Invincible ignorance is used in Catholic moral theology to refer to the state of persons who are, through no fault of their own, ignorant of the fact that the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

message is true. It is the opposite of the term vincible ignorance. The first Pope to use the term officially seems to have been

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

in the allocution ''Singulari Quadam'' (9 December 1854) and the

encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally fr ...

s ''Singulari Quidem'' (17 March 1856) and ''Quanto Conficiamur Moerore'' (10 August 1863). The term, however, is far older than that.

Aquinas Thomas Aquinas, OP (; it, Tommaso d'Aquino, lit=Thomas of Aquino; 1225 – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican friar and priest who was an influential philosopher, theologian and jurist in the tradition of scholasticism; he is known ...

, for instance, uses it in his ''

Summa Theologica The ''Summa Theologiae'' or ''Summa Theologica'' (), often referred to simply as the ''Summa'', is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), a scholastic theologian and Doctor of the Church. It is a compendium of all of the main th ...

'' (written 1265–1274), and discussion of the concept can be found as far back as

Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and the ...

(3rd century).

Doctrine of invincible ignorance

"Invincible ignorance excuses from all culpability. An action committed in ignorance of the law prohibiting it, or of the facts of the case, is not a voluntary act."George Hayward Joyce, "INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE", in James Hastings, John A. Selbie, and Louis H. Gray (eds.), ''Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics'' (Edinburgh; New York: T. & T. Clark; Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1908–1926), p. 403. On the other hand, it is culpable to remain willfully ignorant of matters that one is obligated to know ( vincible ignorance). In this case the individual is morally responsible for their ignorance, and for the acts resulting from it. The guilt associated with an offense committed in ignorance is less than it would have been if the act were committed in full knowledge, because in that case the offense is less voluntary.

Protestant view

Protestants diverged from Catholic doctrine in this area during the Reformation.

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

believed that invincible ignorance was only a valid excuse for offenses against human law. In his view, we are ignorant of divine law because of

original sin Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 ...

, for which we all bear guilt.

John Calvin John Calvin (; frm, Jehan Cauvin; french: link=no, Jean Calvin ; 10 July 150927 May 1564) was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system ...

agreed that ignorance of God's law is always vincible.

Other uses

The theological term "invincible ignorance" should not be confused with the logical term Invincible ignorance fallacy. When and how the term was taken by logicians to refer to the very different state of persons who willfully refuse to attend to evidence remains unclear, but one of its first uses was in the 1959 book ''Fallacy: The Counterfeit of Argument '' by W. Ward Fearnside and William B. Holther.Fearnside, W. Ward and William B. Holther, ''Fallacy: The Counterfeit of Argument'', 1959. .

Doctrine of invincible ignorance

Protestant view

Other uses

See also

References

Further reading