Objection: Catholics are wrong to classify some sins as ‘mortal’ and others as ‘venial.’ All sin is mortal because ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Rom. 6:23)

__________ Moral Teachings __________

“Catholics are wrong to classify some sins as ‘mortal’ and others as ‘venial.’ All sin is mortal because ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Rom. 6:23).”

Gary Hoge

It is true, generally speaking, that the “wages of sin is death,” but it does not necessarily follow that a person will go to hell for breaking the speed limit. According to the Bible, all sin is wrongdoing, but some sins are more serious than others. John wrote, “there is sin leading to death … there is sin not leading to death.” (1 John 5:16-17, NKJV).

It’s worth noting that there are some translations, e.g., the NIV, that render 1 John 5:16, “there is a sin that leads to death.” The reason for the discrepancy is that the Greek language has no indefinite article (the word “a”). Nouns are usually preceded by the definite article (the word “the”) and the indefinite sense is sometimes indicated by simply omitting the definite article. That is the case here in both verses. Therefore, logically, both verses should be translated in the same way. The NIV translators were inconsistent in translating verse 16 “there is a sin that leads to death,” and verse 17 “there is sin that does not lead to death.”

The NASB translators inserted the indefinite article in both verses: “There is a sin that leads to death … there is a sin that does not lead to death.” But this is a dubious translation because it implies on the one hand that there is only one sin that leads to death, and on the other hand that there is only one sin that does not lead to death. It makes a lot more sense theologically to omit the indefinite article in both verses, as the New King James translators did. Thus, some sins lead to death, some don’t.

All sin is wrongdoing, and it displeases God. But some sins are lighter than others (e.g., idle chatter) and they merely wound the soul. Other sins are more serious (e.g., murder) and they kill the soul, spiritually speaking. The Catholic Church has given the name “venial” to those sins that do not lead to death, and “mortal” to those that do. As Protestant Bible commentator Matthew Henry observed:

There is a great distinction in the heinousness and guilt of sin: There is a sin unto death (v. 16), and there is a sin not unto death, v. 17. … This surely must include all such sin as by divine or human constitution may consist with life; in the human constitution with temporal or corporal life, in the divine constitution with corporal or with spiritual evangelical life. … There are sins which, by divine constitution, are unto death spiritual and evangelical, that is, are inconsistent with spiritual and evangelical life, with spiritual life in the soul and with an evangelical right to life above. … The apostle seems to argue that there is sin that is not unto death; thus, All unrighteousness is sin (v. 17); but, were all unrighteousness unto death (since we have all some unrighteousness towards God or man, or both, in omitting and neglecting something that is their due), then we were all peremptorily bound over to death, and, since it is not so (the Christian brethren, generally speaking, having right to life), there must be sin that is not to death. … If it were not so, there could be no justification nor continuance of the justified state.¹

Until quite recently, it was the universal understanding of Christians that some sins are objectively more serious than others. For example, in the late fourth century, St. Jerome wrote,

Stinginess is remedied by generosity, insult by apology, perversity by honesty, and for whatever else, amends can be made by practice of the opposite. But what can he do who is contemptuous of God? There are venial sins and there are mortal sins. It is one thing to owe ten thousand talents, another to owe but a farthing. We shall have to give an accounting for an idle word no less than for adultery. But to be made to blush and to be tortured are not the same thing; not the same thing to grow red in the face and to be in agony for a long time. … There is a great difference between one sin and another.²

The Catholic Church has had a lot of time to think about this, and it has discerned three prerequisites that must be present for any sin to be mortal.

1) Grave matter. The sin in question must be objectively serious. Telling your wife she doesn’t look fat in that dress will never be a mortal sin, even if it’s a lie.

2) Full knowledge. The sin must not only be objectively serious, we must know it’s objectively serious. For example, the Catholic Church teaches that contraception is a grave sin. But a Protestant who practices contraception has probably been taught by his church that it is not a sin, and so he does it in good faith. Such a one would not be committing a mortal sin.

Jesus said, “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, shall receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few.” (Luke 12:47-48, NASB).

3) Deliberate consent. We must choose to commit the sin intentionally, free of compulsion or coercion. This is where it gets tricky. The first two criteria are objective, but this one can be highly subjective. We all have weaknesses that impair our ability to resist certain temptations, and that call into question the extent to which we consented freely to the sin.

For instance, I don’t like the taste of alcohol so I don’t drink it. Therefore, avoiding drunkenness is easy for me. But what about for an alcoholic? Such a one might find himself in a situation where he is overwhelmed by his addiction and is not able to consent freely.

Our own moral common sense tells us that some sins are more serious than others, that murder is more serious than stealing a pack of gum. And Scripture backs us up on this.

Catholic Outlook