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Cardinal sin redirects here. For the former Archbishop of Manila, see Jaime Cardinal Sin; for the painting by Hieronymus Bosch see The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things; for the video game, see 7 Sins.

The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, are a classification of vices used in early Christian teachings to educate and protect followers from basic human instincts. The church divided sin into two types: venial (forgiven through the sacrament of Confession) and capital (meriting damnation). Beginning in the early 14th-century, the popularity of the 7 deadly sins with artists of the time engrained them in human culture around the world. The generally accepted deadly sins are superbia (hubris/pride), avaritia (avarice/greed), luxuria (extravagance, later lust), invidia (envy), gula (gluttony), ira (wrath), and acedia (sloth). Each deadly sin is opposed by one of the corresponding Seven Holy Virtues.

History

Desert Fathers
Evagrius of Pontus (349-399 A.D.), a monastic theologian in Egypt, is believed to be the first writer to record and systematize certain teachings of the predominately illiterate Desert Fathers. A prominent feature of his research was a list of eight evil passions. While he did not create the list from scratch, he is credited with refining and developing it. His list of passions are gluttony, lust, avarice, sadness, anger, acedia, vainglory and pride. Evagrius intended for this list to be used for diagnostic purposes. One cannot resist temptation without being aware of how it operates.

St. John Cassian (360-435), built upon the foundation laid by Evagrius and introduced the list of eight patterns to Latin audiences. In his Conferences (a 24 volume work consisting of interviews with leading monastic figures of his day), the Conference of Abbot Serapion (Book V) expounds upon the eight passions. Later, his twelve-volume series, The Institutes of the Coenobia and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults, established guidelines for monastic communities and addressed the passions much more extensively (particularly books V through XII). Cassian's writings continue to influence modern monasticism.

Gregory the Great
In the later part of the 6th-century A.D., St. Gregory the Great (d. 604) in his work Moralia in Job, introduced the seven deadly sins. The goal of the seven deadly sins was to illustrate for laypersons of the church the need to be mindful of capital sin, or sin which requires penance in Hell. Capital sin is graver than venial sin, which can be forgiven through confession.

Further Developments
Pope Gregory's list was different from the one used today and the ranking of the Sins' seriousness was based on the degree to which they offended against love. From least serious to most, they were: lust, gluttony, sadness, avarice, anger, envy, and pride. Sadness would later be replaced by acedia (sloth), putting off or failing to do what God asks of you.

Throughout the Middle Ages and the Tridentine era, many important theological and confessional works were structured around the seven deadly sins. Together with the Ten Commandments, it was one of the most popular models for discussions of ethics and examinations of conscience.

In the official Catechism of the Catholic Church, consisting of 2,865 numbered sections and first published in 1992 by order of Pope John Paul II, the seven deadly sins are dealt with in one paragraph. The principal codification of moral transgression for Christians continues to be the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes, which are a positive statement of morality and part of the Sermon on the Mount. While no list of these seven deadly sins appears as such in the Bible itself, each of them is condemned at various points in the text. A list of seven sins that God hates is found in Proverbs 6:16-19:

There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. (New International Version)

Later iconography of the Sins was derived from the descriptions of battles between the Virtues and Vices in the Psychomachia, a poem by 4th-century poet Prudentius.

Dante Alighieri
The Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), a significant figure in Christian religion in the 13th century A.D., wrote three epic poems (known collectively as the Divine Comedy) titled Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. In Inferno, Danté recounts the visions he has in a dream in which he enters and descends into Hell. According to Danté, he is told by his guide that a soul's location in Hell is based upon the sins that they commit when they are alive. A specific punishment is doled out in each 'ring' of hell. As they descend lower and lower, the sins (and consequently, the punishments) become worse and worse until he reaches the bottom and discovers Satan.

Inferno is not structured around the seven deadly sins, but Danté encounters various sins in the following order (canto number): Lust (5), Gluttony (6), Avarice (7), Wrath (7-8), Heresy (10), Violence (12-17), Blasphemy (14), Fraud (18-30), and Treachery (32-34).

Purgatorio, on the other hand, closely follows the traditional scheme of the seven deadly sins. Since Pride is the root of all sins, the souls in Purgatory must be purged of that sin first, and as they ascend the mount, they experience progressively diminishing punishments to expiate the other six deadly sins. Once they are freed of sinful inclinations, the souls can regain the earthly paradise forfeited by Adam and Eve.

