223. Punishment, Guilt, and the Distinction Between Mortal and Venial Sin

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Punishment and Guilt (Article 7) #

Thomas addresses whether every punishment corresponds to guilt:

• Apparent contradiction: John 9 states the blind man “neither he nor his parents sinned,” yet he suffers; baptized children suffer demonic oppression without personal sin; Christ suffered despite being sinless
• Resolution: Punishment must be understood in multiple modes—not all suffering that appears punishing is punitive in the strict sense
• Medicinal punishment differs from punitive punishment: medicinal suffering may be inflicted for another’s sin (e.g., children for parents) or ordered to salvation
• Punitive punishment (stricte dicens) always corresponds to personal guilt, but medicinal punishment serves healing and may have other causes

Types of Punishment #

Satisfactory punishment:

• Voluntarily undergone (or accepted through love’s union) to restore justice
• Can be borne by another through the bond of love—illustration: someone paying another’s debt
• First effect of love is union, enabling one to carry punishment for another

Medicinal punishment:

• Not strictly a punishment but rather a remedy or medicine
• Ordered to healing of the soul or body
• Can be inflicted for another’s sin, especially when the sufferer is property of another (e.g., children of parents, servants of lords)
• Illustration: bitter potion given by doctor to cure sickness

Punitive punishment (stricte dicta):

• Always corresponds to one’s own guilt
• Spiritual punishments are never medicinal only (since the soul’s good cannot be ordered to a higher good)
• No one suffers spiritual detriment without personal guilt

Original Sin and Defects #

• Defects in those born blind or with afflictions are effects of original sin’s punishment
• Remain after baptism on account of the corruption of human nature
• Ordered by divine providence to salvation (either of the sufferer or others) and glory of God
• Illustration: families caring for a defective child experience character development through love and patience

The Distinction Between Mortal and Venial Sin (Article 8 onwards) #

The Problem: Augustine’s definition—“sin is something said, done, or desired against eternal law”—appears to make all sin mortal, since violation of any precept seems to be against eternal law.

Objections to the distinction:

1. Augustine’s definition implies all sin is against eternal law → all sin is mortal
2. St. Paul’s precept (1 Cor 10:31): “Whether you eat or drink, do all for glory of God” → violating this seems mortal
3. Enjoying changeable goods as ends (rather than using them) constitutes human perversity → seems mortal
4. Exceeding toward changeable good means receding from unchangeable good → seems mortal

Thomas’s Resolution: The distinction is not univocal but analogical:

• Mortal sin has the full definition of sin (against eternal law, turning will from God as ultimate end)
• Venial sin has an imperfect definition of sin (disorder in things ordered toward the end, while preserving order to ultimate end itself)
• The division is not into equal species of a genus, but into prior and posterior participants in the ratio of sin
• Illustration: mortal/venial distinction parallels irreparable vs. repairable—like distinguishing bodily death (mortal, strictly) from mortal sickness (mortal metaphorically, because irreparable)

The Principle of Beginning (Principium) #

• Every order has a beginning/principle through which one becomes a partaker of that order
• The beginning of spiritual order is the ultimate end (God), accessed through charity
• Mortal sin irreparably corrupts this beginning by severing the will from God
• Venial sin leaves the beginning intact—disorders things toward the end while preserving habitual order to the end
• Analogy: Error about first principles cannot be corrected by reasoning about conclusions; similarly, sin corrupting the ultimate end cannot be intrinsically repaired
• In the state of innocence, exercise would not be painful; pain and fatigue are punishments of original sin, necessary for virtue development in corrupted nature

Augustine’s Humility #

• Berquist notes Augustine wrote the Retractions, revising his own earlier work—a rare example of intellectual humility among great philosophers (contrasts with Kant, Descartes)

Digression: Charity and Humility #

• Connection between charity and humility: cannot have one without the other
• Suggestion: prayer books should pair prayers for charity (“Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts”) with prayers for humility (“Jesus, make a humble heart”) rather than praying for one without the other
• Pride consists in attributing to one’s will or reason an excellence it does not possess
• Questions raised: Can you love God too much? Can you know God enough? (Answer: Never—these represent forms of pride)

Temporal vs. Spiritual Goods #

• Money and temporal goods are parva (small goods) compared to spiritual goods (magna, great goods)
• Divine justice gives spiritual goods to the virtuous and distributes temporal goods sufficiently for virtue
• To others, temporal prosperity may lead to spiritual evil (hardness of heart, pride)
• Psalm 72: “Pride held them” (those prospering without punishment)

Punishment of Children for Parents’ Sins (Article 8 continuation) #

• Exodus 20:5: “Visiting the iniquity of fathers on sons to the third and fourth generation”
• Resolution through distinction:
  • Temporal/bodily punishments can be inflicted on children as effects of parents’ sins (children are property of parents in body)
  • Spiritual punishments are never inflicted for another’s sin unless that person shares in the guilt through imitation
  • Sons nourished in parents’ sins become prone to sinning through custom and example
  • “To the third and fourth generation” refers to the lifespan during which generations see one another—enabling mutual visibility of paternal sins and filial punishments
• Illustration: Sons following fathers in crime (Kennedy after his father)
• Marriage and generational transmission: Parents immortalize themselves in offspring; children are “something of” their parents (especially bodily)

Divine vs. Human Justice #

• Human justice derives from divine justice
• Human justice sometimes punishes sons for fathers’ crimes (loss of inheritance)
• But human justice deals primarily with temporal goods, not the soul itself

