MORTAL AND VENIAL SINS 31 



son and the natural law, but involving no con- 

 scious violation of a divine precept, and hold that 

 it may be grievous, but never mortal. This the- 

 ory has been formally condemned by the Church. 2 

 c) The Free Consent of the Will. — To 

 make an act mortally sinful, the will must give 

 its full and free consent. This consent need not, 

 however, involve the actual and direct intention of 

 transgressing the moral law. All that is re- 

 quired is that it be full and free. 3 



Mortal sin, as we have seen, is a complete turning away 

 from God to the creature. No act is mortally sinful un- 

 less the agent clearly perceives its true character and 

 gives full consent. By committing a mortal sin man 

 renders himself guilty of eternal damnation. Now it 

 would be contrary to the goodness and mercy of God 

 to condemn a man to eternal punishment on account of a 

 slight transgression or for an act which was not entirely 

 free or wilful. 4 



2 Prop. Damnat. ab Alexandro Mis sublatis nulla mali cognitio et 

 VIII. (Aug. 24, 1690), n. 2 (Den- volitio et proinde nullum peccatum 

 zinger-Bannwart, n. 1290). esse potest; sufhciunt vero, quia Mis 



3 Cfr. Gury, Compendium Theol. positis mali cognitio et volitio, quae 

 Moralis, Vol. I, n. 150: "Ad pec- ad peccatum constituendum neces- 

 catum mortale tria necessario re- sariae sunt, aliqua ratione haben- 

 quiruntur, scil. (1) materia gravis in tur." 



se vel ob circumstantias, (2) adver- 4 Op. cit., n. 150: "Requiritur 



tentia plena ad malitiam actus, (3) plena advertentia plenusque consen- 



consensus plenus voluntatis in prae- sus, quia, quum per peccatum mor- 



varicationem." — Ibid., n. 153: "Ad tale homo totaliter recedat a Deo, ut 



peccatum veniale requiruntur et sufE- creaturis omnino adhaereat, id fieri 



ciunt aliqua advertentia quantum- non potest nisi peccator deliberate 



vis levis ad malitiam et aliquis con- obiectum peccati Deo praeferat et 



sensus quantumvis imperfectus vo- absolute velit in eo Unern suum ulti- 



luntatis: requiruntur quidem, quia mum constituere. Insuper a boni- 



