191. Aggravating Factors in Sin: Harm, Person, and Sinner

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

Article 8: Harm Done (Documentum) #

The gravest issue in this article is whether harm (documentum) aggravates sin. The solution rests on understanding that disorder, not harm, is the primary measure of sin’s gravity.

Three-fold distinction of harm:

1. Foreseen and intended: Directly aggravates sin because harm becomes per se the object of the act (e.g., homicide)
2. Foreseen but not intended: Indirectly aggravates sin through the will’s inclination to sin (e.g., bombing a terrorist target knowing innocents are nearby)
3. Neither foreseen nor intended: Does not directly aggravate sin, but may through negligence if the harm per se follows from the sinful act (e.g., public fornication causing scandal)

Key principle: If harm alone aggravated sin, then simple fornication (which deprives a person of grace) would be graver than murder—which is manifestly false. Therefore, gravity comes from disorder of the act itself, not from the harm consequent upon it.

Article 9: Condition of Person Sinned Against #

Sin is aggravated by the dignity and proximity of the person against whom one sins, operating in three ways:

1. From God’s perspective: The more a person is joined to God (through virtue or ecclesiastical office), the more injury to that person redounds to God (“Who touches you touches the apple of my eye”)
2. From oneself: One sins more gravely against those naturally joined to oneself—family, benefactors, those under one’s natural bonds—because one seems more to sin against oneself
3. From neighbor’s perspective: Sins against public persons (kings, princes) are graver because they affect many; sins affecting numerous people are more grave

Important caveat: The virtue of the person sinned against does not diminish the sin. That a virtuous man bears injury with equanimity is his virtue, not an excuse for the sinner.

Article 10: Condition of Person Sinning #

The magnitude of the person sinning aggravates sin with a crucial two-fold distinction:

1. Sins from sudden impulse/infirmity: Less imputed to the greater person, who should better resist human weakness
2. Sins from deliberation/malice: More imputed to the greater person, whose virtue and knowledge create greater responsibility

Key principle: God does not “accept persons” in the sense that He ignores their condition, but rather He justly weighs sins according to the agent’s capacity and virtue. The greater one’s knowledge and virtue, the more grave one’s deliberate sin.

Key Arguments #

The Object as Primary Measure of Gravity #

• The object (end) of the act is the fundamental determinant of sin’s species and gravity
• All other factors—harm, circumstances, persons—are secondary considerations that aggravate or diminish based on how they relate to the object and the disorder of the act

Disorder vs. Harm #

• Disorder = aversion from the rule of reason, turning away from God (the end of all things)
• Sins against God involve more disorder than sins against neighbor, even if they cause less tangible harm
• Example: Blasphemy is graver than theft, though theft causes concrete damage

The Hierarchy of Ends #

• The principal ends of human acts are: God, oneself, one’s neighbor
• Gravity can be considered from these three perspectives
• Acting against what is ordered to God is more disordered than acting against neighbor

Intentionality and Culpability #

• What one intends is distinct from what one foresees
• Intentional harm (homicide to kill) differs morally from unintended consequences (accidentally hurting someone while running to stop a terrorist)
• Higher virtue creates higher responsibility, especially regarding deliberate sin versus sins of weakness

Important Definitions #

Documentum (harm): Augustine’s definition of evil as “harmful.” In the context of sin, harm can be:

• Foreseen and intended (per se harm)
• Foreseen but not intended (praeter intentionem)
• Neither foreseen nor intended (per accidens)

Aversion and Conversion: The essential malice of sin consists in aversion (turning away from God), not in conversion (turning toward apparent good). Gravity is measured by the degree of aversion/disorder, not by the attractiveness of what one turns toward.

Propinquity (proximity): Natural bonds (family), benefits received (gratitude), or conjunction through office/dignity that increases the gravity of sin against that person.

Per se vs. Praeter intentionem: Distinction between consequences that are the direct object/intention of the act versus those that follow from it but are not directly intended.

Examples & Illustrations #

From Scripture #

• Job 35:6: “If your iniquities are multiplied, what do you do against Him?” — showing that sin cannot harm God’s substance
• Zacharias 2:8: “Who touches you touches the apple of my eye” — injury to God’s servants redounds to God
• Stephen and Paul (Acts): Stephen’s prayer for his killers, converting Paul—example of how virtue bears injury with equanimity
• Exodus 22: Prohibition against cursing rulers—showing special gravity of sins against public persons
• Wisdom 6: “The powerful will be powerfully tormented”—divine punishment reflects the condition of the sinner

From Common Experience #

• Killing a king vs. killing a private person: Graver because it affects the common good of the realm
• Betraying one’s father vs. betraying a stranger: Graver because of natural bonds and gratitude
• A virtuous person bearing injury vs. a vicious person: The virtuous person’s equanimity does not make the sin less grave; it demonstrates their virtue
• Priest abandoning priesthood: A man unfaithful to God is not trustworthy to a wife—his sin against God aggravates his sin against his spouse

Monastic Context #

• The isolation of the cell: Emphasizes that serious engagement with difficult objections requires sustained thought, making the solution appreciated more deeply when discovered
• State punishment vs. moral gravity: Civil law punishes killing more than suicide, but moral gravity considers the disorder—suicide against oneself may be as grave as or graver than homicide

Notable Quotes #

“For documentary has itself in three ways to sin: sometimes a harm that comes from sin is foreseen and intended…sometimes the harm is foreseen but not intended…sometimes the harm is neither foreseen nor intended.”

“The gravity of sin comes from disorder, not harm alone. Therefore, greater is the sin, the greater is the disorder.”

“God is the end of the whole universe, right? And so everything is ordered to God ultimately, right? It would be more disordered than to…hurt your neighbor.”

“You’re not following the rule of reason…Disorder is the main thing, right?”

Questions Addressed #

Q: Does harm done aggravate sin? A: Not directly. Harm aggravates sin only insofar as it makes the act itself more disordered. The gravity comes from disorder and aversion from reason, not from harm itself. A sin can cause little or no harm yet be graver than one causing great harm (e.g., blasphemy vs. theft).

Q: Does the condition of the person sinned against aggravate sin? A: Yes, in three ways: through connection to God (the more joined to God, the more injury redounds to God); through connection to oneself (natural bonds and gratitude make sins against family and benefactors graver); and through effect on many (public persons whose injury affects the common good). However, the virtue of the injured party does not excuse the sinner.

Q: Does the magnitude of the person sinning aggravate sin? A: Yes, but with crucial distinction. Sins proceeding from sudden impulse or infirmity are less imputed to the greater person, who should better resist weakness. Sins proceeding from deliberation and malice are more imputed to the greater person, whose knowledge and virtue create greater responsibility. Greater capacity for virtue means greater culpability for deliberate sin.