The Standing of Sins Toward One Another

Sins are sometimes contrary to one another, as, for instance, sinful love and sinful hatred. It is therefore not true to say that all sins are connected.

Nor are all grave sins equal in gravity. Their gravity is measured by the extent in which they depart from the rule of right reason. Our Lord said to Pilate (John 19:11): “He that hath delivered me to thee hath the greater sin.” Yet Pilate’s sin was certainly great.

The gravity of mortal sin varies according to its species, and this species is determined by the objective character of the sin. Thus, murder is more grave than great theft.

The gravity of any sin is discerned in its opposition to a virtue. The more excellent a virtue, the graver the sin that opposes it. Venial sins may stand opposed to great virtues, but not directly so. An analogy illustrates all this: the most serious illness is that which directly opposes health and tends to destroy it utterly; yet minor ailments also oppose health, but not indirect and totally destructive fashion: conversely, the more perfect is health, the more free it is from destructive disease,and the more readily it overcomes minor ailments. Thus also, the more excellent a virtue is, the more remote it is from its full opposite, and the more readily it withdraws a man from the minor faults that could lead to that full opposite.

Carnal sins are, in general, less grave than spiritual sins; yet they bring greater shame on the sinner, and tend more tobrutalize him. Carnal sins usually spring from a stronger impulse than spiritual sins; they are a turning to inordinate pleasure, while spiritual sins are a direct turning from God and right reason.

The more intense the will is in choosing and cleavingto sin, the more grievous is the sin. For the will is the cause of sin, and the greater the cause, the greater is the effect. Yet whenthe will is made more intense in sin by things external to itself and contrary to its nature, the sin is diminished in gravity. Thus ignorance (which weakens the judgment of reason and thereforehampers the will’s choice) reduces the gravity of sin; so also does concupiscence, which hampers free action.

Circumstances, as we have seen, can introduce new elements into sin and thus change its specific nature, or rather,add to one sin another specifically different sin. The circumstance of person may thus add a sin of filial impiety to a sin of injustice, as, for example, when a man injures his own father. And circumstances can turn a sin through different areas so that the sinner commits the same sin in more than one way; as, for instance,when a wasteful man gives when he ought not, and to whom he ought not. Again, circumstances may make a sin more grave without changing its nature or species, as, for example, when grave anger is nursed and made more lasting.

A sin is made more grave by the graver harm it does,unless this harm is accidental to the sin and is neither foreseennor intended by the sinner.

In sins against others, the status of the person offended may make the sin greater; thus disrespect for parents is more grave than disrespect towards respectable strangers. So too, asin is greater for being committed against a person who, by holiness, or by his official station, is closer to God than others.

The more excellent the person or status of the sinner,the greater is his sin. For such a person has resources for more easily avoiding sin. Besides, in sinning, such a person shows a greater ingratitude to God who has bestowed more excellent gifts on him. Finally, sin in such a person is especially inconsistent with his gifts and his station, and so gives the greater scandal.