Sin, Venial

Sin, Venial.

Venial sins are those which, according to the theology of the Church of Rome, do not bring spiritual death to the soul, or which do not turn it away from its ultimate end, or which are only slightly repugnant to the order of right reason. "It is, moreover, certain," says Dens, "not only from the divine compassion, but from the nature of the thing, that there are venial sins, or such slight ones, as in just men may consist with a state of grace and friendship with God; implying that there is a certain kind of sin of which a man may be, guilty without offending God." Such doctrine as this meets with no countenance from the Word of God, which declares that "the wages of sin is death," without making any distinction among sins. SEE VENIAL.