Moral Theology: A Complete Course Based on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Best Modern AuthoritiesCallan, Charles J. (Charles Jerome)
Religion
Moral Theology: A Complete Course Based on St. Thomas Aquinas and the Best Modern Authorities
Callan, Charles J. (Charles Jerome)
Christian ethics -- Catholic authors
(a) sins of weakness, which are those that result from antecedent
concupiscence or other passion that lessens without taking away the
voluntariness of an act. Since the First Person of the Trinity is
especially described by the attribute of almighty power, sins of this
kind are sometimes called sins against the Father;
(b) sins of ignorance, which are those that result from antecedent and
vincible ignorance. Since wisdom is especially attributed to the Second
Person of the Trinity, sins of this kind are called sins against the
Son;
(c) sins of malice, which are those that proceed entirely from a free
will that is undisturbed by ignorance or passion. Since love is
especially ascribed to the Third Person of the Trinity, sins of this
class are sometimes called sins against the Holy Ghost. Example: One
whose heart is so set on wealth that he decides to sacrifice the
friendship of God for new acquisitions; one who sees clearly the
offense to God a sin entails, and deliberately chooses it; one who is
so jealous of a neighbor that he schemes to ruin him; one who sins
habitually without fear or remorse.
251. Other things being equal, sins of malice are graver than sins of
weakness and sins of ignorance, since the former are more voluntary,
more enduring, and more dangerous. But just as sins of ignorance and
sins of weakness may be mortal, as when their object is seriously
wrong, so sins of malice may be venial, as when their object is not
seriously wrong. A fully deliberate lie that works no great harm is
venially sinful, whereas a murder committed by one who was intoxicated
or moved by rage is a mortal sin, if there was sufficient reflection.
252. The external causes of sin are: (a) the devil or other evil
spirits, who by acting on the imagination or other sensitive powers of
the soul attempt to draw mankind to destruction; (b) the world, that
is, the persons and things about us, which by their seductiveness, or
by their principles and examples, tend to draw away from the practice
of virtue.
253. Since free consent is implied in the concept of formal sin, none
of the internal or external causes of sin just mentioned, the choice of
the will alone excepted, can actually effect sin. Hence the distinction
between temptation and sin. The rebellion of the passions, the
suggestions of evil spirits, the seductions of the world, are
temptations; if the will does not yield to them, there is no sin, but
rather virtue and merit.
254. In the presence of temptation fully adverted to, it is not lawful
to remain indifferent (neither consenting nor dissenting), since this
without just cause exposes one to the danger (see 258 sqq.) of being
overcome by sin.
255. Resistance to temptation is made by the act of the will which
commands the other powers not to yield and withholds its own consent to
the sin suggested. This resistance may be:
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