Seven deadly sins

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Hieronymus Bosch's The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things
The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, are a
classication of vices that were originally used in early Christian teachings to
educate and instruct followers concerning (immoral) fallen man's tendency to sin.
The Roman Catholic Church divided sin into two principal categories: "venial",
which are relatively minor, and could be forgiven through any sacramentals or
sacraments of the church, and the more severe "capital" or mortal sin. Mortal sins
destroyed the life of grace, and created the threat of eternal damnation unless
either absolved through the sacrament of confession, or forgiven through perfect
contrition on the part of the penitent. Beginning in the early 14th century, the
popularity of the seven deadly sins as a theme among European artists of the time
eventually helped to ingrain them in many areas of Christian culture and Christian
consciousness in general throughout the world. One means of such ingraining was
the creation of the mnemonic "SALIGIA" based on the rst letters in Latin of the
seven deadly sins: superbia, avaritia, luxuria, invidia, gula, ira, acedia.[1]
Background of the Seven Deadly Sins
There is nowhere in the Christian Bible that a list of the Seven Deadly Sins is given,
although lists of virtues contrasted with lists of sins are found in certain books of the
New Testament, such as "Galatians". The modern concept of the Seven Deadly
Sins is linked to the works of the 4th century monk Evagrius Ponticus, who listed
eight "evil thoughts" as follows (Refoule, 1967):
Gluttony; fornication; avarice; sorrow; anger; discouragement; vainglory; pride.
The rst three of these sins, as Refoule explains, link to lustful appetite; anger links
with the irascible; and vainglory and pride link with the intellect. Some years later,
Pope Gregory I (Pope Gregory the Great) would revise this list to form the more
common "Seven Deadly Sins".
Listings of the sins since Gregory the Great
Listed in the same order used by both Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century,
and later by Dante Alighieri in his epic poem The Divine Comedy, the seven deadly
sins are as follows: luxuria (extravagance, later lust), gula (gluttony), avaritia
(greed), acedia (sloth), ira (wrath), invidia (envy), and superbia (pride). Each of
the seven deadly sins has an opposite among the corresponding seven holy virtues
(sometimes also referred to as the contrary virtues). In parallel order to the sins
they oppose, the seven holy virtues are chastity, temperance, charity, diligence,
patience, kindness, and humility.
The identication and denition of the seven deadly sins over their history has been
a uid process and the idea of what each of the seven actually encompasses has
evolved over time. This process has been aided by the fact that they are not
referred to in either a cohesive or codied manner in the Bible itself, and as a result
other literary and ecclesiastical works referring to the seven deadly sins were
instead consulted as sources from which denitions might be drawn. Part II of
Dante's Divine Comedy, "Purgatorio", has almost certainly been the best known
source since the Renaissance.
The sins
Lust (Latin, luxuria)
Main article: Lust
Lust (or lechery) is usually thought of as involving obsessive or excessive thoughts
or desires of a sexual nature. Unfullled lusts sometimes lead to sexual or
sociological compulsions and/or transgressions including (but obviously not limited
to) sexual addiction, adultery, bestiality, rape, and incest. Dante's criterion was
"excessive love of others," which therefore rendered love and devotion to God as
secondary. In "Purgatorio", the penitent walks within ames to purge himself of
lustful/sexual thoughts and feelings.
Gluttony (Latin, gula)
Main article: Gluttony
Derived from the Latin gluttire, meaning to gulp down or swallow, gluttony is the
over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste. In the
Christian religions, it is considered a sin because of the excessive desire for food,
or its withholding from the needy.[2]
Depending on the culture, it can be seen as either a vice or a sign of status. Where
food is relatively scarce, being able to eat well might be something to take pride in
(although this can also result in a moral backlash when confronted with the reality
of those less fortunate). Where food is routinely plentiful, it may be considered a
sign of self control to resist the temptation to over-indulge.
Medieval church leaders (e.g., Thomas Aquinas) took a more expansive view of
gluttony,[2] arguing that it could also include an obsessive anticipation of meals, and
the constant eating of delicacies and excessively costly foods.[3] He went so far as
to prepare a list of six ways to commit gluttony, including:
! Praepropere - eating too soon
! Laute - eating too expensively
! Nimis - eating too much
! Ardenter - eating too eagerly
! Studiose - eating too daintily
! Forente - eating too fervently
Greed (Latin, avaritia)
Main article: Greed
Greed (or avarice, covetousness) is, like lust and gluttony, a sin of excess.
