The primary difference between
Catholic theology and
Lutheran,
Reformed and
Anglican theologies on the issue of concupiscence is whether it can be classified as sin by its own nature. The
Catholic Church teaches that while it is highly likely to cause sin, concupiscence is not sin itself. Rather, it is "the tinder for sin" which "cannot harm those who do not consent" (
CCC 1264). This difference is intimately tied with the different traditions on
original sin. Lutheran, Reformed, and Anglican theology holds that the original
prelapsarian nature of humanity was an innate tendency to good; the special relationship
Adam and Eve enjoyed with God was due not to some supernatural gift, but to their own natures. Hence, in these traditions, the
Fall was not the destruction of a supernatural gift, leaving humanity's nature to work unimpeded, but rather the corruption of that nature itself. Since the present nature of humans is corrupted from their original nature, it follows that it is not good, but rather evil (although some good may still remain). Thus, in these traditions, concupiscence is evil in itself. The
Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England state that "the Apostle doth confess, that concupiscence and lust hath of itself the nature of sin". By contrast, Catholicism, while also maintaining that
humanity's original nature is good (CCC 374), teaches that even after this gift
was lost after the Fall, human nature still cannot be called evil, because it remains a natural creation of God. Despite the fact that humans sin,
Catholic theology teaches that human nature itself is not the
cause of sin, although once it comes into contact with sin it may produce more sin. The difference in views also extends to the relationship between concupiscence and original sin. Another reason for the differing views of Catholics with Lutherans, Reformed, and Anglicans on concupiscence is their position on sin in general. The
Magisterial Reformers taught that one can be guilty of sin even if it is not voluntary; the Catholic Church and the Methodist Church, by contrast, traditionally hold that one is guilty of sin only when the sin is voluntary. The
Scholastics and magisterial reformers have different views on the issue of what is voluntary and what is not: the Catholic Scholastics considered the emotions of love, hate, like and dislike to be acts of
will or choice, while the early Protestant reformers did not. By the Catholic position that one's attitudes are acts of will, sinful attitudes are voluntary. By the magisterial reformer view that these attitudes are involuntary, some sins are involuntary as well. Some denominations may relate concupiscence to "humanity's sinful nature" in order to distinguish it from particular sinful acts. ==Aquinian concept of passion==