The Sins

Listed in order of increasing severity as per Pope Gregory the Great, 6th-century A.D., the seven deadly sins are as follows:

Lust (Latin, luxuria)

Lust (fornication, perversion) —
Depraved thought, unwholesome morality, desire for excitement, or need to be accepted or recognized by others. Obsessive, unlawful, or unnatural sexual desire, such as desiring sex with a person outside marriage or engaging in unnatural sexual appetites (like bestiality.) Rape, adultery and sodomy are considered to be extreme lust and are said to be mortal sins. Dante's criterion was "excessive love of others," thereby detracting from the love due to God.

Gluttony (Latin, gula)

Gluttony (waste, overindulgence) —
Thoughtless waste of everything, overindulgence, misplaced sensuality, uncleanliness, and maliciously depriving others. Marked by refusal to share and unreasonable consumption of more than is necessary, especially in the case of food or water. Destruction, especially for sport (like trophy hunting.) Substance abuse or binge drinking. Dante explains it as "excessive love of pleasure".

Greed/Avarice (Latin, avaritia)

Greed (treachery, covetousness) —
A strong desire to gain, especially in money or power. Disloyalty, deliberate betrayal, or treason, especially for personal gain or when compensated. Scavenging and hoarding of materials or objects. Theft and robbery, especially by violence, trickery, or, worst of all, manipulation of authority. Simony is the evolution of avarice because it fills you with the urge to make money by selling things within the confines of the church. This sin is abhorred by the Catholic Church and is seen as a sin of malice; Dante included this sin in the first poem of the Divine Comedy (the Inferno). Simony can be viewed as betrayal. Thomas Aquinas on greed: "it is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things." Greed is often seen as the most childish of the 3 exaggerated adulthood sins, because it often focuses on short-term gains.

Sloth (Latin, acedia)

Sloth (apathy, indifference, laziness) —
Apathy, idleness, and wastefulness of time. Laziness is particularly condemned because others must work harder to make up for it. Cowardice or irresponsibility. Abandonment, especially of God. Sloth is a little like a state of equilibrium: one does not produce much, one does not consume much. However, sloth, unlike homeostasis, leads only to despair. Dante wrote that sloth is the "failure to love God with all one's heart, all one's mind and all one's soul".

Wrath (Latin, ira)

Wrath (anger, hatred, prejudice, discrimination) —
Inappropriate * feelings of hatred and anger. Denial of the truth to others or self. Impatience with the law, or seeking revenge outside of justice. Unnecessary vigilanteism. Wishing to do evil or harm to others. Disliking others for no good reason, such as their race or religion, leading to discrimination. Self-righteousness. Wrath is the root of murder, assault, discrimination, and, ultimately, genocide. (See Crimes against humanity.) Dante described wrath as "love of justice perverted to revenge and spite". Possibly a more subtle form of pride, as one is too proud to question the justice of one's actions. The childish of the two prolonged adolescence sins, being hard to safeguard against especially in the case of people in teens and 20s. Wrath is considered childish because hatred is often born out of misunderstanding, or the inability to forgive.

Envy (Latin, invidia)

Envy (jealousy, malice) —
Grieving spite and resentment of material objects, accomplishments, or character traits of others, or wishing others to fail or come to harm. Envy is the root of theft and self-loathing. Dante defined this as "love of one's own good perverted to a desire to deprive other men of theirs." An extreme or alternate realisation of greed/avarice.

Pride (Latin, superbia)

Pride (vanity, narcissism) —
Pride is known as the father of all sins. Pride is a desire to be more important or attractive to others, failing to give credit due to others, or excessive love of self (especially holding self out of proper position toward God). Dante's definition was "love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbor". In Jacob Bidermann's medieval miracle play, Cenodoxus, superbia is the deadliest of all the sins and leads directly to the damnation of the famed Doctor of Paris, Cenodoxus. Pride was what sparked the fall of Lucifer from Heaven, and his subsequent transformation into Satan. Vanity and Narcissism are good examples of these sins and they often lead to the destruction of the sinner, for instance by wanton squandering.

