The History of the Seven Deadly Sins
The Seven Deadly Sins---pride, envy, avarice, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth---did not come directly from the Bible, contrary to popular belief. Although the list was firmly established and officiated in the 6th Century by Pope Gregory the Great, a number of sources have contributed to the origin and popularization of the list of deadly sins.
Other People Are Reading
-
Bible origins
-
The Old and New Testaments of the Bible did provide a blueprint for theologians to list unseemly attitudes that closely reflect the Seven Deadly Sins. The Book of Proverbs specifies "six thing the Lard hateth, and the seventh His soul detesteth" that are similar to the eventual modern list.
Evagrius' contribution
-
The book "Sacred Origins of Profound Things" by author Charles Panati credits a different source with a preliminary list of human crimes, itemized in order of increased offensiveness and growing selfishness. In the 4th Century, Evagrius of Pontus, a Greek spiritual theologian warned of "evil thoughts," naming gluttony, lust, avarice, sadness, anger, acedia (which can be interpreted as a spiritual ambivalence), vainglory and pride.
-
Cassian's contribution
-
Fifth-century monk John Cassian listed pride, gluttony, covetousness (comparable to envy) anger (wrath) and ennui, or sloth, as well as impurity (related to lust) and vanity (rooted in pride) as actions and beliefs that interfere with human relationships with God and each other.
Pope Gregory and Aquinas
-
Pope Gregory would then add extravagance and envy to the list, declare that vainglory could be interchangeable with pride and acedia with sadness and thus finalize the list of seven. This is the same list used in Dante Alighieri's "The Divine Comedy." Pope Gregory declared pride to be the worst of all the sins because it instigated all others; this was echoed by influential St. Thomas Aquinas when he explained that this pride was a challenge to God's supreme authority and wisdom. Aquinas disagreed with Gregory's stance that the sins should be ranked, as the Pope believed, considering how they had a negative impact on the notion of love.
Modernizing
-
Over time, semantic changes led luxuria to become lust and acedia to be sloth, with the modern Roman Catholic Church listing the sins as "pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth/acedia." The corresponding Seven Holy Virtues are humility, charity, kindness, patience, chastity, temperance and diligence.
Representations in Pop Culture
-
The Seven Deadly Sins have influenced a host of artistic works, and they in turn influence popular conceptions about the sins. Included are literary works such as "Canterbury Tales" (by Geoffrey Chaucer) and "The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus" (by Christopher Marlowe). Visual artists have interpreted the sins and punishment awaiting the sinners, including 15th-century French illustrations. Hollywood turned the sins into the instigating force in the thriller "Seven."
-
