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Apostacy

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Paul S

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QuagDabPeg said:
Does entering into schism or apostacy automatically mean hell?

No sin automatically means hell, since we can always repent.

Dying in the state of mortal sin does mean hell, but the three conditions of mortal sin - grave matter, full knowledge, and full consent of the will - must be met before a sin is mortal.

One can be a material heretic - believing in a false doctrine - but not be a formal heretic guilty of a mortal sin if one doesn't know any better.
 
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entropy_rising

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Can someone explain full knowledge and consent? I'm a bit confused about it. One can assume that if someone leaves the church, they're doing it with incomplete knowledge. If they had full knowledge of the Truth of the One Church, they wouldn't leave it in the first place. I misunderstanding something.
 
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frettr00

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One can be a material heretic - believing in a false doctrine - but not be a formal heretic guilty of a mortal sin if one doesn't know any better.

Would a material heretic be someone who believes in the pre-trib Rapture doctrine? I know many protestants fully believe this doctrine.
 
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QuagDabPeg

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Let's say a person studies the Catholic faith thoroughly and comes to believe it is not the true church, and thus leaves for another church he has come to conclude through research and study is the true Church. He would be a schismatic and heretic assuming he remains in the Christian faith, and an apostate if he leaves for say, Islam or Judaism, correct? In either case, is it a mortal sin because he has stuided the faith in depth?
 
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frettr00

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Can someone explain full knowledge and consent? I'm a bit confused about it. One can assume that if someone leaves the church, they're doing it with incomplete knowledge. If they had full knowledge of the Truth of the One Church, they wouldn't leave it in the first place. I misunderstanding something.

Full knowledge and consent as in, they fully know the Catholic church is the true church and willfully leave anyway.
 
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Paul S

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alucardr said:
Would a material heretic be someone who believes in the pre-trib Rapture doctrine? I know many protestants fully believe this doctrine.

Yes, since it's contrary to what the Church teaches.

QuagDabPeg said:
Let's say a person studies the Catholic faith thoroughly and comes to believe it is not the true church, and thus leaves for another church he has come to conclude through research and study is the true Church. He would be a schismatic and heretic assuming he remains in the Christian faith, and an apostate if he leaves for say, Islam or Judaism, correct? In either case, is it a mortal sin because he has stuided the faith in depth?

I know full knowledge and full consent are required, but I'm also a bit confused on what exactly they mean. I do know we can't ever say for sure something is a mortal sin, since only God knows the true state of one's mind.
 
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entropy_rising

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alucardr said:
Full knowledge and consent as in, they fully know the Catholic church is the true church and willfully leave anyway.

Alucard, let's say someone converts to another form of Christianity because they sincerely believe, as erroneous as he may be, that the Catholic church is not the true church. Is he still committing the sin of heresy/schism in "full knowledge?"
 
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marciadietrich

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The Baltimore Catechism says "sufficient reflection" as opposed to "full knowledge" ... which I think leans towards saying that it is a decision that wasn't made totally spur of the moment in an emotional state, but a deliberate decision.

QDP ... if you are thinking of leaving the Church, thus think it is not the one true Church, why would you care what the Church's take is on apostacy/schism/heresy? You would have to think they don't have the authority to make that decision. Or have I misread other posts where you say you are thinking of leaving.

Marcia
 
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QuagDabPeg

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marciadietrich said:
The Baltimore Catechism says "sufficient reflection" as opposed to "full knowledge" ... which I think leans towards saying that it is a decision that wasn't made totally spur of the moment in an emotional state, but a deliberate decision.

QDP ... if you are thinking of leaving the Church, thus think it is not the one true Church, why would you care what the Church's take is on apostacy/schism/heresy? You would have to think they don't have the authority to make that decision. Or have I misread other posts where you say you are thinking of leaving.

Marcia

No I never said in my posts that I was thinking of leaving the church. But I am interested in understanding the Church's stance on this issue.

Sometimes on websites or books you see testimonies by former priests or stuff like that. They obviously knew the faith well, would they be likely in mortal sin? So basically is knoweldge of the faith what's needed to make it a mortal sin?
 
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frettr00

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Alucard, let's say someone converts to another form of Christianity because they sincerely believe, as erroneous as he may be, that the Catholic church is not the true church. Is he still committing the sin of heresy/schism in "full knowledge?"

Some may disagree, but personally I think in that case he is trying to go with what he thinks is the true church so it wouldn't be a mortal sin in full knowledge. He doesn't believe the Catholic church is the right one even though he's a part of it and in his pursuit to try and be closer to God he tries to go with the church he thinks is true.
 
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