>Are the Lives and Acts of Unbelievers Entirely Sinful?
If unbelievers and those not in a state of grace cannot please God in anyway, since the Apostle Paul wrote: “But without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11:6, D-R), are their lives and every act entirely sinful?
On account of Hebrews 11:6 and Romans 3, the Protestant Reformers taught that all the acts of the unbeliever, even naturally good ones (like caring for an infant), were inherently sinful acts.
The Catholic Church does not hold such a view. It is true that naturally virtuous acts do not please God or merit salvation, nonetheless the acts themselves are not sinful acts.
Saint Thomas Aquinas clarifies this in his discussion of heathen marriages:
Reply OBJ 5: An unbeliever does not sin in having intercourse with his wife, if he pays her the marriage debt, for the good of the offspring, or for the troth whereby he is bound to her: since this is an act of justice and of temperance which observes the due circumstance in pleasure of touch; even as neither does he sin in performing acts of other civic virtues. Again, the reason why the whole life of unbelievers is said to be a sin is not that they sin in every act, but because they cannot be delivered from the bondage of sin by that which they do.
Summa theologiae Sup. q. 59 a. 1, ad. 5
Here, the Angelic Doctor refers to sin as “falling short of the mark” and thus the life of an unbeliever without grace cannot attain to that supernatural end which is the beatific vision, which we call Heaven. Will the unbeliever without grace be damned. Certainly. However, he will not be punished for any naturally good acts in Hell, only his evil acts. An unbeliever can do naturally good things (feed a poor man, love a spouse, care for a sick child), but these acts in themselves are not salvific nor meritorious. One must be in a state of grace for merit to incur. For more on that, see Saint Thomas’ at Summa I-II q. 114 at New Advent.org.
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