Home › What the Catholic Church says… › about Sin

about Sin

SIN

Romans 3:23- “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

ROME SAYS

In A Catechism For Adults, page 27, we find the following definition of sin.  “Sin is any thought, word, desire, action or neglect forbidden by the Law of God.  to be guilty of sin, I must realize that I am breaking God’s Law and I must freely choose to do it.  There are two kinds of sin, mortal sin, which is a big sin and venial sin, which is a small sin.”  1 John 5:16 is cited as an evidence of the distinction between mortal and venial sins.  “Some mortal sins are:  refusing to accept all of God’s teaching, never praying, telling serious lies, not going to Mass on Sundays or Holydays of Obligation, getting very drunk, killing an unborn child in the womb, all sins of sex, stealing something expensive.  Mortal sin kills the grace in my soul.  If I die with a mortal sin on my soul, I will be sent to Hell forever.  Venial sins:  telling small lies, being impatient, ordinary anger, stealing something cheap, speaking or thinking unkindly of others, getting slightly drunk.  If I do something wrong but through no fault of my own do not know that it is wrong, I am not guilty of sin.  For example, I can eat meat on Friday, forgetting, through no fault of my own, that it is Friday.  In such a case, I am not guilty of sin.”  In the same Catechism on page 28, the following statement is made:  “If I do something wrong but am not certain whether it is a mortal or a venial sin, I commit a mortal sin because I show myself willing to offend God seriously.  For example, I do not know whether it is a mortal or venial sin to eat too much, I am guilty of mortal sin if I go ahead and eat too much even if later on I find out that it is only a venial sin.”

The Baltimore Catechism #3 tells us more about sin.  For instance we find the following statements:  Q. 274.  How is sin divided?  A.  (1) Sin is divided into the sin we inherit called original sin, and the sin we commit ourselves, called actual sin.  (2) Actual sin is sub-divided into greater sins, called mortal, and lesser sins, called venial.    Q. 275  In how many ways may actual sin be committed?  A. Actual sin may be committed in two ways:  namely, by willfully doing things forbidden, or by willfully neglecting things committed.  Q. 276.  What is our sin called when we neglect things commanded?  A.  When we neglect things commanded our sin is called a sin of omission.  such sins as willfully neglecting to hear Mass on Sundays, or neglecting to go to Confession at least once a year, are sins of omission.  Q. 278. What is actual sin?  A.  Actual sin is any willful thought word, deed, or omission contrary to the law of God.  Q. 281. Why is this sin called mortal?  A.  This sin is called mortal because it deprives us of spiritual life, which is sanctifying grace, and brings everlasting death and damnation on the soul.  Q. 282.  Bow many things are necessary to make a sin mortal?  A.  To make a sin mortal, three things are necessary: 1. a grievous matter, 2. sufficient reflection, and 3. full consent of the will.  Q. 287.  How can we know what sins mortal?  A.  We can know what sins are considered mortal from Holy Scripture; from the teaching of the Church, and from the writings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church.  Q. 293.  What are the effects of venial sin?  A.  the effects of venial sin are the lessening of the love of God in our heart, the making us less worthy of His help, and the weakening of the power to resist mortal sin.  Q.  What are the chief sources of sin?  A.  The chief sources of sin are seven:  Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Anger, Gluttony, Envy, and Sloth, and they are commonly called capital sins.  

From the fourteenth session of the Council of Trent issued November 25, 1551, we read the following concerning sin:

If such, in all the regenerate, were their gratitude towards God, as that they constantly preserved the justice received in baptism by His bounty and grace; there would not have been need for another sacrament, besides that of baptism itself, to be instituted for the remission of sins.  But because God, rich in mercy, knows our frame, He hath bestowed a remedy of life even on those who may, after baptism, have delivered themselves up to the servitude of sin and the power of the devil, –the sacrament to wit of Penance, by which the benefit of the death of Christ is applied to those who have fallen after baptism.  And the Catholic Church with great reason repudiated and condemned as heretics, the Novatians, who of old obstinately denied that power of forgiving.  Wherefore, this holy Synod, approving of and receiving as most true this meaning of those words of our Lord, condemns the fanciful interpretations of those who, in opposition to the institution of this sacrament (Penance), falsely wrest those words to the power of preaching the word of God, and of announcing the Gospel of Christ.

 

 

CANON 8 If any one saith, that the confession of all sins, such as it is observed in the Church, is impossible, and is a human tradition to be abolished by the godly; of that all and each of the faithful of Christ, of either sex, are not obliged thereunto once a year, conformably to the constitution of the great Council of Lateran, and that, for this cause, the faithful of Christ are to be persuaded not to confess during Lent; let him be anathema. (cursed or damned to hell)

CANON 11 If any one saith, that God always remits the whole punishment together with the guilt, and that the satisfaction of penitents is no other than the faith whereby they apprehend that Christ has satisfied for them; let him be anathema.

CANON 12 If any one saith, that satisfaction for sins, as to their temporal punishment, is nowise made to God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, by the punishments inflicted by Him, and patiently borne, or by those enjoined by the priest, not even by those voluntarily undertaken, as by fastings, prayers, alms deeds, or by other works also of piety; and that, therefore, the best penance is merely a new life; let him be anathema.

