227. Venial Sin: Stain, Wood/Hay/Straw, and Innocence

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Stain of Venial Sin #

• Definition of Stain (Macula): Loss or detriment of brightness; transferred from material things (like a grease stain on clothes) to the soul through analogy
• Two Types of Brightness in the Soul:
  • Habitual brightness: Intrinsic disposition of the soul; the virtue itself (like a lamp)
  • Actual brightness: Exterior brightness from virtuous acts (like the light cast by a lamp)
• Venial Sin’s Effect: Impedes actual brightness but does NOT diminish habitual brightness or exclude charity
• Proper vs. Improper Sense: Strictly speaking, venial sin does not cause a stain because a stain implies something remaining; venial sin’s effect is temporary and removable through virtuous acts
• Mortal Sin Contrasted: Mortal sin corrupts the habit of virtue itself, causing a true stain; venial sin only impedes the exercise of virtue

Wood, Hay, and Straw (1 Corinthians 3) #

• Correct Interpretation: Venial sins are NOT the good works themselves, but rather venial sins mixed among good works—like debris in a building that can be burned while the structure remains intact
• Three Grades of Venial Sins:
  • Wood (lignum): Long-lasting venial sins, slow to burn
  • Hay (faenum): Medium-duration venial sins
  • Straw (stipula): Quickly consumed venial sins
• Aristotelian Principle: All things comprise beginning, middle, and end; the three grades of venial sin reflect this universal structure
  • Beginning opposes end with two oppositions; middle opposes both with one opposition each
• Spiritual Building Remains: Venial sins can multiply while the spiritual building (faith formed by charity) remains intact
• Temporal Punishment: Those with venial sins undergo temporal punishment through fire—either tribulation in this life or purgatory in the afterlife

Man in the State of Innocence #

• Common Teaching: Man in innocence could not sin venially before sinning mortally
• The Perfect Order of Innocence: In that state, there was infallible firmness such that the lower was always subject to the higher (sensuality to reason, reason to God)
• Why Venial Sin Was Impossible: Venial sin arises from disorder about means while preserving order to the end. Such disorder about means could not exist without prior disorder about the end (mortal sin)
• Necessary Sequence: Mortal sin (breaking order to God) must precede any venial sin (disorder about things ordered to the end)
• Augustine’s Principle: Nothing punishable could exist in the state of innocence; only mortal sin could eject from that state

Key Arguments #

On Whether Venial Sin Causes a Stain #

Objections:

• Augustine says venial sins take away the beauty of the soul; loss of beauty = stain
• Mortal sin causes a stain through disorder; venial sin also has disorder, so it should cause a stain
• The soul through disordered love touches temporal things; such contact causes a stain

Response:

• A stain properly implies something remaining and difficult to remove (like grease on clothes)
• Venial sin only impedes actual brightness (virtuous acts), not habitual brightness (the virtue itself)
• Therefore, venial sin does not properly cause a stain, but only impedes brightness from virtuous acts
• Augustine speaks of separation from the celestial spouse when venial sins multiply and dispose toward mortal sin

On Wood, Hay, and Straw #

Objections:

• Wood, hay, and straw are built upon the spiritual foundation; venial sins are apart from the spiritual building
• Those who build with wood, hay, and straw are saved through fire; but sometimes those with venial sins are not saved even through fire (e.g., when dying with mortal sin)
• All good deeds pertain to gold, silver, and precious stones, not to wood, hay, and straw
• There are many more than three grades of venial sins

Response:

• Venial sins are mixed among good works like debris in a building—they can be burned while the building remains
• The teaching applies only to those building upon the true foundation (faith formed by charity); those dying with mortal sin have not built on this foundation
• Though there are many grades, they reduce to three: long-lasting, medium, and quickly consumed
• The Aristotelian principle of beginning-middle-end supports this threefold division

On Innocence and Venial Sin #

Implication: If man could sin mortally in innocence, he could certainly sin venially (the lesser sin)

Response:

