What is sin exactly?

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What is sin exactly?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sin has been defined as “an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law” (1849). It seems that sin is this exactly.

But what is the eternal law exactly? Is it exactly the ten commandments in the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
 
When you get a definition of the eternal law that is clear let us all know 🙂.

More seriously, anything objectively disordered can be called sin - whether it be blindness, a withered arm, walking with a limp or murdering your neighbour. The Old Testament often talks about sin in physical disorders.

But disordered human behaviours are normally the things we label objective “sin”.
And amongst these only those that we choose knowingly and freely in some way do we call personal “sin”.

Application of “right reason” is the way we decide if something is objectively disordered or not.
That is how we come to an understanding of Natural Law.
Natural Law is a large subset of Eternal Law.

The Commandments are a privileged expression of the main precepts of the Natural Law but are not themselves Natural Law.
 
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In the beginning, we were created in a state of original innocence and given free will (the ability to choose to do the will of God, that which is truly good).

When the Evil One tempted our forefathers, he presented an evil with the appearance of good in order to lead us into disobedience (a choice contrary to God’s will). That is sin. Its motto is I will not serve God and neighbor. The result: a turning inwards in a selfish motion that bends us on our root vices (desire for power, desire for pleasure, desire for wealth) and eventually into the idolatry of self (“you will become like God”, said Satan). Which is why we are called to conversion, literally, turning towards God - a Father that loves us unconditionally.

In the Garden, our forefathers hid in their shame because of their sin. They turned away from God, literally. But “where can I hide from the Most High”? And God went out to meet them in their sinful state, calling them into His holy presence. Indeed He is the One who “comes to seek not the righteous but the sinner to repentance”. To the righteous He says: “all that is mine is yours”. But to the sinner, He opens the fount of mercy so that the hope of conversion becomes a reality in their soul by a very special, gratuitous grace that moves the soul to repentance. Hence the “walking with God” (life of faith) and the awareness that God is love (1 Jn) and that is why, in the end of time, faith and hope shall pass, but love shall remain.

Aquinas explains that every object of temptation has in the eye of the tempted the appearance of good. But true good is only that which is in accordance with God’s will for us. What is good for me may be an evil for another. Which is why Ignatius of Loyola teaches us that discernment of spirits does not involve good versus evil, but two “goods”, one of which only apparently good because presented as such by the spirit against Christ.

The eternal law is God’s will, inscribed in the human soul. Contemplation leads us to the perfection of discipleship. Mary was born in original innocence and preserved it. Like Eve, she was capable of sinning, but she never did. Many saints have faced the hard struggle of the “way of perfection” and realized that it is only with time and patience, prayer and interior silence, that we form our conscience and become “attuned” with the voice of God. Then our will, as it were, vanishes inside God’s will, much like the human will of our Savior perfectly cooperated with His Divine Will.

The Commandments are a good beginning.

Also: “Love God with all your heart and your neighbor like yourself”.

Also: “Love one another as [Christ] has loved you.”

Also: “Whatever you do to the least of your brothers, you do it to [Christ]” (whether it is good or bad).

In the West we have a very legalistic mindset. We want clearly defined rules. The economy of salvation is mysterious. Mercy and Justice are not easy to comprehend, because “God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and God’s foolishness is greater than man’s wisdom”.
 
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zhoudu said:
What is sin exactly?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sin has been defined as “an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law” (1849). It seems that sin is this exactly.

But what is the eternal law exactly? Is it exactly the ten commandments in the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
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The vital principle is charity and (mortal) sin destroys it. The eternal (divine) law is the interior law of charity.

Catechism
1844 By charity, we love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves for love of God. Charity, the form of all the virtues, “binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Col 3:14).
1856 Mortal sin, by attacking the vital principle within us - that is, charity - necessitates a new initiative of God’s mercy and a conversion of heart …
1965 The New Law or the Law of the Gospel is the perfection here on earth of the divine law, natural and revealed. It is the work of Christ and is expressed particularly in the Sermon on the Mount. It is also the work of the Holy Spirit and through him it becomes the interior law of charity …
 
BlackFriar said:
More seriously, anything objectively disordered can be called sin - whether it be blindness, a withered arm, walking with a limp or murdering your neighbour.
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😧
How about this part, said by Christ:
From John ch. 9:
"9 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”"
 
It sounds like sin has a lot to do with our failures to love.

But that sounds so general. How do we love in specific situations? What does love look like? And most importantly, how do we love God when we must first know God before we can love God. And God is mostly beyond our knowing. We only scratch the surface. Even with Jesus, he is the beginning of a journey with no end. So we begin by knowing Jesus, and then loving Jesus. That has to be our first priority. And then the love grows and shows us right from wrong. We become sensitive the the law written in our hearts. Only then will we know what exactly sin is, after we know who Jesus is and what love is.
 
zhoudu said:
What is sin exactly?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sin has been defined as “an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law” (1849). It seems that sin is this exactly.

But what is the eternal law exactly?
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The Law of Love. Love God with all your heart and soul and your neighbor as yourself.
Is it exactly the ten commandments in the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
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[/QUOTE]
Yes. This is explained by St. John in his 1st epistle, chapter 3.

Avoiding Sin. 4 Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness…21 Beloved, if [our] hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God 22 and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us. 24 Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit that he gave us.