Catholic Virtues

The Catholic church recognises the seven virtues as opposites to the seven sins.

Vice Virtue
Lust (undesired love) Chastity (purity)
Gluttony (overindulgence) Moderation (self-restraint)
Greed (avarice) Generosity (vigilance)
Sloth (laziness) Zeal (integrity)
Wrath (anger) Meekness (composure)
Envy (jealousy) Charity (giving)
Pride (vanity) Humility (humbleness)

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 classification of demons, the pairings are as follows:

There are also other demons who invoke sin, for instance the incubi and succubi invoke lust. The succubi sleep with men inorder for impregnation so that they can spawn demons. The incubi sleep with women to lead them astray and to impregnate them with demon spawn.

It is said that like God has angels, Satan has demons and demons like angels give options but unlike angels the demons inspire choices that lead to ruin and shame.

Cultural references

Classical sources

  • Dante Alighieri's (1265-1321 A.D.) Divine Comedy is a three part work composed of Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. Inferno divides hell into nine concentric circles, four of which directly correspond to some of the deadly sins (Circle 2-lust, 3-gluttony, 4-greed, 5-anger). The remaining circles do not neatly map into the SDS. In Purgatory, the mountain is scaled in seven levels and follows the sequence of Thomas Aquinas (starting with pride).
  • Peter of Damascus (12th century), proposed a list of 298 passions in Treasury of Divine Knowledge (I.39) *. Each of the SDS are mentioned.
  • John Climacus in the The Ladder of Divine Ascent places victory over the eight thoughts as individual steps in the ladder: anger (8), vainglory (10, 22), sadness (13), gluttony (14), lust (15), greed (16, 17), acedia (18), and pride (23).
  • William Langland's (c. 1332-1386) Vision of Piers Plowman is structured around a series of dreams that are critical of contemporary errors while encouraging godly living. The sins are mentioned in this order: proud (Passus V, lines 62-71), lechour (V.71-74), envye (V.75-132), wrathe (V.133-185), coveitise (V.186-306), glutton (V.307-385), sleuthe (V.386-453) (using the B-text). *
  • Geoffrey Chaucer's (c. 1340-1400) Canterbury Tales features the seven deadly sins in The Parson's Tale: pride (paragraphs 24-29), envy (30-31), wrath (32-54), sloth (55-63), avarice(64-70), gluttony (71-74), lust (75-84). *
  • Christopher Marlowe's (1564-1593) The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus shows Lucifer, Beelzebub, and Mephistophilis coming from hell to show Dr. Fastus "some pastime" (Act II, Scene 2). The sins present themselves in order: pride, covetousness, envy, wrath, gluttony, sloth, lust. *
  • Edmund Spenser's (1552-1599), The Faerie Queene addresses the seven deadly sins in Book I (The Legend of the Knight of the Red Cross, Holiness): vanity/pride (Canto IV, stanzas 4-17), idleness/sloth (IV.18-20), gluttony (IV.21-23), lechery/lust (IV.24-26), avarice/greed (IV.27-29), envy (IV.30-32), wrath/anger (IV.33-35). *