• Mortal sin corrupts the habit of virtue; venial sin does not
• The perfect order of innocence precluded disorder about means without disorder about the end
• Sensuality was subject to reason, and reason was subject to God; no venial disorder could exist while this order held

Important Definitions #

Stain (Macula) #

• Etymologically: Borrowed from material things where a stain is visible damage or discoloration
• In the Soul: A loss or detriment of brightness; implies something remaining and difficult to remove
• Types: Habitual stain (loss of virtue itself) vs. actual stain (impediment to virtuous acts)
• Venial Sin’s Effect: Actual impediment only, not habitual loss

Venial Sin #

• Disorder about things ordered to an end while maintaining order to the end itself (i.e., maintaining charity and friendship with God)
• Merits temporal punishment, not eternal
• Arises from either imperfection of the act or disordered attachment to means

Spiritual Building (Aedificatio Spiritualis) #

• Founded on faith formed by charity (fides formata caritate)
• Built upon with gold, silver, and precious stones (virtuous acts)
• Remains intact even when venial sins (wood, hay, straw) are present

Original Justice (Iustitia Originalis) #

• The state of perfect order in innocence: lower subject to higher, all subject to God
• Included freedom from concupiscence and infallible firmness of will
• Lost through mortal sin; incompatible with any actual sin

Examples & Illustrations #

The Stain Analogy #

• Grease stain on clothes: Remains visible and requires effort to remove; illustrates why a true stain must persist
• Brightness of the soul: Like light in a room—habitual brightness is the lamp itself (the virtue), actual brightness is the light it casts (virtuous acts flowing from that virtue)
• Oil stain on shirt: Difficult to remove; contrasts with venial sin’s effect, which is temporary

Wood, Hay, and Straw #

• Debris in a building: Good works are the structural material; venial sins are mixed in like debris—they can be burned away while the building remains
• Three materials: Wood (slow to burn), hay (medium), straw (quick)—correspond to degrees of venial sin based on how readily they are purged

Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 #

• Three movements: Form one complete piece because they constitute beginning (first movement in major key with underlying sadness), middle (second movement in minor key expressing sorrow), and end (third movement in major key with confidence, touching on sadness but facing it rather than fleeing)
• Illustrates: The Aristotelian principle that beginning, middle, and end are necessary for unity and completeness; applied to three grades of venial sin

Innocence and Order #

• Perfect hierarchy: God > Reason > Sensuality > Body
• Infallible firmness: In innocence, the lower always remained subject to the higher as long as the highest (reason/will) remained subject to God
• Consequence of sin: When this order breaks at the top, disorder propagates downward, making venial sin possible

Notable Quotes #

“Venial sin impedes the actual brightness but not however the habitual brightness, because it does not exclude nor does it diminish the habit of charity and the other virtues.”

“A stain implies a loss determinant of brightness…borrowed from material things, by which the name of stain is transferred to the soul.”

“In the state of innocence, there was an infallible firmness of order, that always the lower was contained under the higher, so long as the highest thing of man was contained under God.”

“The fervor of charity burns away the sins.”

“Venial sins are not said to be built upon the spiritual foundation directly placed upon it, but because they are placed alongside of it.”

Questions Addressed #

Article 1: Does Venial Sin Cause a Stain in the Soul? #

• Resolution: Properly speaking, NO. Venial sin impedes actual brightness (virtuous acts) but not habitual brightness (virtue itself). A stain implies something remaining; venial sin’s effect is temporary. Augustine speaks of stain when venial sins dispose toward mortal sin.

Article 2: Are Venial Sins Suitably Designated by Wood, Hay, and Straw? #

• Resolution: YES. These represent venial sins mixed among good works, which can be burned while the spiritual building remains. The three grades reflect the universal structure of beginning, middle, and end. Those who build on the true foundation (faith formed by charity) are saved through fire.

Article 3: Could Man in the State of Innocence Sin Venially? #

• Resolution: NO. The perfect order of innocence precluded disorder about means without disorder about the end. Mortal sin (disorder about the ultimate end) must precede venial sin (disorder about means).