Posted by johnboy on August 11, 1999 at 08:47:37:
In Reply to: Re: Formative Spirituality-a maslovian revolution in theology? posted by Phil on August 10, 1999 at 11:48:23:
: Regarding Hell and Mortal Sin, I suppose it would be good to teach these, as you say, as "footnotes." Or, perhaps, they should just be properly taught, which would be to say that no one really goes to Hell who hasn't rejected God totally (which is what Mortal Sin is).
indeed, and "properly taught" includes not only conveying the truth but asking oneself if it is "developmentally appropriate"
you seem to resort to a "fundamental option" approach to mortal sin---this is accepted by some Christian creeds and not others (but i shan't pursue that line here)
:for it is precisely in the realm of the subjective that the whole-hearted rejection of God is to be found. And who can say if one has done this? Not even the sinner him/herself can say so.
as regards mortal sin and salvation, this clearly squares with Catholic teaching; in many cases, i do question whether convoluted theories of exculpability are really necessary (involving whether or not there was full consent of the will, for instance, or whether or not there was sufficient knowledge)---because, in so many cases, the categorization of certain objective behaviors as serious, grave or mortal sin seem to me to be extremely doubtful---again, however, certain creeds reject moral probabilism (and i'll desist from inviting any creed vs creed discussion here)
i do believe that from creed to creed, there are many moral teachings which have never been received by the faithful, notwithstanding their propagation by church hierarchies; this should at least invite some introspection by various church leaders as regards why, from their perspective, they are forced to conclude that the holy Spirit has not aided the formation of upright and mature consciences in their followers---this notwithstanding God's writing of the moral laws on everyone's heart---hmmmm, johnboy