Sin of presumption

  • Thread starter Thread starter Holland
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
H

Holland

Guest
What exactly is a sin of presumption? Don’t we presume we will be forgiven when we go to Confession?
 
Holland said:
What exactly is a sin of presumption? Don’t we presume we will be forgiven when we go to Confession?
Click to expand...
Presumption has to do with your attitude towards sin. If you say, “oh, I’ll go have sex with her and just go to confession after”, odds are your confession will not be valid since you need a firm purpose of amendment.

Also, you don’t presume you are forgive since the priest can withhold your sins.
 
HailMary said:
Presumption has to do with your attitude towards sin. If you say, “oh, I’ll go have sex with her and just go to confession after”, odds are your confession will not be valid since you need a firm purpose of amendment.

Also, you don’t presume you are forgive since the priest can withhold your sins.
Click to expand...
If you confess a sin of presumption in the above example you could be forgiven and the confession would be valid???
 
I’ve never heard of presumtion as a sin before! I presume that this is a made up sin. Or was that the sin of presumtion?🤷
 
Linnyo said:
I’ve never heard of presumtion as a sin before! I presume that this is a made up sin. Or was that the sin of presumtion?🤷
Click to expand...
It is real, and a tough balance. I have confessed it a lot, since I feel like I walk the line between relying on God’s mercy and taking advantage of it.

Our job is to walk the tight rope, and use the safety net if we fall, not stumble around the tight rope uncaring whether or not we stay on it.
 
Linnyo said:
I’ve never heard of presumtion as a sin before! I presume that this is a made up sin. Or was that the sin of presumtion?🤷
Click to expand...
This is what the Catchechism says:
  1. There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his own capacities,(hoping to be able to save himself without help from on high), or he presumes upon God’s almighty power or his mercy (hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory without merit).
Its the last part of the explanation that I have a little trouble with. By virtue of the fact that we have the Sacrement of Reconcilliation, aren’t we presuming the forgiveness of sins?
 
A quick search of the Catechism does the trick - scborromeo.org/ccc.htm
**2091 **The first commandment is also concerned with sins against hope, namely, despair and presumption:
By despair, man ceases to hope for his personal salvation from God, for help in attaining it or for the forgiveness of his sins. Despair is contrary to God’s goodness, to his justice - for the Lord is faithful to his promises - and to his mercy.

**2092 **There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his own capacities, (hoping to be able to save himself without help from on high), or he presumes upon God’s almighty power or his mercy (hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory without merit).
Click to expand...
…

**2733 **Another temptation, to which presumption opens the gate, is acedia. The spiritual writers understand by this a form of depression due to lax ascetical practice, decreasing vigilance, carelessness of heart. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The greater the height, the harder the fall. Painful as discouragement is, it is the reverse of presumption. The humble are not surprised by their distress; it leads them to trust more, to hold fast in constancy.
Click to expand...
I have confessed to both types of presumption. It is a painful thing to deal with in my experience. Since we know we can confess and receive absolution, we all run the risk of presuming such and choosing to sin.
 
Holland said:
This is what the Catchechism says:
  1. There are two kinds of presumption. Either man presumes upon his own capacities,(hoping to be able to save himself without help from on high), or he presumes upon God’s almighty power or his mercy (hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory without merit).
Its the last part of the explanation that I have a little trouble with. By virtue of the fact that we have the Sacrement of Reconcilliation, aren’t we presuming the forgiveness of sins?
Click to expand...
No, since the Sacrament of Penance is an objective reality that we know cleanses the penitent of his sins. If one approaches the sacrament in such a manner as to presume on forgiveness without true repentance and with no intention of trying to avoid the sin or sins confessed, than, yes, that would be presumption.
 
I think I am getting it…but if you committ a sin with the thought that you can just go to Confession and be forgiven, is that also a sin of presumption?
 
Holland said:
I think I am getting it…but if you committ a sin with the thought that you can just go to Confession and be forgiven, is that also a sin of presumption?
Click to expand...
Yes…according to my priest. It puts into question your contrition. How contrite can you be when you are confessing something that you did, knowing at the time you chose to do it that you were going to confess it? You can still have real contrition, but you better be feelin’ sorry for the way you approached the sin in the first place.
 
Is it presumption when someone believes that he will be going straight to heaven because he believe Jesus and follows His commandments? My born again brother (left the CC to go Anglican, Calvary Gospel then Faith Tabernacle) feels this way because the bible says so…I am of the opposite thinking, where I will work at my salvation with fear and trepication.
 
Holland said:
I think I am getting it…but if you committ a sin with the thought that you can just go to Confession and be forgiven, is that also a sin of presumption?
Click to expand...
Yes. If we are going ahead and committing sin because we know we can go to Confession any time we want (instead of being too weak to resist temptation at a particular moment in time) then we are guilty of presumption, in addition to the rest of our sins.

It would be even worse if someone were to deliberately commit a sin just in order to have something “interesting” to confess at his next Confession - this would be a clear case of “completely missing the point.” :eek:
 
What if you presume that you can confess the sin that you are presuming to be forgiven for a certain sin? Where does the line end? I always forget to confess the sin of presumption now that I think about it. It seems like a very common sin that most of us don’t think about.
 
I’m sometimes guilty of presumption in the sense of “after all I can confess it” but at Confession, I am convicted of that sin and confess it along with the others and tell the priest that my contrition may be less than perfect due to this.

Sometimes though, during temptation, I have the thought that “I must confess this” if I do it. It sometimes serves to hold off the temptation, but if I fall, I then know I must confess with true repentance and firm purpose of amendment, and so I don’t use Confession as a washing machine. I do not confess to presumption on this case, because I know what my disposition must be.

But in all cases, I pray for the grace to have true contrition and purpose of amendment, and at Confession, when I say I firmly resolve, I intentionally do so as an act of the will.

But at no point do I dare trust in my own strength or think that I do not need to amend my life.
 
wjp984 said:
What if you presume that you can confess the sin that you are presuming to be forgiven for a certain sin? Where does the line end? I always forget to confess the sin of presumption now that I think about it. It seems like a very common sin that most of us don’t think about.
Click to expand...
Generally, it has not been a problem for me, but I recently had the experience where I chose sin with the thought of confessing it. I felt so bad about it, that I didn’t go to confession that week and withheld myself from receiving the Eucharist. I truly didn’t feel the strong sense of contrition, so I knew that I couldn’t confess in that state. Scared the bejeebers out of me.

Got better.
 
The sin of presumption is when you premeditate doing something while keeping in mind you can always confess later, and then even confessing the sin of presumption itself, with that frame of mind, it will never be a valid confession. Because you need to have at least some shame for what you have done. Perfect contrition is not required, but that is what we all SHOULD aim for.
 
JFonseka said:
The sin of presumption is when you premeditate doing something while keeping in mind you can always confess later, and then even confessing the sin of presumption itself, with that frame of mind, it will never be a valid confession.
Click to expand...
Not quite, because confessing the sin of presumption and willfully being sorry for it with a firm purpose of amendment is all that is required. Presumption is not the unforgivable sin.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top