Nature's Wrath
The seven deadly sins are seven ways to eternal death.
In the teachings of Christianity, the seven deadly sins (also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins) function as a grouping of major vices. They are not explicitly listed in the Bible but developed within early Christian theological tradition, drawing on various biblical passages. In the standard list according to the Catholic Church, the seven deadly sins are pride, envy, wrath, gluttony, lust, sloth, and greed. The classification of deadly sins into a group of seven originated with Tertullian and continued with Evagrius Ponticus, partly based on Greco-Roman and Biblical antecedents. Later, Pope Gregory I revised the list in AD 590 into the form that has become common, combining tristitia with acedia and vanagloria with superbia, and adding envy.
Quick Facts
- Canon status
- Observed Pattern
Lore & Background
The fourth-century monk Evagrius Ponticus reduced the logismoi (or forms of temptation) from nine to eight in number, including gluttony, prostitution/fornication, greed, sadness (rendered in the Philokalia as envy), wrath, acedia (apathy, neglect, or indifference), boasting, and pride. Evagrius's list was translated into Latin in many writings of John Cassian, one of Evagrius's students, becoming part of the Western tradition's spiritual pietas or Catholic devotions as Gula (gluttony), Luxuria/Fornicatio (lust, fornication), Avaritia (greed), Tristitia (sorrow, despair, despondency), Ira (wrath), Acedia (sloth), Vanagloria (vanity, vainglory), and Superbia (pride). Pope Gregory I revised this list in AD 590, combining tristitia with acedia and vanagloria with superbia, and adding envy (invidia in Latin). Thomas Aquinas uses and defends Gregory's list in his Summa Theologica, calling them the 'capital sins' because they are the head and form of all other sins. Christian denominations such as the Anglican Communion, Lutheran Church, and Methodist Church still retain this list.
Reader's Guide
The seven deadly sins are not explicitly listed in the Bible but developed within early Christian theological tradition. The classification into a group of seven originated with Tertullian and continued with Evagrius Ponticus. Evagrius's list of eight logismoi included gluttony, prostitution/fornication, greed, sadness (envy), wrath, acedia, boasting, and pride. John Cassian translated this list into Latin, and Pope Gregory I revised it in AD 590 into the common form: pride, envy, wrath, gluttony, lust, sloth, and greed. Thomas Aquinas defends Gregory's list in his Summa Theologica, calling them capital sins. Henry Edward Manning states they are seven ways to eternal death. In order of increasing severity according to Pope Gregory I, the sins are lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. Lust is intense sexual desire; gluttony is overindulgence; greed is inordinate desire for material wealth; sloth is sorrow about spiritual good; wrath is uncontrolled anger; envy is sadness at another's good fortune; and pride is self-overestimation or arrogance.
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