Among Conservative Evangelical Christians it is common to emphasize that “according to The Bible we are judged even for our thoughts”, this influenced even my own thinking way back in the day.
The basis for this is mainly The Tenth Commandment (Exodus 20:17 and Deuteronomy 5:21) and certain quotes from The Sermon on The Mount (Matthew 5: 22 and 27-28).
Many theologians have argued that Coveting in The Bible refers to more than just having ever felt like you want something someone else had. It’s about dwelling in that Envy and letting it consume you. It’s a Sin of thought rather than action only in contrast to actual Theft or Adultery, but it is very likely still affecting your actions towards the person you are Envious of even if only subconsciously. 2 Peter 2:14 refers specifically to “Covetous Practices”. Roman 13:9 lists this command among those sufficiently covered under “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” so if you are obeying that commandment you are sufficiently obeying the Tenth.
Looking at a Woman with Lust in your Heart absolutely involves an Action, it’s about leering, ogling. (And that’s leaving aside the dispute of whether the context being about Adultery means Gune should be translated Wife rather than Woman.) It’s not a condemnation of having ever had horny thoughts, or even of indulging such thoughts privately in a way that harms no one.
Likewise calling someone a “Fool” or “Raca” is an act of insulting them, the way people twist that into being a condemnation of ever being Angry is absurd. Righteous Anger is absolutely something The Bible condones.
Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus felt all the same Temptations we do but never Sinned, this to me is clearly about more than just the famous story of Satan directly tempting him three times. It’s an affirmation of the Full Humanity of Jesus, He had thoughts that would be Sinful to Act upon, but because He didn’t Act on them they were not Sins.
And it’s because I’m a former Conservative when it comes to this very aspect of morality, that I’m among those Leftists who see similar attitudes among so-called Leftists as inherently Conservative. It is pure Idealism, a product of Immanuel Kant’s pseudo intellectual babble about thoughts somehow being more powerful than actions.
And this is part of why I’m against Antishipers.
Same goes for Catholicism. On the one hand, God is omniscient and know the deeds; but on the other I've heard the explanations in terms of "when the wind blows, we don't have to follow".
ReplyDeleteAs such:
Roman Cathechism of the Council of Trent prohibits not "the mere power of desire", but "the indulgence of evil desire". Similarly Bellarmine (p. 115 of the Italian full catechism 1770 edition) states after Pope Gregory: sensual delight = venial sin, consent of reason and will = mortal sin. CCC 2515: concupiscence is not yet an offence.
Though, Bellarmine on page 117 does state that God can punish not only bad desires, but bad thoughts as well. Similarly, CCC 2537-9 forbids envy.
So in the end, it all comes down to the confusion between thoughts and desires.