However, greed (as seen by the church) is applied to the acquisition of wealth in
particular. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that greed was "a sin against God, just as all
mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal
things." In Dante's Purgatory, the penitents were bound and laid face down on the
ground for having concentrated too much on earthly thoughts. "Avarice" is more of
a blanket term that can describe many other examples of greedy behavior. These
include disloyalty, deliberate betrayal, or treason,[citations needed] especially for
personal gain, for example through bribery . Scavenging and hoarding of materials
or objects, theft and robbery, especially by means of violence, trickery, or
manipulation of authority are all actions that may be inspired by greed. Such
misdeeds can include simony, where one prots from soliciting goods within the
actual connes of a church.
Sloth (Latin, acedia)
Main article: Sloth (deadly sin)
More than other sins, the denition of sloth has changed considerably since its
original inclusion among the seven deadly sins. In fact it was rst called the sin of
sadness or despair. It had been in the early years of Christianity characterized by
what modern writers would now describe as melancholy: apathy, depression, and
joylessness the last being viewed as being a refusal to enjoy the goodness of
God and the world he created. Originally, its place was fullled by two other
aspects, acedia and sadness. The former described a spiritual apathy that affected
the faithful by discouraging them from their religious work. Sadness (tristitia in
Latin) described a feeling of dissatisfaction or discontent, which caused
unhappiness with one's current situation. When Thomas Aquinas selected acedia'
for his list, he described it as an "uneasiness of the mind", being a progenitor for
lesser sins such as restlessness and instability. Dante rened this denition further,
describing sloth as being the "failure to love God with all one's heart, all one's mind
and all one's soul." He also described it as the middle sin, and as such was the only
sin characterised by an absence or insufciency of love. In his "Purgatorio", the
slothful penitents were made to run continuously at top speed.
The modern view of the vice, as highlighted by its contrary virtue of zeal or
diligence, is that it represents the failure to utilize one's talents and gifts. For
example, a student who does not work beyond what is required (and thus fails to
achieve his or her full potential) could be labeled slothful.
Current interpretations are therefore much less stringent and comprehensive than
they were in medieval times, and portray sloth as being more simply a sin of
laziness or indifference, of an unwillingness to act, an unwillingness to care (rather
than a failure to love God and his works). For this reason sloth is now often seen as
being considerably less serious than the other sins, more a sin of omission than of
commission. The South American animal was named after this sin by Roman
Catholic explorers.
Wrath (Latin, ira)
Main article: Wrath
Wrath (or anger) may be described as inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of
hatred and anger. These feelings can manifest as vehement denial of the truth,
both to others and in the form of self-denial, impatience with the procedure of law,
and the desire to seek revenge outside of the workings of the justice system (such
as engaging in vigilantism)[citations needed] and generally wishing to do evil or harm
to others. The transgressions borne of vengeance are among the most serious,
including murder, assault, and in extreme cases, genocide. Wrath is the only sin not
necessarily associated with selshness or self-interest (although one can of course
be wrathful for selsh reasons, such as jealousy, closely related to the sin of envy).
Dante described vengeance as "love of justice perverted to revenge and spite".
[clarify] In its original form, the sin of wrath also encompassed anger pointed
internally rather than externally. Thus suicide was deemed as the ultimate, albeit
tragic, expression of wrath directed inwardly, a nal rejection of God's gifts.
Envy (Latin, invidia)
Main article: Envy
Like greed, envy is characterized by an insatiable desire; they differ, however, for
two main reasons. First, greed is largely associated with material goods, whereas
envy may apply more generally. Second, those who commit the sin of envy desire
something that someone else has which they perceive themselves as lacking.
Dante dened this as "love of one's own good perverted to a desire to deprive other
men of theirs." In Dante's Purgatory, the punishment for the envious is to have their
eyes sewn shut with wire, because they have gained sinful pleasure from seeing
others brought low. Aquinas described envy as "sorrow for another's good".[1]
Pride (Latin, superbia)
Vanitas with her mirror. Painting by Titian, c. 1515
Main article: Pride
In almost every list pride ( or hubris or vanity) is considered the original and most
serious of the seven deadly sins, and indeed the ultimate source from which the
others arise. It is identied as a desire to be more important or attractive than
others, failing to give compliments to others though they may be deserving of them,
[citation needed] and excessive love of self (especially holding self out of proper
position toward God). Dante's denition was "love of self perverted to hatred and
contempt for one's neighbor." In Jacob Bidermann's medieval miracle play,
Cenodoxus, pride is the deadliest of all the sins and leads directly to the damnation
of the titulary famed Parisian doctor. In perhaps the best-known example, the story
of Lucifer, pride was what caused his fall from Heaven, and his resultant
transformation into Satan. Vanity and narcissism are prime examples of this sin. In
Dante's Divine Comedy, the penitent were forced to walk with stone slabs bearing
down on their backs in order to induce feelings of humility.
