54 SIN 



more determined effort of the will. Since, how- 

 ever, sins of omission suppose a positive act of the 

 will — refusal to obey God — and hence are volun- 

 tary, they, too, may be mortal. 3 Sins of omission, 

 f uthermore, are often more dangerous to the soul 

 than sins of commission, because less attention 

 is paid to them, and they are rarely made the ob- 

 ject of contrition and penitence by the careless. 



b) The division of sins into sins against God, 

 against oneself, and against one's fellowmen 4 is 

 likewise purely external, because every sin is by 

 its very nature an offense against God and one- 

 self, and in a certain sense also against one's fel- 

 lowmen. Nevertheless, this classification is use- 

 ful, and derives additional justification from the 

 fact that some sins are more directly opposed than 

 others to the duties which man owes to God, 

 to his fellowmen, and to himself. 



3. Sins of the Spirit and Sins of the 

 Flesh. — This distinction is based on the com- 

 posite nature of man and is mentioned in Sacred 

 Scripture. St. Paul writes to the Corinthians: 

 "Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of 

 the flesh and of the spirit." 5 Man is a compound 

 of body and soul, and hence none of the sins 

 that he is able to commit is either entirely spirit- 



8Cfr. Matth. VII, 19; XXV, 30. 4 Cfr. Matth. XXII, 36-40; Tit. 



— St. Thomas, Summa Theol., la II, 12. — tst. Thomas, ibid., art. 4. 

 aae, qu. 72, art. 6. B 2 Cor. VII, 1. — Cfr. Matth. IV, 



1-11; 1 Pet. II, 11; 1 John II, 16. 



