Mortal sin
It is alternatively called deadly, grave, and serious; the concept of mortal sin is found in both Catholicism and Lutheranism.
[1][2] A sin is considered to be "mortal" when its quality is such that it leads to a separation of that person from God's saving grace.
Confession and Absolution is practiced in Lutheran churches, with it being historically held on Saturdays in preparation for Mass on the Lord's Day.
In AD 385, Pacian of Barcelona, in his Sermon Exhorting to Penance,[a] gives contempt of God, murder, and fornication as examples of "mortal" or "capital sins".
There is a great difference between one sin and another.In the moral theology of Catholicism, a mortal sin requires that all of the following conditions are met: The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines grave matter:[15] Grave matter is specified by the Ten Commandments, corresponding to the answer of Jesus to the rich young man: "Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother."
For example, in the area of human sexuality, the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes that the following actions can involve increased gravity: extramarital sex,[16] divorce[17] (but not legitimate separation),[18] and masturbation.
[4] Further, Pope Francis and many bishops privately regard certain sins as mortal, for example child abuse or neglect of one's parents.
The promptings of feelings and passions can also diminish the voluntary and free character of the offense, as can external pressures or pathological disorders (mental illness).
"[23] Furthermore, Catholic teaching also holds that "imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors.
Remission cannot be denied to someone who has truly repented their actions and has also made suitable reparation for damages and scandal or at least has seriously promised to do so.
on a Holy Day of Obligation, abstaining from meat on the Fridays of Lent, etc., albeit their communion with the Christ and the Church is gravely impaired.
[32] Since the mid-twentieth century, some theologians have taught that a person who lives by a constant attitude of charity is unlikely to fall in and out of God's graces without being profoundly aware of the change.
[33][34] Pope John Paul II reaffirmed traditional teaching going back to the Council of Trent in his encyclical Veritatis Splendor, as does the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which states: "The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of hell and its eternity.
The Catechism then adds: "The chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.
"[35] However, the Catechism does not by name say a specific person is in Hell, but it does say that "our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back.
[37] and that "although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offence, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God.
Vatican II, in its Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, reflects the traditional teaching of the Church on punishment, and on merit or reward for good deeds.
However, the effectiveness of the absolution is dependent of the acts of the penitent starting with sorrow for sin or contrition.
[43][44][45] The following is a partial alphabetical list of actions that are defined as constituting grave matter, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church or like sources (such as declarations by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Apostolic Letters, or other sources printed by Church authorities).
In the case of the believers those sins are called mortal which force the Holy Spirit to depart from one's heart, which destroy faith.
For the Holy Ghost does not permit sin to have dominion, to gain the upper hand so as to be accomplished, but represses and restrains it so that it must not do what it wishes.
But Scripture testifies that there are also some other sins in which also the reconciled, when they have fallen, lose faith, the Holy Spirit, the grace of God, and life eternal, and render themselves subject to divine wrath and eternal death unless, turned again, they are reconciled to God through faith (Rom 8:13; 1 Cor 6:10; Gal 5:21; Eph 5:5; Col 3:6; 1 Jn 3:6, 8; 1 Tim 1:19; 2 Per 1:9).
For example, Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov (1807–1867), who wrote primarily for monks, says in his book A Word on Death, in a chapter entitled "Mortal sin": It has been said earlier that mortal sin of an Orthodox Christian, not being cured by repentance, submits him to eternal suffering; it has also been said that the unbelievers, Muslims, and other non-orthodox, even here are the possession of hell, and are deprived of any hope of salvation, being deprived of Christ, the only means of salvation.
Mortal sins for Christians are the next: heresy, schism, blasphemy, apostasy, witchery, despair, suicide, fornication, adultery, unnatural carnal sins,[b] incest, drunkenness, sacrilege, murder, theft, robbery, and every cruel and brutal injury.