And also:
1 John 5:Faith Is Victory over the World. 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God, and everyone who loves the father loves [also] the one begotten by him. 2 In this way we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome,
 
There are two main types:
Original and actual.
Original sin is that which is granted unto us through the sin of Adam.
Actual sin is the sin that we commit.
Any sin we commit is any wrongdoing, defined as anything that offends God.
Among actual sins there are two main types:
Venial and mortal.
Venial sin is that which is not grave matter, or grave matter without full consent, or grave matter without knowledge of it being grave matter.
Mortal sin is sin that is grave matter, with full consent (as in not done while sleeping, or under hypnosis (which I believe is sinful if not done out of actual need) or anything like that), and knowledge that it is sinful.
Venial sin hurts our relationship with God and stains our soul.
Mortal sin kills us spiritually. These need to be confessed if already baptized. They can be forgiven by having a perfect contrition, but this includes going to confession whenever it is next possible.
Venial sin can be forgiven by prayer of the laypeople of the Church and other things.

Grave matter is that which is gravely disordered. In short, it’s those serious things like masturbation, murder, theft, etc etc.
 
FROM FATHER JOHN A HARDON’S CATHOLIC DICTIONARY

SIN. “A word, deed or desire in opposition to the eternal law” (St. Augustine). Sin is a deliberate transgression of a law of God, which identifies the four essentials of every sin. A law is involved, implying that there are physical laws that operate with necessity, and moral laws that can be disregarded by human beings. God is offended, so that the divine dimension is never absent from any sin. Sin is a transgression, since Catholicism holds that grace is resistible and the divine will can be disobeyed. And the transgression is deliberate, which means that a sin is committed whenever a person knows that something is contrary to the law of God and then freely does the action anyway. (Etym. Old English synn, syn, sin; Old High German sunta, suntea, perhaps to Latin sons, guilty.)
 
zhoudu said:
What is sin exactly?

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, sin has been defined as “an utterance, a deed, or a desire contrary to the eternal law” (1849). It seems that sin is this exactly.

But what is the eternal law exactly? Is it exactly the ten commandments in the Catechism of the Catholic Church?
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Here’s an example

Picking just one sin, [διχοστασίαι,] = division / dissension / schism / groundless factions / http://bibleapps.com/greek/1370.htm

same word is used in both the following passages

Romans 16:17-20 , # SEARCH rom 16
Galatians 5:19-21 # SEARCH gal 5

Note: the consequences for that sin

In Paul’s letter to the Church of Rome, it’s Satan who causes division. People who divide serve Satan not Our Lord. And who did Paul say SATAN WOULD BE CRUSHED BY? The Church of Rome.

But in the meantime,

What happens to those who divide from Our Lord’s Church and won’t return to unity?

Paul says, in Galatians that they who do it, won’t be inheriting heaven. IOW they won’t be saved. Hell is their trajectory.

That consequence is for eternity. Therefore that is an example of an eternal law.
 
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From the CCC glossary -

SIN: An offense against God as well as a fault against reason, truth, and right conscience. Sin is a deliberate thought, word, deed. or omission contrary to the eternal law of God. In judging the gravity of sin, it is customary to distinguish between mortal and venial sins (1849, 1853, 1854).
 
LumberJack said:
That begs the question, how do you prove ‘Fault against right conscience’?
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Through the right conscience of others. Others can see the sin when the sinner cannot. Although the sinner does not have the conscience to see that he had sinned, this not not make it any less of a sin. In essence, it makes it more of a sin, in my opinion.
 
LumberJack said:
Sin is defined as:

An intentional offense against God and;
An intentional Fault against

…a. reason and;

…b. truth and;

…c. right conscience.

Intention to offend requires knowledge of the offence. Intention to fault requires knowledge of reason, truth and ‘right conscience’. Conscience, by definition, is personal and Pope Francis seems to understand this. How can one determine the conscience of others and then intentionally fault against it? What is right to you might not be right to me. For example, I find possession of a gun to defend ones property conscientiously objectionable, even morally evil, but many on this site in the US don’t. If I were Catholic and had a gun at home to defend my property I would be breaking the UK law which theoretically would require me to confess it to a priest, no? That is not the case in the US. Or is breaking the local law not a sin?
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If a person kills another out of anger and not self defense, and doesn’t know he has done anything wrong, has he sinned? Of course he has. Just because a person doesn’t know that he/she has done wrong, it doesn’t make them innocent. Ignorance is no excuse of the law. If this were so, then the unbeliever’s souls would be salvaged and they would be in heaven when their bodies died. They would be excused of their ignorance of Christ.
 
LumberJack said:
We all have an idea what sin is but the Catechism confuses rather than clarifies in my humble opinion,
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I agree with you. I find this true with some verses in the Bible that contradict themselves. I blame myself. I don’t believe that my understanding is clear enough. I just keep trying to understand. I attempt to understand things as it was meant when our forefathers had written them. But, you know, the Bible says that we all fall short of the glory of God, and as humans, we are subject to error.
 
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Sin is the alienation and separation from God that each person willfully commits. Fortunately, God has given us a way to ask for forgiveness and repair the separation we have caused when we have alienated ourselves from his love and grace — and return fully to that state.
 
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