Why the Church Distinguishes Between Mortal and Venial Sin, Part II

[Disir]

Last time, in this space, we were looking at the question of mortal and venial sin and trying to understand how St. James remark that "whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. (Jas 2:10). Perhaps a useful analogy would be to say rather "Injury is injury, but there's injury and there's injury." Sin is fundamentally injurious. But it is tricky because it fools us into imagining some of the injuries we inflict on ourselves and others are "fun" (like lust) and some are "bad" (like murder). We console ourselves that as long as we don't commit the "bad" sin, it's okay to dabble with the "fun" ones. Indeed, we can even imagine that the lightweights and lowlifes who do cave in to "bad" sins just don't have the moxie we do "where it counts." "I thank God I am not like other people," we mutter contentedly, "Okay, so I shoplift now and then. Those stores are rich. But I'm never cruel to dumb animals. People who do that should go to jail!"

In contrast to this bogus self-righteousness St. James strips away this illusion of "okay" injuries and says bluntly "all sin is an injury to God, neighbor and self." Absurdly indulging our "minor" sins since they are not as serious as Joe Blow's "bad" ones is like indulging ourselves in a few cracked ribs or black eyes on the excuse that "it's not as if I was taking cyanide." Sane people avoid all injuries if they can, not just the "bad" ones. But sane people also know the cyanide poisoning is going to be harder (perhaps impossible) to cure.

And we all know this. That is why (whatever our proclaimed theologies) our working awareness of mortal and venial sin (by whatever name we call it) keeps us from classing the innocent with the guilty and prevents the vast majority of healthy adults from treating a cereal-spilling two year old like a serial-killing 22 year old. But in addition to this, the recognition of mortal and venial sin is crucial in avoiding classing the guilty with the innocent, something our culture is not quite as good at.
Why the Church Distinguishes Between Mortal and Venial Sin Part II Blogs NCRegister.com

Not as witty as part 1 but it get's the job done.

 

[Genevieve]

To God a sin is a sin. Not bad sins and not-so-bad sins.
But Jesus paid the price for all of them.

 

[Disir]

Because the 2 year old that steals a cookie is right up there with a serial killer.

 

[ninja007]

Because the 2 year old that steals a cookie is right up there with a serial killer.

sin= death. sin= separation from God. sin= hell, WITHOUT Jesus. But if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus. A 2 year old does not have the mental capacity to know they need a Savior. ALL children, who die as children, before the age of accountability, go to Heaven. Only God knows when each individual young person reaches that age.

 

[Disir]

Because the 2 year old that steals a cookie is right up there with a serial killer.

sin= death. sin= separation from God. sin= hell, WITHOUT Jesus. But if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus. A 2 year old does not have the mental capacity to know they need a Savior. ALL children, who die as children, before the age of accountability, go to Heaven. Only God knows when each individual young person reaches that age.

Did you read the article? Did you read part 1? Are sock accounts a sin?