Q. Can you sin in a dream?
A. Dreams are an interesting aspect of human life. In ancient times, dreams were seen as communications from divine beings. In modern times, they are seen as simply the brain processing through various emotions and memories and worries. Scripture takes the via media approach, showing us that, while God can and does speak to His children through dreams or dreamlike experiences (Matthew 1:20 for example), dreams are almost always natural, and we should not put too much stock in them (Ecclesiastes 5:2; Sirach 34:7). Regardless of whether they are dreams given by God or dreams created from our own minds, dreams are inherently involuntary.
The involuntariness of dreams and our actions within dreams provides the answer to this question. What makes something a sin is the fact that we knowingly and willingly choose that which is contrary to our good or the good of our neighbor. Sins are more than just breaking rules created by old celibate men hundreds or thousands of years ago. Sins are sins because they hurt us or our neighbor (or, more often than not, both) and since our intellects are clouded by the Fall, sometimes we do not realize what we are doing is destructive. Therefore, the Church in Her mercy lays out for us what is good and what is evil, to help us to make the right choices.
When we dream, we are not actively choosing anything because our minds are not under our active control. You might dream that you are an American spy fighting your way out of Russia with one of your priest friends only to end up in the Middle East trying to escape from a mummy-worshipping cult (as a totally hypothetical and not at all real example), but you are not culpable for all the Russian soldiers and cult members you shot while defending yourself. Dreams are involuntary, therefore what we do in them is involuntary, therefore we cannot commit a sin while dreaming.
Now, the question can be raised regarding so-called “lucid dreaming.” This is when you know you are in a dream and can control your actions. Does this change your culpability because now you are acting voluntarily? As far as I can find, the consensus amongst moral theologians is no, you still are not culpable, because even though you might feel as though you are in control, the extent to which you actually are remains up for debate.
One notable apologist used the analogy of being drunk. You might feel as though you are in control but, in reality, you are not. Lucid dreaming is the same way. You might know you are in a dream and maybe you can control your actions to some degree, but your will is still very clearly not fully engaged, therefore your actions lack the full freedom to make you culpable for them.
Lucid dreaming raises another question: what about taking active steps to try to make ourselves dream about a certain thing, for the sake of being able to experience it, free from the consequences of sin? Are we culpable then? Yes, but not because of the dream actions, but because of dwelling on sinful thoughts when we are in full control of our faculties.
For example, if a person, before he or she falls asleep, fantasizes about punching the boss in the face, hoping to dream about taking that action so that he or she could feel what that would be like, the person has sinned, not because the desired action took place in a dream but because the individual actively entertained the idea of taking the desired action. Dwelling on sinful thoughts is sinful, whether it is before bed or not.
In general, it is best to not get overly scrupulous about dreams and culpability. It can happen that a person is very angry and stressed, and is thinking about all of that before bed, and ends up dreaming about “sinful” matters. It happens, but unless the individual was actively trying to trigger such dreams, it is not sin, it is just part of being human. Being accountable for our own actions is hard enough, no reason to start trying to hold ourselves accountable for things we cannot control.
This question was answered by Father Caleb La Rue, chancellor of the Diocese of Lincoln. Write to Ask the Register using our online form, or write to 3700 Sheridan Blvd., Suite 10, Lincoln NE 68506-6100. All questions are subject to editing. Editors decide which questions to publish. Personal questions cannot be answered. People with such questions are urged to take them to their nearest Catholic priest.