Music and art

TV, movies and games

  • Se7en, (1995) - A serial killer obsessed with the seven deadly sins, reconstructs each one through his crimes.
  • "The Devil's Nightmare", (1971) - Supernatural forces kill off a party of tourists through the seven deadly sins.
  • The Devil's Advocate, (1997) - In this film, Satan declares that due to its simplicity, vanity (Pride) is his favorite sin.
  • Serenity, (2005) - The main antagonist makes references to the seven deadly sins.
  • Pulp Fiction, (1994) - Subtle, underlying theme.
  • A pretext for the seven comic sketches in the motion picture The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins (1971).
  • Gilligan's Island, (1963-1967) - According to the book Inside Gilligan's Island by Sherwood Schwartz (St. Martin's Press, 1994), the creator of the show confesses that he purposely patterned the 'seven stranded castaways' after the seven deadly sins. He confesses that he didn't tell anyone until years after the show was over, because he thought that people would ridicule him for attributing such a serious theme to such a silly show. 'The Professor' - pride, 'Mr. Howell (the millionare)' greed, 'Ginger- the movie star' - extravagance -later lust, 'Mary Ann' - envy, 'Mrs. Lovey Howell ' - thoughtless excess or gluttony, 'The Skipper' - anger, and 'Gilligan' - sloth.
  • "The Hollywood Squares", (1966-1983) - In one episode, host Peter Marshall asks panelist Paul Lynde a question enumerating the seven deadly sins ("What are... ?). The response, in typical Lynde fashion: "Oh, the Bill of Rights!"
  • America's Next Top Model, (2004, Cycle 4) - In the reality show hosted by former model Tyra Banks, the remaining seven contestants portrayed the seven deadly sins in a photo shoot. Brittany was Sloth, Christina was Lust, Kahlen was Wrath, Keenyah was Gluttony, Michelle was Pride, Naima was Envy, and Tatiana was Greed.
  • Charmed, (episode 'Sin Franciso') - A demon, Lukas, infects the Charmed Ones with a sin. Prue is infected with Pride, Piper with Gluttony, Phoebe with Lust, and Leo with Sloth. A business man is infected with Greed, and a police officer with Anger, and a pastor with Envy.
  • Bedazzled, (1967) - Stanley Moon meets incarnations of the seven deadly sins.
  • Final Fantasy XI, (2003, VG-Sony) - A series of seven skeleton monsters are named after the seven deadly sins.
  • Devil May Cry 3, (2004, VG-Sony) - Demonic entities that represent the seven deadly sins early in the game are the jailkeepers of their respective sins. Each one of the demons is formed from sand, except for Envy, which is formed from a thick green liquid. Furthermore, each of the seven "devil" bosses in the game also represents one specific sin.
  • Afterlife, (1996, VG-LucasArts) - A SimCity-like game played with Heaven and Hell. Areas are zoned according to the Seven Sins (in Hell) and the Seven Virtues (in Heaven).
  • ActRaiser 2, (1993, VG-Nintendo) - Features seven demon bosses representing the seven deadly sins. They are represented by: a giant snail lodged in a cave (sloth), a decaying, worried zombie head (envy), an ant/scorpian chimera (gluttony), a muscular man on fire resembling a Japanese demon (wrath), a jewel and gold-wearing dragon (greed), a demon-faced fetus with a king trapped inside (lust) and a god-like machine (pride).
  • Fullmetal Alchemist - Anime/manga/game series has a group of creatures called Homunculi which are named after the seven deadly sins. The characters are named Lust, Gluttony, Envy, Greed, Sloth, Pride, and Wrath. Dante is also referenced.
  • One Piece - The seven Straw Hat Pirates each have a personality symbolizing a sin.
  • From the New World - This Playstation 2 RPG features an optional dungeon with enemies and boss monsters based on the Seven Deadly Sins. The final boss of the dungeon is Envy (called Jealousy in the game).
  • Digimon - This anime and manga series groups seven monsters under the title "The Seven Great Demon Lords", each of whom represent a particular deadly sin.
  • In the MMORPG Ragnarok Online, the novice class must pass a test, to become the acolyte class, by either destroying several zombie monsters named after the Seven Deadly Sins, or by ignoring them and crossing the test room to the exit.

