Overstating sins at confession?

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Is it a sin to “overstate” a sin at confession? For example, if you confessed that you read pornographic materials, but what you read was not truly pornographic in nature (but was relatively suggestive), did you just lie?
 
Occasions of sin

Pornographic or suggestive…it comes to the same thing regarding **courting occasions of sin **that you are obliged as a Christian to avoid, if either leads you to sin. The act of seeking either out is sinful because to deliberately do so,
or not to desist when you realize it’s either porn or suggestive
and either case titilates you to sin,
is a sin.
Basically, you were confessing that you were courting occasions of sin. The sin can be just as serious in each case, having the same result…if this is what you mean to convey.

Anyway, take care of yourself. Best wishes and prayers, Trishie 🙂
 
benkim said:
Is it a sin to “overstate” a sin at confession? For example, if you confessed that you read pornographic materials, but what you read was not truly pornographic in nature (but was relatively suggestive), did you just lie?
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It sounds like you are being a bit scrupulous. We all make little errors like that. You cannot lie by accident.
 
It is not “scrupulous” to ask an isolated question about sin. Scruplosity is a longtime pattern of which we would have no clue with this lone question. It is very good to be concerned about sin.

Good question, OP! Were you intending to deceive the priest? I think an honest response to that question will give you the answer you seek. As Matthias said, these errors happen (assuming it was mere error). Find peace!
 
bbentrup said:
It is not “scrupulous” to ask an isolated question about sin. Scruplosity is a longtime pattern of which we would have no clue with this lone question. It is very good to be concerned about sin.

Good question, OP! Were you intending to deceive the priest? I think an honest response to that question will give you the answer you seek. As Matthias said, these errors happen (assuming it was mere error). Find peace!
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I am not saying he is scrupulous. I am saying that particular worry is a scrupulous worry. I was in no way rebuking his question.
 
Confession is important, but I don’t think one should become ‘addicted’ to it. I get the impression some Catholics obsess over sinning, and spend so much time in the confessional, it might appear they have a larger problem which confession alone can’t solve. I keep thinking of Martin Luther. He was so emotionally overwhelmed with a sense of personal sinfulness, that first he became a monk, then a priest, then a Biblical scholar, and finally the insurgent leader who launched the Reformation to spread his *reinvented version *of Christianity. His obsession with being unredeemable in the eyes of God literally changed history forever.😦
 
Alfred? You want people to stay away from God’s grace?

Look, I agree there could be a sin of presumption involved in some regular pentitents - the idea of “I can just go to confession regularly so I can continue my patterns of sin.” None of us know the hour of death, so this is prideful and puts God to the test not to release you from your mortal husk in a state of mortal sin.

Even there, confession is not the problem. The sin is. True confession is always, always a moment of grace, and should be done regularly. Pope JPII recommended once a week which seems like a good measuring stick to me; I’ve seen some priests recommend daily (although that, I admit, seems impractical if not outright excessive).

Confession is great! Afterwards you feel so clean and wonderful. You get good advice. It works as a good substitute for an accountability partner. You draw closer to God. You learn more about yourself which is always good. You learn to detest sins which is the wisdom of God.

You become a saint (perhaps not one that will be proclaimed by the universal church, but a saint nonetheless) after making a good confession.
 
Well the thing is more like during confession I had this list and I came across “Read pornographic materials,” and I hesitated at that because I wasn’t really sure if the material I read was pornographic, but just said “read pornographic materials” anyways.
 
and then rather go into all the potentially confusing details you just confessed the sin of pornography…you know your soul best, but I would be hugely surprised if there is anything wrong with your changing the words for the worse for clarity and simplicity’s sake. Have peace and enjoy the sacrament! :signofcross:
 
I often worry whether I’ve done this, there is always a mental tally running in my mind of times I’ve done, or almost done, or put myself in a situation where it would be too easy to do, something sinful. The hardest two are the two I have least situational control over - looking at women and controlling my own thoughts.

I try to confess all of these instances, even though I realise few were actual mortal sins. I don’t know if that’s overstating things?

I am always scared by people like St John Bosco or St Leonard of Port Maurice, who saw visions of people in hell who they had thought were holy people, but were condemned for failing to confess one single sin, and thus invalidating their future confessions, getting caught in an inescapable web of their own lies and losing their salvation.