THE BIBLE SAYS

There is no uniformity in the Catholic Church as to what actually constitutes a mortal and a venial sin.  One congregation may be taught that some things are mortal sin and another the same class of sins are venial.  Individual priests are given leeway to compromise which is designed to promote the authority of the church.  The Bible, however makes no such  distinction as mortal and venial sins.  Ezekiel states in chapter 18:4- “Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine:  the soul that sinneth, it shall die.”  We are told by St. Paul in Romans 3:23 and 6:23- “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; For the wages of sin is death;”  Paul makes no mention of any degree of sin either venial or mortal.  We are clearly told by James in chapter 2:10- “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”  Simply stated, James makes no distinction between a mortal or a venial sin; merely that if a person keeps nine of the ten commandments and violates only one, it is just the same in God’s sight as if he has violated all ten.

My question is simply this:  How do we distinguish between a serious lie and a small lie; what is the difference between being seriously drunk and slightly drunk (what must I blow on the police field sobriety test to commit a mortal sin?); what  price tag determines a mortal or venial sin; what is ordinary anger; etc.?  How arbitrary, ridiculous and absurd it actually is attempting to distinguish different classes of sin.  All sin is offensive to a thrice holy God.  The Bible makes no distinction between mortal and venial sins.  The society we live in today has no real concept of the true nature of sin.  There are arguments on every hand as to what constitutes right and wrong.  Many people believe that violating the Ten Commandments is a serious sin while such things as a ‘little white lie or minor profanity’ are as bad and are therefore just little sins.  This is because of the influence on society of the false teaching of the Roman Church concerning mortal and venial sins.  The fact of the matter is that sin in the Bible has a connotation of “missing the mark” so to speak.  The mark is the standard of absolute perfection that God demanded by the Ten Commandments.  Viewed in this light, we are all sinners because we can never measure up to God’s perfect standard.  The apostle Paul sums it up this way in Romans 3:20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh by justified in his sight:  for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”  It certainly is God’s desire that mankind recognize our sins and therefore our need of a Savior.  There are no big and little sins in the sight of God, just sin.

Although we don’t accept the term original sin, we are in agreement with the basic tenant that the human race was plunged into sin by the disobedience of Adam.  We are clearly told in Roman 5:12, “Wherefore, as by one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”  When God created Adam and Eve, he gave them just one commandment.  They could eat of the fruit of all the trees in the garden except the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that ye eat thereof, ye will surely die.”  We know from Genesis chapter 3 that Adam and Eve disobeyed this one commandment and therefore plunged the human race into sin.  We believe that man is born with a sinful nature because of Adam’s sin.  In Romans 3:9-10, we read, “What then?  are we better than they?  No, in no wise:  for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.”  We totally disagree, however, that baptism is needed to wash away this sinful nature.  Man can only be reconciled to God by the new birth.  (See the link to Salvation and Confession)

The Bible certainly does not teach baptismal regeneration.  We do agree that all men have a sin nature and there must be remedy for sin; however, we are in total disagreement with the Catholic Church as to how the sin nature must be dealt with.  All sin was dealt with by Jesus Christ at the cross as we are clearly told in Romans 5:6-10, “For when we yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die:  yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

Although we do not agree with all the teachings of the Novatians, we certainly do applaud them for the stand they took on the Biblical doctrine of sin and opposed the heretical teaching that was being espoused by the State Church that had been established by Constantine several decades earlier.  It is interesting that Rome has always branded as heretics any group who oppose their false teachings and speak out against it.  I have already been branded as a heretic by the Church of Rome because of my disagreement to their false teachings.  The Novatians taught and believed among other things that people who were  living in open sin, should not enjoy the fellowship of the church.  Furthermore, they espoused the Biblical principle that a person who truly had repented of their sins (Biblical salvation) would realize a change in their character and way of life.  This is exactly what we are taught in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:  old things are past away; behold, all things are become new.”  The facts are these:  Novation, the founder of the Novatians was a presbyter at Rome.  He protested against the lax discipline of the church in the city of Rome.  He further protested against the teachings of the church concerning sin and repentance.  He objected to Cornelius, its pastor (called Pope Cornelius by the Roman Church).  He therefore, withdrew from that church with a minority from the church and formed a new church, of which he was elected bishop or pastor.

These pronouncements of anathema (curses or damning to hell) are a result of the false teachings espoused by the Roman Church.  Nowhere in the Bible are we taught that we must confess our sins at least once a year.  Furthermore, when we confess our sins directly to the Lord as prescribed in the Bible, these sins are immediately forgiven and there is no temporal punishment left remaining.  (See link to Confession)  It is a false teaching that allows the consequences of sin to be dealt with by works.  The Bible clearly says that works have no part in the forgiveness process.  Titus 3:5- “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”  We are positively told in 1 John 1:9 that sins are dealt with by Jesus Christ and not a priest.  “If we confess our sins, he (Jesus) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”