Differentiation and division of sin into serious/easy, deadly/little

Abstract

Revision of almost all the theses of fundamental theology, which was in action in a specific way in 1980’s, has not left out the concept of sin either and the meaning of it in moral life. It has been discussed under various views: philosophical, biblical, theological, personal. Although there has not been an adequate resume of that discussion, and many questions have remained unanswered and incomplete, still, there are some positive elements and trends needed for a deeper revision of the moral of sin.
In this article the author confines himself to discussion related to differentiation and division of sins into serious/easy, deadly/little. More precisely, he analyses the possibility, correctness and meaning of some theological attempts to view separately the “seriousness” and “deadliness” of sins. Then he concentrates on theologically and even more pastoraly the most interesting and the most influential division of sins into deadly/little, pointing out, above all, the constant and unquestionable presence of such a division; then he points out the way of determining it, and while doing so he analyses two paradigms: traditional paradigm of the moral of action and new paradigm of a renewed moral theology. He schematically presents the most important stresses, but also the difficulties of the new paradigm which particularly relate to understanding and role of “matter” and “fundamental orientation”. The stress transposition in the new paradigm implies some proposals for a new division of sins, trying and partly succeeding in being compatible with the new structure of moral activity. The author’s opinion is that a part of these divisions as well as the insistence on separate viewing of seriousness and easiness of a sin, respecting some moves in the right direction, include some dubious elements, which could lead to laxism and exaggerated subjectivization and relativization of sin.