Scrupulosity
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Scrupulosity is obsessive concern with one's personal sins, including "sinful" acts or thoughts usually considered minor or not sins at all within one's religious tradition. The condition can occur in nearly all religions having some sort of religious code (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc.). The term is derived from the Latin scrupulus, a sharp stone, implying a stabbing pain on the conscience.
In modern times, scrupulosity is often considered to be a religious expression of obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD. The scrupulous person lacks a "normal" religious outlook, veering to the extreme. Often the person has a morbid feeling that he or she is rejected by God and doomed to damnation in spite of rigid adherence to rituals or rules of conduct. The over-scrupulous person may refuse to acknowledge the verdict of otherwise accepted religious authorities that he or she is being excessively concerned with moot religious points. Scrupulous behavior can take the form of repeated ritual observances or other "cleansing" behavior, such as baths -- in severe cases, as many as 35 baths a day.
In Catholicism, scrupulosity in itself is not considered to be sinful; some well-known saints, including Ignatius Loyola, Alphonsus Liguori, and perhaps Faustina Kowalska, have suffered from scrupulosity. Some Catholic scholars have speculated that Martin Luther, whose ideas and writings helped give rise to the Protestant Reformation, suffered from scrupulosity and broke with the Catholic Church because he could not accept Catholic assurances of grace in the face of his feelings of sinfulness.
Protestants are likely to disagree that scrupulosity was the basis for Luther's actions, but some agree that he suffered from scrupulosity. Some Protestants also find traces of scrupulosity in the writings of the 17th century Puritan pastor and author, John Bunyan (well known for his work, The Pilgrim's Progress).
In treating scrupulosity, medical treatment for OCD may be used with or without religious counseling. To help the individual conquer his or her scrupulosity, a pastor, priest, imam, rabbi, or other spiritual director will often counsel the afflicted person to focus on positive, objective messages of religious faith rather than subjective feelings of sinfulness and objection; he or she may also advise the person to avoid typical scrupulous behaviors such as (in Catholicism) re-confessing past sins already confessed, taking repeated baths, e.t.c.
[edit] References
- Thomas M. Santa, Understanding Scrupulosity: Helpful Answers for Those Who Experience Nagging Questions and Doubts (Ligouri, 1999)
- Joseph W. Ciarrocchi, The Doubting Disease: Help for Scrupulosity and Religious Compulsions (Paulist Press, 1995)
