119 lines
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119 lines
6.5 KiB
HTML
<p>In an age dominated by Moral Relativism and Free Examination of
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Conscience, it is common for us to avoid the topics of Sin and Hell, or
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even to deny them, adopting instead the heresy of Universalism - i.e.
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that everyone's soul will share in the Beatific Vision which is Heaven.
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However, this is not the teaching of the Holy Catholic
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Church<sup><a href="#r1" >[1]</a></sup>, nor is it remotely
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scriptural.</p>
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<blockquote>
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"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is
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easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For
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the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and
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there are few who find it."<br />
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- <i>Gospel According to St. Matthew</i> 7:13-14
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</blockquote>
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<p>For those in communion with the Church, in other denominations, or
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even other creeds, it may be said that this comes from a place of
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charity, if attempting to comfort others who are still very much
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enslaved to their sins, or from an earnest desire to love God, which
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they currently cannot fully realize due to being enslaved to their sins.
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This is not, of course, an excuse for the error incurred, but rather
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something we should keep in mind. Although perhaps the greatest effect
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this has is on those who are irreligious, or who were religious but then
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scandalized by this truth.</p>
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<p>There are many irreligious who have a false conception of what Sin
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truly is - I myself having been one of them - and as such are
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scandalized by the implications of this false conception. The error
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being that Sin is simply that which God blames us for. For although "Sin
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is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion with
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him"<sup><a href="#r2" >[2]</a></sup>, this is not because God has
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chosen arbitrary rules which He wants us to follow - in other words, as
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a tyrant. God does not impose rules on us for Himself, but rather for
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our own good. This is because Sin, although it comes about by <i>doing
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bad things</i>, it is truly something real that has an actual effect on
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our Immortal Souls. That is to say, "[Sin] wounds man's nature and
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injures human solidarity."<sup><a href="#r3" >[3]</a></sup> As such, Sin
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is not something that God incurs upon us, but something real and
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objective that we incur upon ourselves with the Freedom which God, in
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His infinite Love & Mercy bestowed upon us, His creatures.</p>
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<p>Once we understand this true concept of what Sin is, we begin to
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better understand the true meaning of other Dogmas & Doctrines of
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the Church which, without this understanding, are difficult to believe
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of an All Loving God, as is ours. The first of which being the concept
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of Original Sin.</p>
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<p>Knowing therefore that Sin is not God blaming us for our deeds, but
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rather a very real effect that is incurred on our very souls when we act
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against our Nature (in the philosophical sense of the term), the concept
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of Original Sin begins to clarify. Original Sin is not God blaming us
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for the Sin of Adam. Rather, the Church teaches:</p>
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<blockquote>
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"Although it is proper to each individual, original sin does not
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have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's descendants.
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It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human
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nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural
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powers proper to it; subject to ignorance, suffering, and the
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dominion of death; and inclined to sin - an inclination to evil that
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is called 'concupiscence.'"<br />
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- <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i> § 405
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</blockquote>
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<p>That is, Original Sin is a real and actual effect upon all Men's
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souls, just like personal sins. It is not that God wants us to be
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afflicted by Original Sin, it's that we are. It's not that God blames us
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for Adam's Sin, but rather that his sin (the Original Sin), being that
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first sin to separate Man from God, had a real spiritual effect on all
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of his descendants, of which we are all a part. In fact, contrary to God
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blaming us, He wishes to save us from not only the Original Sin of Adam,
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but from all our sins. We incurred upon ourselves the evils of Sin, and
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God in His Infinite Mercy & Love chose freely to give us a path to
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Salvation by means of Jesus Christ, His Son, our Lord. Through Him, and
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only through Him are we able to free ourselves of the evils of Sin -
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both original and personal.</p>
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<p>This brings us to the final point for this article, being Salvation
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& Damnation. Because of Original Sin, from the very moment of our
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conception - which is to say the moment we come into being - our
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destination is Hell. There is no sugar-coated way of expressing this. It
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is not that God wants us to go to Hell, but rather He wishes for all Men
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to be saved. It is precisely for this reason that He gave us the means
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to be saved through Jesus Christ, these being the Sacraments of Baptism,
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Confession, and the Eucharist. As such, we see that it is not God who
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puts us in this state of Sin and disorder. Rather, He is the one who,
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despite our disobedience and offenses against Him, provides each and
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every one of us, freely, with the means to be free of Sin. He wants our
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Salvation! But He does not force us to be saved.</p>
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<p>When speaking about Salvation & Damnation, we're truly speaking
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of Heaven & Hell. And something that is important to note is that
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the defining characteristic of Heaven is that it is to be in full
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eternal communion with God; while the defining characteristic of Hell is
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that it is a complete and eternal separation from God. God is not going
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to force us to be with Him for all eternity if we do not want it. So if
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we choose freely to reject God and the Salvation He offers, He is not
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going to force it upon us. As such, truly, Christ's Sacrifice on the
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Cross is a universal sacrifice for all Men, but not all Men choose to
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accept and assume the consequences of His Sacrifice.</p>
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<p>This is all I will go over for today, but there is at least one
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question that could remain after all this, which is what happens to
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those who, not through their own volition, but simply by circumstance or
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scandal, never received the Sacraments necessary for Salvation? I will
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not go over this now, since I've already touched on a lot of things and
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this article is getting rather long, although I may write about it in
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the future. However, in the meantime, you can simply read what the
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Catholic Church Herself has to say on the matter by reading paragraphs
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846-848 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.</p>
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<label id="r1" >[1]</label> <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i> §
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1035<br />
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<label id="r2" >[2]</label> <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i> §
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1440<br />
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<label id="r3" >[3]</label> <i>Catechism of the Catholic Church</i> §
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1872
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