Key Arguments #

Against the Universality of Guilt-Punishment Correspondence #

Scriptural objections:

• John 9: Blind man’s affliction attributed neither to his sin nor parents’ sin
• 1 Peter 2: Christ suffered despite committing no sin
• Psalm 72, Job 21: Wicked prosper; righteous suffer
• Habakkuk 1:13: God appears silent when the unjust trample the just

Thomas’s resolution:

• Distinguish strict punishment (punitive) from medicinal punishment
• Medicinal punishment may be inflicted for another’s sin or ordered to goods beyond mere justice
• Strict punishment (as moral consequence) corresponds to personal guilt; medicinal punishment (as remedy) need not

The Distinction of Mortal and Venial Sin #

Objection: If sin is against eternal law, all sin is mortal

• Augustine defines sin as against eternal law
• Violating any precept (e.g., St. Paul’s “do all for glory of God”) seems to be against eternal law
• Therefore all sin should be mortal

Thomas’s response:

• Augustine’s definition applies properly to mortal sin
• Venial sin has an imperfect definition—it violates no precept commanding the act itself
• St. Paul’s precept is affirmative and does not oblige “simply” (ad simplicitatem); habitual ordering to God suffices
• The distinction is analogical: mortal sin corrupts the order to ultimate end; venial sin corrupts order to proximate ends
• This parallels the distinction between irreparable and repairable defects

Important Definitions #

Satisfactory punishment (pœna satisfactoria): Punishment voluntarily undergone to restore equality of justice; can be borne by another through the union of love.

Medicinal punishment (pœna medicinalis): Punishment ordered to healing of soul or body; may be inflicted for another’s sin, especially upon those who are property of the offender.

Punitive punishment (pœna punitiva stricte dicta): Punishment inflicted as moral consequence of guilt; strictly corresponds to one’s own sin.

Ratio pœnæ (definition/ratio of punishment): The formal character that makes something a punishment; distinct from mere harm or privation.

Secundum quid (in a certain respect): A qualification indicating something is not true simply/absolutely but only in a qualified sense; used to resolve apparent contradictions.

Mortal sin: Sin that irreparably corrupts the will’s order to God as ultimate end; severs charity; merits eternal punishment.

Venial sin: Sin that disorders things ordered toward the end while preserving the will’s habitual order to God; repairable; merits temporal punishment.

Principium (beginning/principle): That through which something becomes a partaker of an order; the ultimate end is the beginning of spiritual order.

Examples & Illustrations #

The blind man (John 9): His blindness is not punishment for personal sin but an effect of original sin, ordered to salvation of others and God’s glory.

Bitter potion: A doctor’s bitter medicine is not strictly a punishment but a remedy, even though it causes suffering—illustration that not all suffering is punitive.

Defective children in families: Caring for a child born with defects develops character in family members—temporal suffering ordered to spiritual good.

Eating candy: Eating excessive candy is venial if one loves God more; becomes mortal if constituted as one’s ultimate end—the object is the same, but the sin’s gravity depends on disposition.

Kennedy following his father: Example of sons imitating paternal malice through custom and example, making them prone to similar sins.

Leaving the room: Illustration of secundum quid—you cease to be in the room (qualified sense) but do not cease to be simply.

Prayers for charity and humility: Should be paired rather than requested separately, since pride consists in attributing to oneself excellence one lacks.

Notable Quotes #

“It is clear from the example induced about David”—Reference to David’s adultery and murder as mortal sins for which he repented, yet suffered temporal punishment (death of his son), illustrating the distinction between guilt-removal and debt of satisfaction.

“The first effect of love that Thomas talks about is union”—Love unites the beloved and lover, enabling one to bear another’s burden through this union.

“No pain, no gain… This is the road back”—On suffering as penalty of original sin, necessary for virtue in corrupted nature; reference to return to Eden as religious vision.

“God doesn’t coddle”—Dionysius on divine justice: it does not soften the strength of the best, i.e., does not remove challenge necessary for virtue.

“You can’t love God too much… you can never love God as much as he’s lovable”—On the impossibility of excess in loving God; contrast with temporal goods.

“The son is something of the father”—Key principle explaining why children can bear temporal punishment for parents’ sins.

“All souls are mine”—God’s statement in Ezekiel, explaining why children cannot bear spiritual punishment for parents’ guilt (souls belong to God, not parents).

Questions Addressed #

Question 7: Is every punishment an account of guilt?

• Answer: No. Punishment must be distinguished: medicinal punishment may be ordered to healing or another’s sin; strict punishment corresponds to guilt. Children may suffer temporal punishment for parents’ sins as medicinal remedy; Christ suffered satisfactorily for our sins through voluntary love-union; defects from original sin are medicinal, ordered to salvation.

Question 8: Is someone punished for another’s sin?

• Answer: Analogically yes, with careful distinction. Temporal/bodily punishments may be inflicted on those who are property of another (children for parents) as medicinal. Spiritual punishments are never inflicted without the sufferer’s own guilt, as the soul belongs to God alone, not to any human superior. Sons sharing in fathers’ guilt through imitation may suffer both temporal and spiritual consequences.

Is the distinction between mortal and venial sin valid?

• Answer: Yes, but not univocally. They differ analogically: mortal sin has the full definition of sin (against eternal law, corrupting order to ultimate end); venial sin has an imperfect definition (ordering toward intermediate ends while preserving habitual order to God). The distinction parallels irreparable vs. repairable defects in the soul’s fundamental order.