Instruction concerning penance and holy communion the second part fo the instruction of youth, containing the means how we may return to God by penance, and remain in his grace by the good and frequent use of the sacraments. By Charles Gobinet, Doctor of Divinity, of the house and Society of Sorbon, principal of the college of Plessis-Sorbon.

CHAP. XV. Of the Sins that are committed by Error, or by Doubt.

THese also are two other Fountains of Sin, which are necessary to be known and exam∣ined by reason of the great number of Sins, that spring from them.

We call it error in this place, when one believes there is a Sin in the action or omission, when in reality there is none, or that it is a Mortal, when it is but a venial Sin.

I Enquire, whether an action or omission, per∣formed in this errour is a Sin? without doubt it is, and ought to be confessed, and one ought to have a diligent care of himself for the future, in regard to the like occasions.

The reason is because Sin consists in the Will, and the will acts not but as it is guided by the judgment. When the judgment proposes a thing as ill, whether it be an action or omission, if the Will embraces it, she consents to it as bad, in as much as she knows no other quality; and Sins, as if the thing were evil in effect; because the sin doth not consist in the effect, but in the affection. And this is the reason why we say that an erro∣neous Conscience obliges, that is, when one be∣lieves that it is ill to do, or omit, an action, he is obliged to follow that belief, although false, till such time as he shall be informed of the truth.

You must mark this well, dear Theotime, for two reasons. First, that you may avoid sinning

thus by errour, which happens but too often to young people, who believe frequently that acti∣ons or omissions are sins, when they are not; yet nevertheless commit them; and you ought firm∣ly to hold and follow this rule, never to perform an action, or omission, which you believe to be a Sin.

Secondly, that you may apply this truth to your Confession, in which you ought to examin the Sins you have committed in this errour, and to judg of the sins you have committed, whether action, or omission: do not only examin whe∣ther it were a Mortal sin in it self or no? but whether you did not verily believe it was a mor∣tal sin? for then it must be Confesied, as if it were a Mortal sin.

Perhaps you will draw from hence a conse∣quence in your favour. If then, you will say, I judg either an action or omission to be lawfull and exempt from sin, altho' in effect it be not, it follows, that I shall not sin at all in committing it.

I answer, that this is sometimes true, when this erroneous judgment proceeds from an inno∣cent ignorance, or where there was no sault at all of ours, or that it was not in our power to be instructed in the contrary: But if this errour a∣rise from a culpable ignorance, and because we would not be better informed, as it often hap∣pens; in this case it doth not at all excuse the sin; as 'tis above said.

As concerning doubt, this also is very often the cause of sin, and it concerns us to know it: We call that a doubt, when one is uncertain whether an action, or omission be a sin or no. This doubt is either very great, or small, or be∣twixt

both: it is very great, when it inclines the judgment to determine that it is a Sin: light, when it rather resolves that it is not: mean or be∣twixt both, when it hangs in suspence, and we know not on which side to incline the ballance: Hence it is easy to tell when a doubt causes a Sin, and when not.

A very strong doubt makes an action, or o∣mission a sin; because it is esteemed, as much as a judgment.

A light doubt doth not make a thing to be a sin, in as much as it doth not at all destroy the con∣trary credence by which one believes there is no sin in it.

As for the doubt which is in the middle be∣twixt these two, and which leaves the judgment in a totall uncertainty neither being able to affirm nor deny, it is so far from excusing from sin, that he, who in this doubt resolves to do an acti∣on or omission, which he doubts whether it be a Mortall sin or no, sins Mortally: The reason is, because acting in that formall doubt he is suppo∣sed to desire it such as it might be in it self, and as it might be evill, he was resolved to do it in case it were so. This deserves to be carefully remembered.