Biblical references
"Proverbs" 6:1619
In "Proverbs" 6:1619, it is stated that "(16) These six things doth the Lord hate:
yea, seven are an abomination unto him:" (quotes from King James Version (KJV)
translation of the Bible). These are:
! (17) A proud look,
! a lying tongue,
! and hands that shed innocent blood,
! (18) A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
! feet that be swift in running to mischief,
! (19) A false witness that speaketh lies,
! and he that soweth discord among brethren.
While there are seven of them, these sins are considerably different in outward
appearance from the seven deadly sins list that arose later. The only sin which is
clearly on both lists is pride. "Hands that kill innocent people" could be taken to
refer to wrath. However, it is possible to imagine a case where cold blooded murder
of an innocent would be one of the "hated things" without necessarily being an
example of wrath. Practices such as abortion, genocide, and euthanasia can be
arguablyTemplate:Weasel-inlinedate=April 2008 covered under this umbrella of
"hands that shed innocent blood".
The remaining ve of the "deadly sins" do not have even this loose correspondence
to the "hated things", even if it is easy to imagine how they might lead someone to
acting in one of the ways described in "Proverbs". As previously stated, there is no
where in the Bible where the traditional "seven deadly sins" are located or listed,
although they are all condemned in various parts, along with several others. These
"deadly sins" are not necessarily worse than any others that are listed. The Bible
makes it clear throughout its New Testament that it only takes one sin, which is an
act of disobeying God's law, to separate man from a perfect God, placing him in
need of redemption and salvation.
Other biblical references
The list in Proverbs is not the only list of sins in the Bible. It does list them as
"seven", but it is far from being an exhaustive listing of sins. Another list of sins is
given in the (New Testament) book of "Galatians" 5:19-21. That list reads: (19) Now
the works of the esh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness, (20) Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations,
wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, (21) Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings,
and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that
they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.(KJV)
Wrath is mentioned specically, but linked with hate, includes the notions of hostility
both acted upon and purely internalized.
Envy/Jealousy is part of the list in "Galatians".
Greed is part of "selsh ambitions" from "Galatians", but is also mirrored in
"Proverbs"' "wicked plans."
Gluttony is evident in "drunkenness and revellings", but also implied as the contrary
of the virtue in "Galatians" 5:23: "temperance" (self-control).
Sloth is not listed in "Galatians", but it can be found in verses such as "Proverbs"
6:6-10, "How long will you sleep, O sluggard?" Laziness is addressed in many other
verses, though not necessarily labeled obviously as sin. In "I Corinthians" 3:8, a
man is to receive "according to his labors". Similarly in "Timothy" 5:18, a laborer is
worthy of his wages, with the implied converse being that the sluggard is not
entitled to be fed or rewarded. He sins in living off others' labors.
Pride is mentioned in Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty
spirit before a fall." (KJV)
Associations with demons
In 1589, Peter Binsfeld paired each of the deadly sins with a demon, who tempted
people by means of the associated sin. According to Binsfeld's classication of
demons, the pairings are as follows:[4]
! Asmodeus: Lust
! Beelzebub: Gluttony
! Mammon: Greed
! Belphegor: Sloth
! Satan: Wrath
! Leviathan: Envy
! Lucifer: Pride
There are also other demons who invoke sin, for instance Lilith and her offspring,
the incubi and succubi, invoke lust. The succubi sleep with men in order to
impregnate themselves, so that they can spawn demons. The incubi sleep with
women to lead them astray and to impregnate them with demon spawn.
Modern sins
On March 9, 2008 the Vatican newspaper published an interview with Bishop
Gianfranco Girotti (head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican body which
oversees confessions and plenary indulgences), in which he listed seven modern
social sins.[5][6] These "social sins" include environmental pollution, genetic
manipulation, obscene wealth, iniction of poverty, drug trafcking, morally
debatable experiments, and violation of the fundamental rights of human nature.
It is unclear to what extent these are intended to be new categories of deadly sin,
and to what extent they are merely examples of sins. The American Catholic weekly
America in its March 10, 2008 editorial blog has criticized the mass media's
interpretation of the interview:
The Vatican's intent seemed to be less about adding to the traditional "deadly" sins (lust,
anger, sloth, pride, avarice, gluttony, envy) than reminding the world that sin has a social
dimension, and that participation in institutions that themselves sin is an important point
upon which believers needed to reect.[7]