Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Answer to the Contemporary Loss of the Consciousness of Sin

Abstract

Currently, especially in Europe, we are dealing with progressive and rapidly deepening secularization. As a result, the sources of morality, i.e., family, school, and the Church have gradually begun to lose their authoritative significance. This, in turn, leads to extremely subjective attitudes. Therefore, the loss of the consciousness of sin is another consequence of the above-mentioned processes. The sources of the moral anesthesia are the deepening crisis of faith, the domination of subjective attitudes, and a wrong concept of the Church. Contemporary man ceases to seek the unchanging moral norms that have shaped European societies for centuries, because he himself wants to become their only source and determinant.

The still valid teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas brings us an antidote to the illnesses that torment modern man. The return to realism and cognitive objectivity, as the correct way of perceiving reality and the acceptance of the person of God as the authentic source of the moral law are the best ways of regaining the lost consciousness of sin.