Is there Scripture to show a non-Catholic that there are degrees of sin?
A viewer asks whether there is any Scripture that could help explain to a non-Catholic that there are degrees of sin.
Answer
Yes. The first place to go is Luke 12:47-48, which speaks of being beaten with many stripes or with few. Matthew 23:14 says those who commit greater sin will receive greater damnation. In 1 John 5:16-17 there is a sin unto death that you are told not even to pray for, distinguished from sin that is not unto death. And Jesus speaks of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit as an unforgivable sin, which He applied to the Pharisees. Those four passages are enough to start. In my book Not By Faith Alone there is a footnote with about two dozen Scripture passages that delineate between venial and mortal sin, with an index to help you find the issue of greater and lesser sins.