Catholic Church?
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Is it a mortal sin to intentionally and willfully entertain doubts about the Catholic Church?
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P
promethius
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To willfully maintain doubts? Yes, in that case you’re not just doubtful of truth but willfully rejecting the opportunity to conform your conscience. One is allowed to doubt a teaching as long as they do not publicly teach their doubts and they continue to seek to form their conscience.Hey everyone. Is it a mortal sin to intentionally and willfully entertain doubts about the Catholic Church?
B
Bookcat
Guest
I would not put that way…One is allowed to doubt a teaching as long as they do not publicly teach their doubts and they continue to seek to form their conscience.
But there is that wonderful phrase: “Faith seeking understanding”.
and this one:
A thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.
B
Bookcat
Guest
Catechism:
Faith
2087 Our moral life has its source in faith in God who reveals his love to us. St. Paul speaks of the "obedience of faith"9 as our first obligation. He shows that “ignorance of God” is the principle and explanation of all moral deviations.10 Our duty toward God is to believe in him and to bear witness to him.
2088 The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith:
Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.
2089 Incredulity is the neglect of revealed truth or the willful refusal to assent to it. "Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him."11
Faith
2087 Our moral life has its source in faith in God who reveals his love to us. St. Paul speaks of the "obedience of faith"9 as our first obligation. He shows that “ignorance of God” is the principle and explanation of all moral deviations.10 Our duty toward God is to believe in him and to bear witness to him.
2088 The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith:
Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.
2089 Incredulity is the neglect of revealed truth or the willful refusal to assent to it. "Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him."11
B
Bookcat
Guest
An important line in the above quote from the CCC is:
Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity.
Also these lines from the CCC:
157 Faith is certain. It is more certain than all human knowledge because it is founded on the very word of God who cannot lie. To be sure, revealed truths can seem obscure to human reason and experience, but "the certainty that the divine light gives is greater than that which the light of natural reason gives."31 "Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt."32
158 “Faith seeks understanding”:33 it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith, and to understand better what He has revealed; a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love. the grace of faith opens "the eyes of your hearts"34 to a lively understanding of the contents of Revelation: that is, of the totality of God’s plan and the mysteries of faith, of their connection with each other and with Christ, the centre of the revealed mystery. "The same Holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by his gifts, so that Revelation may be more and more profoundly understood."35 In the words of St. Augustine, "I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe."36
Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity.
Also these lines from the CCC:
157 Faith is certain. It is more certain than all human knowledge because it is founded on the very word of God who cannot lie. To be sure, revealed truths can seem obscure to human reason and experience, but "the certainty that the divine light gives is greater than that which the light of natural reason gives."31 "Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt."32
158 “Faith seeks understanding”:33 it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith, and to understand better what He has revealed; a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love. the grace of faith opens "the eyes of your hearts"34 to a lively understanding of the contents of Revelation: that is, of the totality of God’s plan and the mysteries of faith, of their connection with each other and with Christ, the centre of the revealed mystery. "The same Holy Spirit constantly perfects faith by his gifts, so that Revelation may be more and more profoundly understood."35 In the words of St. Augustine, "I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe."36
B
Bookcat
Guest
In terms of mortal sin…remember one needs grave matter, full knowledge and deliberate (complete) consent before a sin is mortal.
Also note that a person can experience all sorts of temptations against faith…even at times they can seem as if they are almost willed…when in reality they have not been actually consented to…
They can be passing or a period of temptations that
take one by the throat as it were…
*
Sometimes indeed all one can do is stand as a martyr holding fast to ones profession against the thoughts that attack one.*
Such times of temptation can come from the culture around one, from internal temptations, or even at times from other spiritual sources etc
They can come particularly at certain stages in the spiritual life.
It is important not to confuse the temptation…even persistent with deliberate consent.
Also note that a person can experience all sorts of temptations against faith…even at times they can seem as if they are almost willed…when in reality they have not been actually consented to…
They can be passing or a period of temptations that
take one by the throat as it were…
*
Sometimes indeed all one can do is stand as a martyr holding fast to ones profession against the thoughts that attack one.*
Such times of temptation can come from the culture around one, from internal temptations, or even at times from other spiritual sources etc
They can come particularly at certain stages in the spiritual life.
It is important not to confuse the temptation…even persistent with deliberate consent.
A
ahs
Guest
It is natural for people to experience doubt, or to have trouble understanding the Faith. It is at these times we must practice the “faith seeking understanding”. In that, we keep true to our Faith and work to further our understanding of it.Hey everyone. Is it a mortal sin to intentionally and willfully entertain doubts about the Catholic Church?
Willfully entertaining the doubts, unless we are doing that while diligently studying the Faith to dispel those doubts, carries a heavy risk of turning into what we see in the Catechism, paragraph 2089. And if we publicly express those doubts, showing no intent to gain further understanding for ourselves, we also run the risk of offense regarding CCC 2284-2287 (“Respect for the souls of others: scandal”).
R
razredge
Guest
No, if you have sound reasons for those doubts and aren’t holding doubts simply for the sake of being contrarian.Hey everyone. Is it a mortal sin to intentionally and willfully entertain doubts about the Catholic Church?
R
ready
Guest
Dear Holly, to willfully doubt a matter of faith is truly a sin. You should ask an orthodox priest if it is a mortal sin.
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