UNDERSTANDING SIN ACCORDING TO ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI

QUESTION? / COMMENT!

Is it true after a certain amount of sins God will not forgive you, according to St. Alphonsus Liguori?

ANSWER! / COMMENT!

St Alphonsus Liguori (doctor of the Church on Moral Theology) - "On the Number of Sins Beyond Which God Pardons No More" - http://www.olrl.org/snt_docs/num_sins.shtml       https://catholicharboroffaithandmorals.com/St.%20Alphonsu%20the%20number%20of%20sins.html   

Here is a good explanation of how to understand St Alphonsus sermon on ‘sins which God will no longer pardon’ - https://www.amicidomenicani.it/en/im-currently-reading-a-lecture-by-saint-alphonsus-liguori-it-is-stated-that-god-forgives-us-a-certain-number-of-sins-then-the-punishment-comes/

Here are my observations about this teaching by one of the 37 doctors of the Church:

1st Point: With all due respect, a Saint is not infallible, the Church’s Magisterium is infallible. Scripture reveals that God’s mercy is greater than His Justice. Although I believe that St Alphonsus made his case using scripture.

2nd Point: Just like Our Lord used to speak in hyperbole, “if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.” St Alphonsus could have been using hyperbole in this sermon to drive the point home of how important it is to ‘repent, avoid the near occasion of sin and amend your life.’ God is mercy (cf. 1 John 4:16) and justice (cf. Isaiah 30:18; Romans 12:19), St Alphonsus Liguori is emphasizing the justice of God in this sermon. This is something that modern Catholic ears are not used to hearing, because most of what we have been hearing after 1965 is about the mercy of God (without being called to repent of our sins).

3rd Point: I think St Alphonsus is warning people about the ‘sin of presumption.’ Just like many protestant fundamentalist Christians who believe that just by saying “the sinners prayer” (which is not in Scripture) that they will be saved even if they don’t walk in “the obedience of faith” (cf. Rom 1:5) and do “the will of God” (cf. Matt 7:21) by following the commandments (cf. Matt 19:17) and striving for holiness (cf. Heb 12:14).

4th Point: He is warning the laity not to purposefully make a bad confession. Another doctor of the Church, St Teresa of Avila said: "Bad confessions damn the majority of Christians."

5th Point: Our Lady appeared to use the same language as St Alphonsus Liguori. Our Lady talked about the future: “The thought of the loss of so many souls is the cause of my sorrow. If sins increase in number and gravity, there will be no longer pardon for them.” —Our Lady to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa of Akita, Japan, October 13th, 1973.