The Nature of Sin

[dairygirl4u2c]

spank you, spank you very much.

[Didacus]

Just check the CCC on it...

And please don't spank me...

[Apotheoun]

For a sinful action to be imputable to the moral agent it must be committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent. But if the action in question is evil, it follows that it is objectively sinful even if the person may lack culpability due to invincible ignorance.

In other words, it is important that one not confuse the objective nature of a sinful act, which is disordered regardless of the person's ignorance or lack of consent, and the subjective imputability of the action, which requires that the person who performs the action do so with full knowledge and deliberate consent.

[infinitelord1]

i think it is contradictory to say that a [b]sin[/b] is only commited when you have the [b]knowledge[/b] it is a sin. I believe that we are born [b]sinners[/b] because we dont know the [b]truth [/b]to anything. Really we dont know what sin is because we dont know if there is a god. The fact of the matter is, salvation is only through jesus christ. Even if you have never heard of jesus christ........you will not be saved. Unless of course you have the choice to accept him after death. I think sin is more, in a sense, than going against the will of god. I think it applies to anything........i.e. 2+2=5 is a sin. That doesnt mean to go beat yourself up because you know you are a sinner. Jesus died for our sins.

Edited July 22, 2005 by infinitelord1

[Guest Eremite]

[quote]Is a bad act only a sin if it is done with full knowledge and consent that it is a sin?[/quote]

It depends on the specific character of the act. If it is an intrinsically evil act (eg, direct abortion) then it always remains such. As Apotheoun says, moral culpability is a separate question.

There are acts which are not intrinsically evil, and so they must be judged subjectively. Unbelief by negation, for example, is not a sin. Unbelief that results from hard heartedness, however, is.