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From: amigo2@ihuxq.UUCP (John Hobson)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Mortal and venial sin
Message-ID: <491@ihuxq.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 12-Jan-84 15:05:25 EST
Article-I.D.: ihuxq.491
Posted: Thu Jan 12 15:05:25 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 13-Jan-84 07:25:24 EST
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 62

Due to several requests that I write something about the degrees of
sinfulness (alluded to in my article on St. Augustine), I am
posting a summary on the Catholic Church's views on sin (I am
writing from a Catholic viewpoint, since that is the church I
belong to and was brought up in).  Also, they views stated here are
not necessarily those of the author, but rather are what I was
taught.

Catholic theology divides sin into two types: original sin and
actual sin.  Original sin is the sin that we have inherited from
Adam and Eve, and I do not intend to deal with it here.  Actual sin
is sin that we ourselves commit, and is likewise divided into two
types, based on severity--mortal sin and venial sin.  

Mortal sin is very bad.  It "kills" the soul (hence the name). 
Anyone who dies with a mortal sin on his or her soul goes to Hell
(Go to Hell, go directly to Hell, do not pass Go, do not collect
$200.)  Venial sin is a lesser sin, which "stains" the soul, but
does not kill it.  According to traditional Catholic doctrine, no
number of venial sins can equal one mortal sin, so you don't have
to worry about damnation if you just sin venially.

According to St. Thomas Aquinas, there are three things that
must be done to commit a sin.  They are:
	1) A serious offense,
	2) Sufficient reflection,
	3) Full consent of the will.

In other words, swiping an apple from the refrigerator of a friend
is not sinful, since that is not a serious matter (it may be
ill mannered, but not sinful).  Also, hitting someone in a sudden
fit of rage would also not be sinful, since there is not sufficient
time to think about what you are doing; whereas a calculated attack
very likely might be.  Then again, any action done under duress or
when done under a neurotic or psychotic compulsion obviously does
not have full consent of the will, and hence cannot be considered
sinful.  As George Carlin put it so well, "You gotta wanna!  In
fact, `wanna' is a sin all by itself."  Also, if you mistakenly
believe that spitting on the sidewalk is sinful, and you do so
anyway, then you have committed a sin.

Now comes the fun part:  what constitutes a mortal sin?

Obviously, it must be serious.  Furthermore, you must either know
or sincerely believe that it is serious.  It used to be considered
that all sorts of things were mortally sinful--as Carlin goes on to
say, "Eating meat on friday used to be a sin, now it isn't any
more.  But I'll bet there are still people in Hell doing time on
the meat rap."  Modern Catholic teaching has narrowed mortal sins
down to just those which completely and deliberately shut us off
from God.  If we deny God and everything to do with God, that is
mortally sinful (which is why Dave Norris was condemning Tim
Maroney to Hell--yes, I know that Dave is not a Catholic).

I hope that this brief summary will be helpful.  If there are any
questions, send them to me, and I will post a follow-up article to
the net.
				John Hobson
				AT&T Bell Labs
				Naperville, IL
				(312) 979-7293
				ihnp4!ihuxq!amigo2