Catholic hamartiology
Catholic hamartiology is a branch of Catholic thought that studies sin. According to the Catholic Church, sin is an "utterance, deed, or desire", caused by concupiscence, that offends God, reason, truth, and conscience. The church believes sin is the greatest evil and has the worst consequences for the sinner, the world, and the Catholic Church itself. Based on the Bible, the Catholic Church distinguishes between two kinds of sins: mortal sin and venial sin. The Catholic Church also distinguishes between the state of being in original sin and the commission of actual sin.
Official teaching
The Catechism of the Catholic Church details most aspects of the church's official teaching on sin and forgiveness.Reality of sin
The reality of sin is one of the arguments of divine revelation, e.g., sin is present in history and divine revelation sheds light on it.Nature of sin
Sin is an "utterance, deed, or desire" that offends God, reason, truth, and conscience. It is caused by concupiscence. Sin is the greatest evil and has the worst consequences for the sinner, the world, and the church.Misunderstanding of sin
Without divine revelation, sin can be misconstrued as "a developmental flaw, a psychological weakness, a mistake, or the necessary consequence of an inadequate social structure, etc."The call to reject sin
The church's baptismal liturgy asks members to affirm that they "reject sin, so as to live in the freedom of the children of God". The Second Vatican Council noted that during Lent,God permits, but does not will, evil
God, in his goodness, only wills good. He permits evil for the sake of a greater good. This is evidenced by the Paschal mystery: God permitted his Son to suffer and die for the sake of mankind's redemption.Who can sin?
and humans are capable of committing sin because, unlike every other creature, they have free-will. However, children who have not reached the Age of Reason are not accountable for their sins. A mental illness may also prevent a sinner from having full knowledge and consent, thus reducing or eliminating culpability.No double predestination
No creature is predestined to commit sin or go to hell.Fall of angels and humans
The angels and first humans underwent a test of love of God at the beginning of time; some angels sinned and became demons, then tempted the first humans to sin as well.Creation of hell
By falling from heaven, demons gave rise to the existence of hell.Demons are tempters
Out of envy, demons tempt humans to commit sin.All sinners are to blame for the Passion of Jesus
Every human who sins is an author and minister of the Passion of Jesus.Reign of sin
The reign or regime of sin in the world is not arbitrary or a conspiracy; rather, it is each person's struggle against his or her own concupiscence.Disorder of sin
The regime of sin causes disorder, which can be "more or less overcome according to the circumstances of cultures, eras, and individuals".Defeat of and end to sin
Sin's reign is temporary, beginning with the fall of the angels and ending in definitive defeat with the crucifixion of Jesus. Every human can share in Jesus' eternal reign on the wood of the cross via the sacraments. At the end of the world, sin will no longer exist nor be possible ever again, because Jesus' eternal reign will then be absolute: he will be everything to everyone, i.e., fulfill everyone's every desire.Actual sin
Actual sin is the commitment of a sin. The first actual sin in history caused humanity to lose the state of original holiness, which included sanctifying grace.State of original sin
After the fall, every human—apart from the Immaculate Conception—is now conceived in the state of original sin.Kinds of actual sin
There are two types of actual sin: mortal and venial.Mortal sin
Mortal sin is a deliberate sin of grave matter, such as murder.Eternal punishment
Mortal sin entails eternal punishment since it destroys sanctifying grace.Grave matter according to the Decalogue
The church does not have a full list of every possible sin. However, the Catechism of the Catholic Church does list certain offenses against the Ten Commandments that constitute grave matter. They include:- 1st Commandment: superstition, idolatry, polytheism, divination, magic or sorcery, irreligion, atheism, tempting God, sacrilege, simony, heresy, schism, apostasy.
- 2nd Commandment: abuse of God's name, magical use of God's name, committing sin or crime in the name of God, blasphemy, false promises, false oaths, perjury, insult.
- 3rd Commandment: skipping Mass without grave reason, impeding the worship of God, hindering the observation of Sunday, unnecessary demands.
- 4th Commandment: the state of refusing to assist and protect the family, violation of human rights, disobedience to parents or authority, ingratitude to the church, refusal to disobey evil, negligence of children.
- 5th Commandment: deliberate destruction of human life, deliberate killing of the innocent, capital punishment, intentional homicide, direct abortion, direct euthanasia, suicide, scandal, cult of the body, every kind of excess, inhumane scientific experiments, inhumane research, kidnapping, hostage taking, terrorism, torture, non-therapeutic and medical sterilization, non-therapeutic and medical amputation, non-therapeutic and medical mutilation, disrespect to the dead, unjust war, war crimes, unregulated production or sale of arms, arms race, economic or social inequality.
- 6th Commandment: lust, masturbation, fornication, pornography, prostitution, rape, sodomy, homosexual acts, marital infidelity, domestic violence, artificial conception, adultery, divorce, polygamy, incest, child abuse, free union, concubinage, cohabitation, trial marriage.
- 7th Commandment: theft, fraud, unjust wages, deliberate retention of lent goods, deliberate retention of lost objects, forcing up prices, unjust contracts, violation of a just contract, refusal to make reparations for injustice, unfair gambling, slavery, disrespect to animals, disrespect to environment, rich nations refusing to help the less fortunate, lay faithful refusing to directly intervene in politics, refusal to aid the poor or needy, human misery
- 8th Commandment: lying, rash judgment, detraction, calumny, satirical caricature, participation in sin, bragging or boasting, violation of professional secrets, violation of the sacramental seal, violation of privacy, iconoclasm.
- 9th Commandment: evil intentions, complicity in impure thoughts, immodesty, moral permissiveness.
- 10th Commandment: greed, envy, desire to amass goods without limit, desire to acquire someone else's property through unjust means, refusal to practice charity.
Sins that cry to heaven for justice