What to do during life/death "Good Samaritan" situations while being in a state of mortal sin

  • Thread starter Thread starter WannabeSaint
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Contrition is not a formula of words you speak, it is a condition of your heart.

The prayers can be a memorized prayer or “Oh, God I love you you much, I beg for your mercy and I am changing my ways. With your help, I am never going to do that again” “God have mercy on me a sinner” or any other expression of words that say how sorry you are.
 
It’s in God’s hands, as always. My two cents is that if he had a prior intention on reconciliation and potentially gave his life up to save an innocent person He would take that into account. The God of judgeship to the exclusion of tenderness & mercy is a Calvinist, not Catholic concept. Too many Christians seem to be of the mind that “God is a comforter and healer, but he’s also a judge. He’s a little bit more of a judge though” and it’s unfortunately not limited to Protestant fundamentalists.
 
Might not the act of saving another human life and sacrificing one’s own in the process tip the balance of being in a state of mortal sin upon one’s own death? In other words, is G-d required to play by His own rules of justice without mercifully taking into account mitigating circumstances such as this? I hope not.
 
Last edited:
A lot of the Catholics posting here are more like the scribes and teachers in the gospels…so focused on laws and rules.
 
Lazybones said:
A lot of the Catholics posting here are more like the scribes and teachers in the gospels…so focused on laws and rules.
Click to expand...
I’m not seeing that in this thread. Most of the Catholics posting here are giving common sense replies. A handful of them, including the OP who set up an unrealistic hypothesis to begin with, are focusing on “laws and rules”.
 
O/ Lazy. We’re you referencing the OP or others in this thread?

Edit: ie could you clarify sorry i wasn’t sure what party you were referincing?
 
Last edited:
Op just FYI I’m trying to think back to high school, been a few years now, but I’m thinking I remember this question ,or one similar brought up , (at a Catholic high school) Unfortunately I can’t remember the answer. I would characterize them as a pretty normal catholic group.
Edit: grammar 😀
 
Last edited:
WannabeSaint said:
I was wondering if that were to be the case. Because Bob would basically be saying “I’m willing to die to save Debbie’s life.” I’ve read that giving ones life in order to save another will automatically save that person’s soul.
Click to expand...
That’s a switch from your original query, and I think you are moving in the right direction. Jesus did say “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13) That is not to say one is automatically saved, but “no greater love than this” is huge.

We are not saved by our merit, whether measured by absence of sin or abundance of love, but by the undeserved gift of God’s love and mercy. Love God and accept his mercy.
 
Last edited:
I was thinking along the same point. The Catholic Church teaches that even a single unconfessed mortal sin can send one to hell. So if you find yourself in that kind of situation it seems like a worthy conundrum. I thought I heard that if you sacrifice your life that God gives you the benefit of the doubt, but iirc that was in the context of martyrdom, not necessarily sacrificing for another. So my guess is that yeah you would be saved, but that’s just a guess on my part.
 
WannabeSaint said:
Bob is in a state of mortal sin and he is walking down a dark alley. He sees Debbie being held at gunpoint by two muggers and Debbie is begging for help.
Click to expand...
Bob is not going to be able to fend off two armed men.
 
Yeah good point for sure. I think that’s the point of the theoretical, differentiate the theory, and practice. It appears most posters feel that Gods mercy would outweigh His justice in this scenario. Hopefully we are all right 🙂
 
But then there’s no reason for Bob to sacrifice his life since he won’t be able to do anything.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top