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pghguy
Guest
Since every bit of information out the is very vague and ambigious, here’s what I’ve figured out.
From what I can gather, mortal sin requires the following 3 things.
1.The action or behavior itself must be a grave matter.
2.There must be full knowledge that the act is indeed sinful.
3.There must be full consent of the will in engaging in the act or behavior.
Trying to decipher what this means and to get though the legalistic aspects of it can be quite difficult. To the best of what I can determine, as that nobody has been able to clearly articulate this to me, these are some guidelines.
A GRAVE MATTER
A grave matter must be something deeply wrong or dysfunctional to what we believe to be God’s will. Some are clear cut, like murder, rape and incest. Some are not so clear and more ambiguous. If the matter is ambiguous in nature, it limits the chances that it can be a mortal sin. Despite the slightly confusing nature of this condition, it is probably the most easy to understand of the three involved in mortal sin.
FULL KNOWLEDGE
Full knowledge implies that one must know that the act or behavior one is engaging in is sinful. This is very tricky because again few things are clear cut. There is not really any word for word guide on what is and what isn’t a sin. And, many times pastors each have their own take on a particular issue as to whether or not it is a grave matter, a venial sin or no sin at all. For example, quite a few of these issues deal with the area of sexuality. As I see it, one can only have full knowledge if there is virtually unanimous consensus within a faith and a society that something is wrong. A good example would be child abuse or domestic violence.
FULL CONSENT
This third criterion is very hard to balance and determine. And, it tends mean something different with every person you may ask. It seems that full consent would be given just by engaging in the act or behavior but this is not the case. For example, consent can be nullified by such things as psychological or mental conditions, age, hormonal and biological conditions, and several other factors. Some might say it also alludes to the idea that you must be engaging in the act for the intent of something evil or with the purpose of harming another either physically, spiritually or emotionally.
BOTTOM LINE:
Mortal sins are very bad. However, it’s not as easy to commit a mortal sin as one might think.
Let’s take some real world examples:
A prisoner kills another man in jail for taking his shower time. Was the matter grave – yes. Did he have full knowledge of what he was doing as wrong – yes. Did he intend to do evil and give full consent – yes. So, it is a mortal sin.
A young girl finds herself pregnant. Her parents threaten to kick her out of her home if she doesn’t abort the child. She agonizes over her decision but having nowhere else to go decides to go through the procedure. Was it a grave matter – yes. Did she have full knowledge – possibly and possibly not. Did she give full consent – No. So, although not the best thing (I’m 100% Pro-Life by the way), it would not be a mortal sin.
A young man finds himself in the hormone intense stages of puberty. He is getting erections quite frequently and is learning about the sexual instincts of human nature. He engages in masturbation. Was this a grave matter – it depends on whom you ask. Did he have full knowledge – based on the first criterion, it’s hard to say that he could. Did he give full consent of the will – probably not. So, unless we add a lot of other conditions into play, it would not be a mortal sin.
In fact, it could be argued that the second scenario may not be a sin at all and the third is likely not one.
A decent rule of thumb might be this, if you are unsure of whether or not you committed a mortal sin, you almost couldn’t have. Mortal sins leave no room for uncertainty and must be deliberate.
From what I can gather, mortal sin requires the following 3 things.
1.The action or behavior itself must be a grave matter.
2.There must be full knowledge that the act is indeed sinful.
3.There must be full consent of the will in engaging in the act or behavior.
Trying to decipher what this means and to get though the legalistic aspects of it can be quite difficult. To the best of what I can determine, as that nobody has been able to clearly articulate this to me, these are some guidelines.
A GRAVE MATTER
A grave matter must be something deeply wrong or dysfunctional to what we believe to be God’s will. Some are clear cut, like murder, rape and incest. Some are not so clear and more ambiguous. If the matter is ambiguous in nature, it limits the chances that it can be a mortal sin. Despite the slightly confusing nature of this condition, it is probably the most easy to understand of the three involved in mortal sin.
FULL KNOWLEDGE
Full knowledge implies that one must know that the act or behavior one is engaging in is sinful. This is very tricky because again few things are clear cut. There is not really any word for word guide on what is and what isn’t a sin. And, many times pastors each have their own take on a particular issue as to whether or not it is a grave matter, a venial sin or no sin at all. For example, quite a few of these issues deal with the area of sexuality. As I see it, one can only have full knowledge if there is virtually unanimous consensus within a faith and a society that something is wrong. A good example would be child abuse or domestic violence.
FULL CONSENT
This third criterion is very hard to balance and determine. And, it tends mean something different with every person you may ask. It seems that full consent would be given just by engaging in the act or behavior but this is not the case. For example, consent can be nullified by such things as psychological or mental conditions, age, hormonal and biological conditions, and several other factors. Some might say it also alludes to the idea that you must be engaging in the act for the intent of something evil or with the purpose of harming another either physically, spiritually or emotionally.
BOTTOM LINE:
Mortal sins are very bad. However, it’s not as easy to commit a mortal sin as one might think.
Let’s take some real world examples:
A prisoner kills another man in jail for taking his shower time. Was the matter grave – yes. Did he have full knowledge of what he was doing as wrong – yes. Did he intend to do evil and give full consent – yes. So, it is a mortal sin.
A young girl finds herself pregnant. Her parents threaten to kick her out of her home if she doesn’t abort the child. She agonizes over her decision but having nowhere else to go decides to go through the procedure. Was it a grave matter – yes. Did she have full knowledge – possibly and possibly not. Did she give full consent – No. So, although not the best thing (I’m 100% Pro-Life by the way), it would not be a mortal sin.
A young man finds himself in the hormone intense stages of puberty. He is getting erections quite frequently and is learning about the sexual instincts of human nature. He engages in masturbation. Was this a grave matter – it depends on whom you ask. Did he have full knowledge – based on the first criterion, it’s hard to say that he could. Did he give full consent of the will – probably not. So, unless we add a lot of other conditions into play, it would not be a mortal sin.
In fact, it could be argued that the second scenario may not be a sin at all and the third is likely not one.
A decent rule of thumb might be this, if you are unsure of whether or not you committed a mortal sin, you almost couldn’t have. Mortal sins leave no room for uncertainty and must be deliberate.