More questions from a non-Catholic

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nichjake

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Okay, in my quest to learn as much as I can about Catholicism I thought I’d ask about the types of sin. I’ve seen two mentioned just browsing the forum, mortal sin and venial sin. What kind of things fall under these catagories?

Sorry if my questions seems dumb to ya all, I’m not Catholic and haven’t had any experience with Catholicism so I really don’t know anything.
 
Not a dumb question at all.

A mortal sin, which destroys divine life in the soul, meets three conditions: grave matter (serious sin), full knowledge that it is evil, and full consent of the will.

A venial sin diminishes or wounds divine life in the soul, but does not destroy it. It can be sin of a less serious nature, or it can involve grave matter but without full knowledge or consent.

Some examples of mortal and venial sin can be found at catholic.org/frz/examen/ . Many people have made different lists like these (“examinations of conscience”); each listing is a little different. Other guidelines include the Catechism (look for words such as “gravely contrary to the moral law,” “intrinsically and gravely disordered,” etc.); a conscience that has been well formed according to the teachings of the Church and the guidance of the Holy Spirit; our own innate sense of good and evil; and the guidance of one’s priest confessor.
 
Hello!

As you can imagine, sins are not all as equally offensive to God. There are the sins of murder and those of being rude to someone. Murder is certainly more deadly to the soul, though rudeness is certainly not Christ-like either.

Mortal Sins: Three things are necessary for a sin to be mortal: 1. Serious matter; 2. Knowledge or firm belief that the act is seriously wrong prior to committing the act; and 3. Full consent of the will.

Venial Sins: A sin is either considered venial either because the matter is not serious enough to be mortal or because the habitual nature of the sin reduces the gravity.

**To give you an example of such sins compared, I will use the First Commandment as an illustration:
  1. I am the Lord your God. You shall not have strange gods before me.
Mortal Sins:
**
  • Involvement in occult practices, e.g., witchcraft, ouija boards, seances, palm reading, tarot cards, hypnotism, divination, astrology, black magic, sorcery, etc.
  • Involvement in or adherence to New Age or Eastern philosophies, atheism or agnosticism
  • Apostasy (leaving the Church)
  • Adherence to a schismatic group
  • Putting faith in superstition, e.g., horoscopes
  • Joining the Masons or other secret society
  • Receiving Holy Communion in the state of mortal sin
  • Hatred of God
  • Desecration of the Holy Eucharist
  • Willfully denying the Faith of the Catholic Church
  • Involvement in false or pagan worship
  • Being married by a Justice of the Peace or by a minister of another denomination (without proper dispensation)
    **Venial Sins:
**
  • Failure to pray on a daily basis
  • **Not trying to love God with my whole mind, heart, soul
    **
  • Entertaining doubts against the Faith
  • Failing to seek out or learn the teachings of the Church
  • Indifference or ingratitude to God
  • Spiritual Sloth
  • Not trusting God
  • Tempting God
  • Being angry with God
  • Being willfully distracted at Mass or in prayer
  • Putting off confession needlessly
  • Failure to pray when tempted
    By the above examples you can see a vast difference between the grave sins and those which are venial.
Peace be with you,

Kelly
 
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