Thank you for this list and thank you for the details. I just had a couple of questions as to where these are actually leading in the light of different denominations…
Despair of salvation is surely serious, but can it truly be counted as a sin for everybody? What if someone does believe, that God is indeed able to forgive, but values himself so low, that he does not see why God would forgive him? Some might see themselves as so incredibly unworthy that they cannot even begin to fathom being forgiven for their sin. Is that despair of salvation and could it be counted as sin at all? What about those who suffer from depression?
Despair of salvation is the willful refusal of the graces of salvation. Humility accepts the graces of salvation, even though we are unworthy.
There are denominations that claim that once one is saved one is always saved. Does this attitude, though it it not known to many of the members of these denominations, constitute presumption of God’s mercy and if so, how could they be held accountable if they never heard anything different? If they are held accountable would that mean that anybody who believes Baptist teachings for example is condemned for the fact that they do believe that they cannot lose their salvation and that their good works are only for the love of God, but not important to their salvation?
No, presumption of God’s mercy is not trying. As James says ‘show me your faith apart from your works and I by my works will show you my faith’.
What would happen to those men who were reformers in the past out of whose doubts new ecclesiastical communities arose? Did they condemn themselves? What about those who till today leave the Catholic Church in favor of another Christian group and seriously doubt some dogmata proclaimed by the Catholic Church? Are these too heaving condemnation upon themselves? What if they were convinced that they were doing the right thing and that the Church was in error? I do not believe that men like Luther or Zwingli actually believed that they were leading people astray. They did believe that all they did was for the good of the people and for the glory of God. Is it then their sin, if they themselves believed to honor the Lord?
If you believe that the Church is in error, then you deny the Holy Spirit and Jesus, when He said He would send the Holy Spirit to guide the Church until He returned.
What however if this envy leads them to follow those who they were envious of in their spiritual walk? Is it still sinful for them when their envy is spurning them on to likewise gain spiritual goods and to strive to grow in virtue and perfection? Even though they might attempt to achieve this in their own way, wouldn’t their envy lead to them growing in faith and virtue? Don’t spiritual goods in someone almost automatically lead to envy and to the desire of others to achieve goods that are alike? Isn’t that what makes people try in the first place?
Envy is the coveting of something for our own glorification. To admire someones’ spiritual way and wanting to imitate it for the glory of God is not envy.
What is sufficient instruction and admonition? An explanation that might be good enough for one might be insufficient for another. Even the most hardened criminal (with few exceptions) will not consider himself to be evil or wicked, even though many things he did were evil or wicked. He will always find an excuse for himself as to why he did what he did and he will not think himself to be a bad person. He might blame the circumstances or other people, but he usually won’t believe himself to be bad. Only if he does he will repent, but first he needs to see. If he is unable to see his own fault, is this then sinful?
Obstinacy in sin is knowing that something is sinful and committing that sin anyway. Ignorance has no part in this.
These were just the things that came to my mind when I had a look at this thread. I do not mean to argue, but I am trying to understand.
