Friday Frivolity: Kid Bible Stories
This…is…adorable!
"We are travellers…not yet in our native land" – St. Augustine
This…is…adorable!
Today in Bible study we’re going to be looking at the Epistle of Jude. Although they’re fairly preliminary, my notes are now available in the Commentary section of this website:
I’m trying to pull together all my various notes about the different books that we’ve studied. I’ll be chipping away at that over the next few months.
I’m feeling kind of basic today, so what better than to have Peter Kreeft, one of my favourite philosophers, tell some stories about one of my favourite Saints, St. Thomas Aquinas?
How can a man say he believes in Christ if he does not do what Christ commanded him to do?
– St. Cyprian of Carthage
I haven’t done one of these in a while…
In case you haven’t seen my Quick Apology articles before, these are extremely short posts in which describe how I might respond in thirty seconds or less to objections I often encounter. These might be objections to my pro-life view, or the fact that I believe in God, that I’m a Christian or specifically to my being Catholic.
Today’s objection came from a friend:
“Catholics believe in mortal sin, but the Bible never talks about it. It never makes a distinction – sin is sin”
How might one respond to this objection?
I’ve spoken before about the objection that something is “not in the Bible”, but the above statement is one which can actually very easily be answered from Scripture alone.
When this particular issue comes up, I ask whether or not that person has read chapter five of John’s first epistle:
If any one sees his brother committing what is not a mortal sin, he will ask, and God will give him life for those whose sin is not mortal. There is sin which is mortal; I do not say that one is to pray for that.
– 1 John 5:16 (Revised Standard Version: Catholic Edition)
So there we go, John seems pretty clear that there is such a thing as mortal sin.
However, is this just a translation issue? After all, in the above Scripture quotation, I’ve quoted from a Catholic translation.
Well, the standard Protestant translation is the King James Version, so let’s see how that translation renders the passage:
If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
– 1 John 5:16 (King James Version)
As we can see, the KJV renders “mortal sin” as “sin which is…unto death”. Even with this translation the same central meaning remains:
1. There are two kinds of sin
2. One kind of sin leads to “death”
3. Another kind of sin does not lead to “death”
However one chooses to interpret this passage, it’s very clear that Scripture is making a distinction between different kinds of sin and saying that one is more serious than the other.
As a quick follow up, I typically point out that John is not the only person in Scripture to distinguish between different kinds of sin. Although it’s a little different, Jesus Himself speaks to this subject:
Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven – Matthew 12:31
Again, regardless of how one chooses to interpret this passage, it’s clear that not all sins are the same.
After pointing out these two passages, I would typically conclude the brief exchange by saying that, despite these distinctions, in a certain sense it is correct to say that “sin is sin”. It is true that all sin is an offense against God.
The Catholic distinction between different kinds of sin doesn’t mean that venial sin is “okay”. No, all sin is serious. We shouldn’t just try and avoid mortal sin, but all sin and strive for the holiness for which we were made!
While I was on my blogging sabbatical I got to see Audrey Assad live in concert in LA. She was, unsurprisingly, rather wonderful…
You’ve been let down, it’s true
Your pain is so easy to see
You’re haunted by your history
And it feels like you’ve got no escape
Your life left you high and dry
You used to be sure of yourself
But then your whole world went to hell
And tomorrow looks just like today
So, you lie on your bed, you won’t let the morning come in
And you hide in your room, feeding that fear and it’s killing you
Don’t you know
That it’s killing me too, cause your heart break is breaking you
I miss the life in your eyes
The home that I found in your arms
And now you don’t know who you are
But I won’t give up on you, no
You lie on your bed, you won’t let the morning come in
And you hide in your room, feeding that fear and it’s killing you
Don’t you know
That it’s killing me too, cause your heart break is breaking you
And you lost your fire
And your flame’s gone out
And your down on your knees
Cause your life is not what you thought it would be, no
Lift up your head
Help is on the way
And it won’t pass you by
You just gotta reach out your hand
Lift up your eyes
Love is on the way
And it won’t pass you by
You just gotta reach out your hand
Go on and lift up your head
Because love is on His way
And He won’t pass you by
You’ve just gotta reach out your hand
Does anyone remember hearing about the retractions concerning the Irish babies who were dumped by nuns? Nope, me neither…