A reader asks about explaining mortal and venial sin to Evangelicals

Last updated on: July 20, 2015 at 12:12 am by Mark Shea

A reader asks about explaining mortal and venial sin to Evangelicals 2015-07-05T22:18:29-07:00 Mark Shea

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He writes:

I enjoyed reading your blog this morning and have a quick question regarding “sin is sin.” Today I was shocked by what some of my conservative evangelical friends told me about what was said in church yesterday about the Supreme Court ruling on marriage. They all expressed sadness, but a naïve lack of concern about where this will eventually lead. Their pastors preached something to the effect of: “we don’t like it…we think the ruling was wrong…but in the end it’s sin…and sin is sin.” This attitude displayed by my friends’ churches leaves me feeling a bit less hopeful that churches have the right rhetorical skills to fight this battle.

I think a lot of Catholics are in the same boat (meaning those who actually hold the orthodox view of marriage: lots of us don’t even hold that).

Since Protestants don’t like the idea of mortal/venial sins, I’m wondering if the concept of felony and misdemeanor can be used as good analogies…Have you read anything using such terms to help clarify what Catholics mean by mortal/venial sin? I’d like to get your brief thoughts on this. Thank you in advance for your time.

Well, there’s this piece I wrote sometime back: It’s my attempt to translate the Church’s theology of mortal and venial sin into Evangelicalese. Evangelicals actually do believe in mortal and venial sin, they just use other lingo for it and are not aware it’s pretty much the same idea as Catholics hold. Best wishes on your work in the Vineyard!

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