The Conditions of Moral Sin

[CutlerB]

I understand that for a sin to be a mortal sin, three things must be met:

1. Grave matter
2. Full knowledge
3. Deliberate consent

It is the second one that I have a question about: Does “full knowledge” mean that one needs to generally be aware of the sinfulness of the act, or does it mean that one must at the moment of temptation know that it is sinful and then choose to commit it?

In other words, must I first think “Oh, this is mortal sin and I shouldn’t be doing that!” and then something like “I don’t care.” in order for sin to be mortal, or is it enough to simply have heard and known the sinful character of something long before?

I hope this is clear…

 

[Jeanne_S]

The latter.

 

[SonSearcher]

I think you have a handle on it. At least I understand it to be along these lines, with a little expansion if you will. Say you are a male and have a wet dream, you are unconscious, therefore…do you have full knowledge? No.

 

[devoutchristian]

I think you have a handle on it. At least I understand it to be along these lines, with a little expansion if you will. Say you are a male and have a wet dream, you are unconscious, therefore…do you have full knowledge? No.

Actually such a case is lack of full consent.

 

[Philthy]

I understand that for a sin to be a mortal sin, three things must be met:

1. Grave matter
2. Full knowledge
3. Deliberate consent

It is the second one that I have a question about: Does “full knowledge” mean that one needs to generally be aware of the sinfulness of the act, or does it mean that one must at the moment of temptation know that it is sinful and then choose to commit it?

In other words, must I first think “Oh, this is mortal sin and I shouldn’t be doing that!” and then something like “I don’t care.” in order for sin to be mortal, or is it enough to simply have heard and known the sinful character of something long before?

I hope this is clear…

Full knowledge means that the person is fully aware that the sin involves grave matter.
What you describe as to “then choose to commit it” falls into item 3, deliberate consent, and is probably the most difficult to get a handle on. Your confusion here indicates that despite believing that you understand items 1 and 3, you don’t actually understand 3. Deliberate consent is sometimes termed “full and free consent of the will” where the degree of freedom in choosing an action becomes significant. Two identical acts of sin with respect to matter (ie both equally grave matter) can be known to be grave by the person who commits them and they can both choose to commit them but they may not both be committing a mortal sin. The reason is that one of the individuals may have been coerced by extenuating circumstances (like a gun to his head, or under the influence of drugs, or desperate due to, say, starvation) and may not have had “full AND FREE consent of the will”.