Seven deadly sins

The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, suggest a classification of vices and were enumerated in their present form by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century. The Catechism of the Catholic Church briefly mentions them as "capital sins which Christian experience has distinguished, following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great."[1] (http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s1c1a8.htm#1866)

The capital sins are not to be confused with mortal sins.

Ranked in order of severity (worst sins listed first) as per Dante's Divine Comedy (in the Purgatorio), the seven deadly sins are:

• pride (vanity) — a desire to be important or attractive to others or excessive love of self (holding self out of proper position toward God or fellows; Dante's definition was "love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbor")

• envy (jealousy); resentment of others for their possessions (Dante: "Love of one's own good perverted to a desire to deprive other men of theirs")

• wrath (anger) — inappropriate (unrighteous) feelings of hatred, revenge or even denial, as well as punitive desires outside of justice (Dante's description was "love of justice perverted to revenge and spite")

• sloth (also accidie, acedia) — laziness; idleness and wastefulness of time allotted

laziness is condemned because:

• others have to work harder
• it is disadvantageous for oneself, because useful work does not get done
• an equilibrium: one does not produce much, but one does not need much either (in Dante's theology, sloth is the "failure to love God with all one's heart, all one's mind, and all one's soul" - specific examples including laziness, cowardice, lack of imagination, complacency, and irresponsibility)

• avarice (covetousness, greed) — a desire to possess more than one has need or use for (or, according to Dante, "excessive love of money and power")

• gluttony — wasting of food, either through overindulgence in food, drink or intoxicants, misplaced desire for food for its sensuality, or withholding food from the needy ("excessive love of pleasure" was Dante's rendering)

• lust — unlawful sexual desire, such as desiring sex with a person one is not married to.; fornication (Dante's criterion was "excessive love of others," thereby detracting from the love due God). It should be noted that in some lists of the Seven Deadly Sins, lust is replaced with luxuria or luxury.

Several of these sins interlink, and various attempts at causal hierarchy have been made. For example, pride (love of self out of proportion) is implied in gluttony (the over-consumption or waste of food), as well as sloth, envy, and most of the others. Each sin is an attenuation of the central Christian sin of failing to love God with all resources and to love fellows as much as self. The Scholastic theologians developed schema of attribute and substance of will to explain these sins.

The 4th century Egyptian monk Evagrius Ponticus defined eight deadly "passions", which were later reduced to seven by merging pride and vainglory. Prior to the current heptad being defined by Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century, accidie, often translated as sadness or listlessness, was used instead of sloth. A cogent modern term would be "apathy," but the term also included "wanhope" or paralysis of despair. In Eastern Orthodoxy, these impulses are still characterized as "deadly passions" rather than sins in and of themselves. Instead, to invite and entertain or to refuse to attempt resistance against these passions is considered sinful in Orthodox Christian moral theology.

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 only one paragraph. The principal codification of moral transgression for Christians continues to be the Ten Commandments.

Contrast with the Four Cardinal Virtues and Three Theological Virtues.

The seven deadly sins in popular culture

The movie Se7en is about a serial killer obsessed with the seven deadly sins.

The seven deadly sins were also occasionally referenced in the Shazam/Captain Marvel comic-book franchise by seven statues displayed in the hero's secret headquarters (although Lust is replaced by Injustice); later comics revealed the embodiments of the sins were trapped in the statues. There is also a board game named after the seven deadly sins, see Seven Deadly Sins board game. In 2003, Unilever marketed Magnum 7 Deadly Sins (http://www.unilever.co.uk/ourbrands/brand_magnum.html), a series of seven differently flavoured ice creams. Also, in 2004, Mez-Itz marketed a range of Living Dead Dolls after the seven deadly sins. Villains in the animated series Fullmetal Alchemist are named after the seven deadly sins. Prominence is given to vanity in the movie 'The Devil's Advocate' which also deals with avarice and lust to a lesser extent.

External links

• Table contrasting sins with virtues (http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/)
• Seven deadly sins FAQ (http://www.whitestonejournal.com/seven/faq1.html): answers such questions as why the sins are "deadly"
• Another FAQ (http://www.le.ac.uk/arthistory/seedcorn/faq-sds.html)

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