Books and comics

  • The Seven Deadly Sins is a book series released by Oxford University Press. The series is a collaboration involving seven distinguished writers: Wendy Wasserstein, Simon Blackburn, Robert Thurman, Francine Prose, Michael Dyson, Joseph Epstein, and Phyllis Tickle.
  • Each volume of C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia illustrates the danger of one of the seven deadly sins: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe = gluttony, Prince Caspian = lust (for power), The Voyage of the Dawn Treader = greed, The Silver Chair = sloth, The Horse and His Boy = pride, The Magician's Nephew = anger, The Last Battle = envy. *
  • The Homunculi in the manga and anime Fullmetal Alchemist are named after the seven deadly sins, each one being a physical representation of its namesake.
  • The four bad children in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory represent four of the seven deadly sins: Augustus Gloop represents gluttony; Violet Beauregarde, pride; Veruca Salt, greed; and Mike Teavee, sloth. Additionally, the one "good little boy", Charlie Buckett could concievably represent envy.
  • The Bangsian webcomic Jack features the seven deadly sins as characters. Having committed the sins to such extremes, they became the embodiment of the respective sins in Hell.
  • The Seven Deadly Sins (formerly The Seven Deadly Enemies of Man) are depicted in Fawcett Comics/DC Comics stories as magic-based supervillains, enemies of Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family. In the graphic novel JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice, the Seven Deadly Sins were released from their imprisonment in the Rock of Eternity and possessed seven different JLA and JSA members. Mister Terrific was possessed by Pride, Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) by Envy, Plastic Man by Greed, Batman by Wrath/Anger, Doctor Fate by Sloth, Power Girl by Lust and Captain Marvel by Gluttony.
  • Lawrence Sanders (died Feb. 1998) author of the book The Anderson Tapes (1969), featuring Edward X. "Iron Balls" Delaney, retired chief of detectives in New York, New York, who was also featured in four other novels by Sanders: The First Deadly Sin (1973), The Second Deadly Sin (1977), The Third Deadly Sin (1981), and The Fourth Deadly Sin (1985).
  • In the book A Northern Light, Mattie thinks there is another deadly sin (the eighth): Hope
  • In the seven-book series for teens entitled Seven Deadly Sins by Robin Wasserman, each book focuses on a person and his/her relationship to one sin.
  • Each of the days in "The Keys to the Kingdom" series by Garth Nix represents one of the sins. Their counterparts, the seven virtues are represented by seven pieces of an entity known as the Will.
  • Sins: Venials is a humorous webcomic by the writer/artist Pip. It consists of a series of short story arcs around the Sins, it follows on from the original Sins, which can be downloaded here.
  • In A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell, the narrator, Nick Jenkins, is invited to a dinner at Stourwater, the country house of Sir Magnus Donners, a wealthy and powerful businessman rumored to maintain a dungeon in which he may or may not enjoy chaining up his fashionable wives and girlfriends. The dining room is hung with tapestries depicting the Seven Deadly Sins, and after dinner, Sir Magnus photographs his guests in tableaux enacting each of the deadlies. Nick enacts Sloth.

Other

  • Hell is a New Zealand-based pizza chain that has pizzas named after the seven deadly sins.
  • Magnum (ice cream) produced a limited series of ice-cream called the 7 deadly sins.
  • The Digimon anime series had a group of Mega (or Ultimate in Japan) Virus Digimon called The Seven Great Demon Lords. It consists of Lucemon Falldown Mode (Pride), the leader, Barbamon (Greed), Lilithmon (Lust), Leviamon (Envy), Beelzemon (Gluttony), Daemon (Wrath) and Belphemon (Sloth). The sins are dark versions of the Crests. The exception is Lucemon Falldown Mode because once Lucemon Mode Changes, he skips his Champion (or Adult in Japan) form. When he reaches his Ultimate (Mega) form, Lucemon Satan Mode, each of the crests show up on his wings.
  • Mest has recently released a DVD titled 7 Deadly Sins.
  • A fan site called The Seven Deadly Sims has produced a series of downloadable items that can be used in Electronic Art's The Sims. The items are categorized by the seven deadly sins based on color, function, and style.
  • The seventh series of Mezco's Living Dead Dolls based on 7 deadly sins and it was only one series that has seven dolls.
  • The villains of the children's BBC programme, Ace Lightning, can be related to the deadly sins. Lord Fear represents Pride/Wrath , Kilobyte represents Wrath/Pride, Lady Illusion represents Lust, Dirty Rat represents Greed, Pigface represents Gluttony/Greed and Rotgut represents Sloth.
  • Shoebox Zoo briefly mentions the deadly sins in the final episode, possibly meaning they might play a role in a third season, if one is to be made.
  • The band Flogging Molly has a song on the album Within a Mile of Home which is based on the seven deadly sins.

Further reading

  • Summa Theologiae, by Saint Thomas Aquinas
  • Inferno, by Dante Alighieri
  • Purgatorio, by Dante Alighieri
  • The Concept of Sin, by Josef Pieper
  • The Traveller's Guide to Hell, by Michael Pauls& Dana Facaros
  • Sacred Origins of Profound Things, by Charles Panati
  • Faerie Queene, by Sir Edmund Spenser
  • Oxford Univ. Press series on Seven Deadly Sins (seven vols.), 2006.

External links

Vice | Catholic doctrines | Core issues in ethics

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