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Mortal Sin |
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A mortal sin is a grave violation of God’s law and an act incompatible with love of God. Three conditions are required for mortal sin: First, what one chooses to do must be a gravely wrong sort of act; second, one must know that it is gravely wrong; and third, one must choose to do so with full freedom (cf. CCC 1855, 1857). Scripture itself points out kinds of sins that are deadly, so serious that “those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5:21). The Ten Commandments forbid basic kinds of mortal sins. The Gospels portray the Lord telling a rich young man that if he wishes to enter the kingdom of God, he must keep the commandments: He should not kill, commit adultery, bear false witness (Mk 10:19; cf. CCC 1858). In her ordinary teaching, the Church (as in the Catechism of the Catholic Church) teaches the faithful the sorts of sins that are grave, or mortal, in kind. Mortal sins are not accidental occurrences, but fully human acts. One who sins mortally knows that what he is doing is gravely wrong and in serious opposition to God’s will, and his consent is sufficiently deliberate to be a true personal choice (CCC 1859). Some mortal sins are sins of weakness; but if the agent were so driven by external or internal pressures or by pathological disorders so disruptive that he could not avoid doing the act, there would be no mortal sin (CCC 1859). The consequences of mortal sin are tragic. It results in the loss of love of God and of grace. “If it is not redeemed by repentance and God’s forgiveness, it causes . . . the eternal death of hell” (CCC 1861). Still, God calls the sinner to repentance.
See: Freedom, Human; Moral Principles, Christian; Sin; Venial Sin. |
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