Mortal sin

[Deleted10]

Thought the fire icon was appropriate!

What do you guys think of the Catholic teachings about mortal sin?

[valsa]

What are they and what do you think?

[Deleted10]

Mortal sins are grave sins that, if unconfessed before death, send you to hell.

I honestly think it's ridiculous that I'm condemned to hell, according to the church, if I miss Mass because I feel like sleeping in that day.

eta - Meant to post this in the chatter forum. :naughty:

[debrand]

Catholics do not view sin quite the same as most Protestants. According to the Roman Catholic view, all sins seperate us from god, however some sins are more serious than others. Those sins can condemn a Christian to hell if he doesn't make a confession.

According to wikipedia(yeah, I know that it isn't a great source)

Mortal sins must meet certain criteria

Its subject must be a grave (or serious) matter.

It must be committed with full knowledge, both of the sin and of the gravity of the offense (no one is considered ignorant of the principles of the moral law, which are inborn as part of human knowledge, but these principles can be misunderstood in a particular context).

It must be committed with deliberate and complete consent, enough for it to have been a personal decision to commit the sin.

So, the person has to sin deliberately and know that they are sinning in order to commit a mortal sin.

[Juliakitty]

I just came across a book about that....Said the seven deadly sins are actually psychologically healthy in a lot of situations.

[valsa]

Is there any basis for it in the Bible?

Sounds odd to me. I wasn't raised Catholic (obviously), so I was taught all sins are equally bad. Of course, with the way some denominations demonize things like homosexuality, even those aren't practicing what they preach.

[finleeport]

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, we believe sin is depraved but not 'total'. We don't believe that we go to hell or heaven, we just go to a 'waiting room' of either heaven or hell. For those who died without confessions and went to, let's call it Hades for lack of better term, but it said that they can be freed from 'Hades' through the prayers of his/her family. We have Prayers for the dead.

[Deleted10]

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, we believe sin is depraved but not 'total'. We don't believe that we go to hell or heaven, we just go to a 'waiting room' of either heaven or hell. For those who died without confessions and went to, let's call it Hades for lack of better term, but it said that they can be freed from 'Hades' through the prayers of his/her family. We have Prayers for the dead.

I was raised Lutheran and ended up becoming Catholic when I was 21. I looked into Orthodoxy as well and sometimes I wonder if I made a mistake and should've become Orthodox. The Catholic view of things is so legalistic.

[emmiedahl]

The Catholics have Purgatory, a similar idea.

[debrand]

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, we believe sin is depraved but not 'total'. We don't believe that we go to hell or heaven, we just go to a 'waiting room' of either heaven or hell. For those who died without confessions and went to, let's call it Hades for lack of better term, but it said that they can be freed from 'Hades' through the prayers of his/her family. We have Prayers for the dead.

Jesus does say that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a sin that can't be forgiven so there does seem some room to interpret there being different levels of sin.

[finleeport]

I was raised Lutheran and ended up becoming Catholic when I was 21. I looked into Orthodoxy as well and sometimes I wonder if I made a mistake and should've become Orthodox. The Catholic view of things is so legalistic.

We'll there are some Orthodox Churches that are strict and slightly off, but the majority is not really legalistic, but some people might find it weird. Take my ex-sister in law, she hated it a lot because, well actually she hated everything because all she ever wants is herself and having fun. Not to mention inconsiderate (she said I was not normal because of disability), spiteful, and pretty much a Cruella De Vil.

[finleeport]

Jesus does say that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a sin that can't be forgiven so there does seem some room to interpret there being different levels of sin.

Yes but I personally don't know how to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, I mean in English its not really that 'blasphemous' but in my native Greek tongue, its totally obscure.

I think it has to be a certain type of blaspheming.

[debrand]

Yes but I personally don't know how to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, I mean in English its not really that 'blasphemous' but in my native Greek tongue, its totally obscure.

Me neither. I've always wondered what the heck that meant. It sounded serious though.

[mrs]

Alot of this changed after Vatican II. You would go to hell for "trying to" or actually killing yourself. Post Vatican II, you still get into Heaven. I have only experienced the Church after. Vatican II was a HUGE revolution. Many of the fundie Catholics are actually Catholics that only follow doctrine before Vatican II.

[Kishiria]

I was raised Lutheran and ended up becoming Catholic when I was 21. I looked into Orthodoxy as well and sometimes I wonder if I made a mistake and should've become Orthodox. The Catholic view of things is so legalistic.

Crossing the floor from Catholicism to Orthodoxy isn't that hard. Orthodoxy is a much healthier form of Christianity, and I might have gone into it had I not decided I didn't believe in Christianity at all.

[Glass Cowcatcher]

Jesus does say that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a sin that can't be forgiven so there does seem some room to interpret there being different levels of sin.

When I was a kid, I stayed up at night, worrying I had blasphemed without knowing it and damned myself. At least in the Catholic version, as people relate it here, there's a pretty well defined criteria for mortal sin.

[slh12280]

Jesus does say that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a sin that can't be forgiven so there does seem some room to interpret there being different levels of sin.

I was never gotten a clear answer either. I was told that you couldn't commit this sin without knowing it though. If you felt bad for offending God then you hadn't done that. Some ideas I have heard are that it is rejecting Jesus (committing apostasy), or calling evil good and good evil. That's all I got. I was taught once saved always saved but on the other hand some people who believed the same theology said that you walk away from God to the point he "disowns" you. So I don't know, always seemed contradictory.

On the mortal sin issue, I am protestant so I was taught and believe that all sins are offensive to God and he does not distinguish. Hard to understand in human terms but I guess since we don't have a concept of purgatory different levels of sin are useless.

[Glass Cowcatcher]

I was never gotten a clear answer either. I was told that you couldn't commit this sin without knowing it though. If you felt bad for offending God then you hadn't done that. Some ideas I have heard are that it is rejecting Jesus (committing apostasy), or calling evil good and good evil. That's all I got. I was taught once saved always saved but on the other hand some people who believed the same theology said that you walk away from God to the point he "disowns" you. So I don't know, always seemed contradictory.

On the mortal sin issue, I am protestant so I was taught and believe that all sins are offensive to God and he does not distinguish. Hard to understand in human terms but I guess since we don't have a concept of purgatory different levels of sin are useless.

When I pressed I was told that the unforgivable sin was attributing the works of God/Jesus to demons or Satan. I still don't know where the logic for that one came from. :think:

And I would think that God would indeed see some sins as worse than others, since he bothered to codify 1o of them.

[clarinetpower]

So, what if you commit a mortal sin, but soon after you want to repent and you are driving to the church and you get in a car accident and die?

[mockingbird]

So, what if you commit a mortal sin, but soon after you want to repent and you are driving to the church and you get in a car accident and die?

Raised Catholic.

I believe this falls into the case of a true confession. Basically at the last minute you can be sorry but it has to be a "perfect" confession. You have to be totally contrite and unwilling to do it again. Only God would know. So the smart thing to do is always confess your sins in confession/reconciliation because that way you know God would forgive you. But yes, only God knows at the end. I believe this (and a better understanding of mental health) is part of the reason why Catholics stopped condemning suicides.

My understanding between a true/perfect confession and a regular one is that you can go to Confession, be sorry that you sinned, but not totally understand why it is wrong or wish that you wouldn't do it again but know that you might at some point. A perfect confession is when you TRULY plan not to do it again and understand why you shouldn't. Either way if you go to confession you are forgiven but if you don't go to confession only being perfectly contrite counts. I might not have that totally right, it confuses me.