Where we disagree is on the actual number of people who don’t know what a mortal sin is. You seem to think that most people are only committing venial sins because of their poor understanding of the gravity of the sin, while I am saying, “Nonsense!” Most people know full well what sins are serious enough to be mortal. Spiritual laxity is a weak excuse when we’re standing before God on Judgment Day.
I think you over estimate the knowledge of a great many people. If you were to ask people “what is original sin?” I think many would tell you “poking a badger with a spoon.” (little Eddie Izzard joke there. . .)
Outside of the 1st world, I’d say yes most people are a bunch of naive pagans. The 3rd world does not have the access to information that we do, and they make up a majority of the world. On the whole I’d say 1st world would have many less cases of innocence by ignorance, but I think the number would still surprise you.
Yep what you said!
Unless of course they weren’t aware of the gravity of not instructing the ignorant.
Remember, it’s the loophole that camels can easily squeeze through.Unless of course they weren’t aware of the gravity of not instructing the ignorant.
Amen:thumbsup:
I think the issue of full knowledge goes deeper then this.
You hit the nail on the head. There are only a few in the church who are concerned about the faithfulness of their church or of their doctrines. There may be concern that “those liberal churches” are unfaithful to God or that this “cult” is bad. A good example has been divorce and remarriage. While I was a practicing Catholic during the 70’s and early 80’s that was my major complaint. It seemed like every Catholic couple we knew was getting divorced. The Bible clearly commands that the husband is bound to his wife until death (I Corinthians 7:39, Romans 7:1-3). Therefore, there is not to be divorce and remarriage. But, how many times have we seen divorcees have there marriage annulled by a liberal priest, then kick their heels, and go find a new partner?
I’m starting to get confused with what is being posted here. Are we saying that because someone says the Church is fully of hooey on birth control, and so goes ahead and uses artificial birth control, that therefore this person is not culpable for his/her actions? Of if a person decides that not going to Mass on a Sunday is not a sin, therefore it’s not a sin for that person? Do spiritual laws work that way? If I don’t believe in the law of gravity, but decided to jump off a 50 story building, it’s going to affect me anyway. I’m going to die. Wouldn’t spiritual laws, which have eternal consequences as opposed to physical laws which have only physical consequences, be stronger than my beliefs?
Absolutely. I read constantly of this idea that a mortal sin is difficult to commit. Where is this taught by the Church?
If a Catholic rejects the authority of the Church is that not an objective sin?
If a Catholic rejects the authority of the Church, haven’t they in effect removed themselves from the Church, and are in a state of separation, and therefore in a state of mortal sin, whether they accept that fact or not?
Sufficient knowledge for a mortal sin is that the Catholic KNOWS what the Church teaches, not that they assent to it or thoroughly understand it. There is no requirement to understand WHY the Church teaches as she does. There is no requirement to undertstand the nuances of infallibility. The Catholic who uses birth control (intentionally, of course) knowing that the Church teaches that it is seriously sinful is commiting a mortal sin.
If one reject the teachings of the Church, one is outside the Church. But unfortunately, many people in positions of authority muddy the waters. How many times have you heard someone say “my Priest told me it was okay.”? This is a case where ignorance of the true law lessens the culpability of the sinner. It does not expunge the sin, they have still sinned, but they cannot be held fully accountable for the punishment due because of that sin.
The reason I chose Divorce and Remarriage for an example is because I was widowed rather than being divorced from my first wife. (At age 30) Naturally, I started to attend the Catholic Retreats to find a good old fashioned Catholic gal. Well, there weren’t any at the Retreats that I was at, and it was almost what I would call sacrilege just being there with them. I wont go into detail, or judge what is a mortal sin.
I understand what you’re saying, but doesn’t anyone study the Church’s teachings on their own? We should all have Bibles and Catechisms. There is no questioning of the beliefs there. Certainly there can be times when we’re sinning and don’t know it. I can give you an example of my own. My husband and I are returning Catholics, and we need to have our marriage convalidated. We both went to confession, and then started receiving communion. We did not understand that we are not able to receive communion until the convalidation of our marriage. But the priest said we were not sinning because we were in honest ignorance of that fact. However, if we were to receive communion after knowledge of that fact, whether we like or not, we would be sinning.