I’d much sooner err on the side of caution, but have never considered that ‘overstating’ a sin could itself be a sin. If I say I have coveted a woman, when in reality I just noticed that she was there and let my eyes stay on her a second too long because she was wearing unusual clothes, have I sinned?
 
bbentrup said:
Alfred? You want people to stay away from God’s grace?

Look, I agree there could be a sin of presumption involved in some regular pentitents - the idea of “I can just go to confession regularly so I can continue my patterns of sin.” None of us know the hour of death, so this is prideful and puts God to the test not to release you from your mortal husk in a state of mortal sin.

Even there, confession is not the problem. The sin is. True confession is always, always a moment of grace, and should be done regularly. Pope JPII recommended once a week which seems like a good measuring stick to me; I’ve seen some priests recommend daily (although that, I admit, seems impractical if not outright excessive).

Confession is great! Afterwards you feel so clean and wonderful. You get good advice. It works as a good substitute for an accountability partner. You draw closer to God. You learn more about yourself which is always good. You learn to detest sins which is the wisdom of God.

You become a saint (perhaps not one that will be proclaimed by the universal church, but a saint nonetheless) after making a good confession.
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I agree. It’s just a bad idea to obsess over sinning, such that one can’t get on with life. That’s what I meant.
 
What is a sin is understating a sin.

Being grouchy is not the same as cursing.

And near occasions of mortal sins are mortal sins.

And as for things related to 6th and 9th commandments, there is almost nothing that is not a mortal sin.

By the way, if you don’t love purity with a warrior love than you are never going to practice it. Hate sin or fall in it.
 
Correction to your statement about the 6th and 9th commandment…not many things that fall under those commandments that are not GRAVE MATTER. Nothing in itself is mortal sin.
 
Confess by seven deadly sins, or ten commandments- that would fall into lust if real sin.

I always say- up to this amount, so as not to lie, or exaggerate- both sins in confession, so far as accusing the self of sins one hasn’t done is sinful. I try to confess once a week- even when you have no sin, there is often past sins to confess.
 
KingAlfred said:
Confession is important, but I don’t think one should become ‘addicted’ to it. I get the impression some Catholics obsess over sinning, and spend so much time in the confessional, it might appear they have a larger problem which confession alone can’t solve. I keep thinking of Martin Luther. He was so emotionally overwhelmed with a sense of personal sinfulness, that first he became a monk, then a priest, then a Biblical scholar, and finally the insurgent leader who launched the Reformation to spread his *reinvented version *of Christianity. His obsession with being unredeemable in the eyes of God literally changed history forever.😦
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What is too often in your book? Aren’t you addressing the overly scrupulous and not the pious? I love being able to go to confession weekly or bi-weekly. I go to celebrate the mercy of God. Would it be too much in your book? I hear what you’re saying about Luther but he had his problems and I have mine.
 
I think it *(weekly/often done/regular confession) almost vital, p.s. One quest, your religion is listed as N/A

God’s blessing…
 
ForwardProgress said:
Correction to your statement about the 6th and 9th commandment…not many things that fall under those commandments that are not GRAVE MATTER. Nothing in itself is mortal sin.
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Back that up if you’ll please.
There is probably like 1 case I know that it is not a mortal sin.
 
Saying something in and of itself is a mortal sin is a 3rd grade catechism level explanation.

Mortal sin requires 3 things:
  1. Grave Matter
  2. Full knowledge that it is grave matter
  3. Full Consent of the Will
Examples abound.
 
Ahem Ahem. :rolleyes:

Then we are not talking about an mortal sin are we?

If I thought torching up a protestant church was a holy thing to do then (the temptations are out there, but without the authority to do so…) then I did not commit a sin in doing so.

But obviously, when we speak about mortal sins, we speak of them objectively, as in they were actually commited.

🤷 Jeez, a little more CPU time before it appears on the screen please.
 
No, you said in a post above that sins against the 6th and 9th are mortal sins in most cases. I am simply saying that sins against the 6th and 9th make up grave matter, but not mortal sins unless the other 3 conditions are met. This is a very important distinction! You can drive someone crazy if you tell them that an action is a mortal sin and will send you to hell without knowing their circumstances, knowledge level, etc…this should be left up to an individual and his/her confessor to figure out.
 
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