His question:
“How does the Catholic Church justify the classification of sin into venial and mortal according to scripture?”
In his view, scripture does not make such a distinction and all sin is equally weighty in the eyes of God.
Scripture DOES make a distinction about sin. I John 5:16 makes the distinction:
“If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray.”
According to the writer *mortal sin *is a willfully committed, serious transgression against the law of God, depriving the soul of divine grace. It is a sin, such as murder or blasphemy, that is so heinous it deprives the soul of sanctifying grace and causes damnation if unpardoned at the time of death. This type of sin needs to be absolved through the Church (confession to a priest).
*Venial sin *a transgression against the law of God that does not deprive the soul of divine grace either because it is a minor offense or because it was committed without full understanding of its seriousness or without full consent of the will. The word itself comes from Middle English, before that from Old French, and before that from Late Latin veniālis, from Latin venia, meaning “forgiveness”.
Since the earliest days of the Church, and even in Judaism, it was always understood that there were different types of sin - that which damned and that which could be forgiven.
He also asks, “What sins did Christ take upon himself on the cross? The big sins only or all the sins?”
Christ took on ALL the sins of the world from the very beginning - since the time of Adam, and He continues to take on the sins of the world now through the Sacrifice of the Mass and sacramental Confession. This is the New Testament that God left for us: that He loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son for us. But to be effective in our life, we need to repent and be baptized in Him.
