Seven deadly sins | Definition, History, Names, & Examples (2024)

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Also known as: seven capital sins, seven cardinal sins

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Table of the Seven Deadly Sins

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Also called:
seven capital sins or seven cardinal sins
Related Topics:
problem of evil
seven virtues
morality
seven heavenly virtues
mortal sin

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Top Questions

What are the seven deadly sins?

According to Roman Catholic theology, the seven deadly sins are the seven behaviours or feelings that inspire further sin. They are typically ordered as: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth.

Who was the first person to outline the seven deadly sins?

The Christian ascetic Evagrius Ponticus outlined eight—not seven—cardinal sins in the 4th century CE. Evagrius’s influential pupil John Cassian expounded on his list in the 5th century. Borrowing from this tradition, Pope Gregory I analyzed the cardinal sins in his authoritative 6th-century text Moralia and trimmed their number to seven.

How were the seven deadly sins first identified?

The seven deadly sins were first enumerated—then eight in total—by the Christian ascetic Evagrius Ponticus in the 4th century CE. His work articulated a monastic consensus rooted in Hellenistic cosmology, which identified seven or eight planets that were guarded by corresponding aerial spirits. By Evagrius’s time these unorthodox influences had largely been eliminated.

Why are the seven deadly sins considered deadly?

The earliest Christians did not understand the seven cardinal sins to be deadly. The first Church Fathers and their rabbinical counterparts thought that certain sins, unrelated to the cardinal sins and drawn from the Ten Commandments, condemned the soul to eternal damnation. The deadly and the cardinal became conflated during the early Middle Ages through the sacrament of penance.

What famous works incorporate the seven deadly sins?

St. Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica and Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy are perhaps the best-known examples of medieval Italian thought on the seven deadly sins. In medieval England, Geoffrey Chaucer ended The Canterbury Tales with a discussion of the sins. Since the Middle Ages the concept has inspired countless works of literature, art, music, and film.

seven deadly sins, in Roman Catholic theology, the seven vices that spur other sins and further immoral behaviour. First enumerated by Pope Gregory I (the Great) in the 6th century and elaborated in the 13th century by St. Thomas Aquinas, they are (1) vainglory, or pride, (2) greed, or covetousness, (3) lust, or inordinate or illicit sexual desire, (4) envy, (5) gluttony, which is usually understood to include drunkenness, (6) wrath, or anger, and (7) sloth. Each of these can be overcome with the seven heavenly virtues of (1) humility, (2) charity, (3) chastity, (4) gratitude, (5) temperance, (6) patience, and (7) diligence.

The seven deadly sins can be thought of as dispositions toward sin and separation from God. Lust, for example, could result in adultery, which is a mortal sin, or could lead to somewhat less intentional immoral thoughts that would be classified as venial sins. The deadly sins were a popular theme in the morality plays, literature, and art of the Middle Ages in Europe.

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello.

Seven deadly sins | Definition, History, Names, & Examples (2024)

FAQs

Seven deadly sins | Definition, History, Names, & Examples? ›

The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. According to the standard list, they are pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth, which are contrary to the seven heavenly virtues.

What are the 7 capital sins and its simple meaning? ›

They are called “capital” because they engender other sins, other vices. They are pride, avarice [greed], envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth” (No. 1866). 1. Pride: an excessive love of self or the desire to be better or more important than others.

What are the seven deadly sins definition? ›

Originating in Christian theology, the seven deadly sins are pride, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, and wrath. Pride is sometimes referred to as vanity or vainglory, greed as avarice or covetousness, and wrath as anger. Gluttony covers self-indulgent excess more generally, including drunkenness.

What are the actual names of the seven deadly sins? ›

According to Roman Catholic theology, the seven deadly sins are the seven behaviours or feelings that inspire further sin. They are typically ordered as: pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth.

What is the history of the seven deadly sins? ›

Their roots run back to 375 AD, when Christian monk Evagrius Ponticus had written a letter describing the “Eight Tempting Thoughts/Demons”: Gluttony, Sexual Immorality (or Lust), Avarice (Love of Money, or Greed), Sadness (or Gloominess), Anger (or Wrath), Acedia (or Sloth), Vainglory, and Pride.

What are the seven sins names and meanings? ›

An allegorical image depicting the human heart subject to the seven deadly sins, each represented by an animal (clockwise: toad = avarice; snake = envy; lion = wrath; snail = sloth; pig = gluttony; goat = lust; peaco*ck = pride).

What are the 7 sins in the Bible meaning? ›

Originating in Christian theology, the seven deadly sins are pride, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, and wrath. Pride is sometimes referred to as vanity or vainglory, greed as avarice or covetousness, and wrath as anger.

What is the 8th deadly sin? ›

They are sloth, pride, envy, gluttony, greed, lust, and anger. And when they were first conceived, around the same time. that the New Testament was being codified, there were 8 of them. They were 8 thoughts, and the 8th was sadness.

What are the seven deadly sins in order? ›

What is it about pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust that make these sins particularly deadly? Is it the attitudes themselves, or the actions they produce, that prove most fatal?

What are the 7 virtues and 7 sins? ›

Christian doctrine incorporates into the Judeo-Christian tradition the deadly sins that we all know (and their demons), as well as the virtues that are supposed to defeat or at least neutralize: 1) pride / humility, 2) greed / generosity, 3) lust / chastity, 4) anger / patience, 5) gluttony / temperance, 6) envy / ...

Are there 7 or 10 deadly sins? ›

The seven deadly sins - Gluttony, Lust, Greed, Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth. The most misunderstood (and somewhat downplayed) among these are the first two, gluttony and lust. Paradoxically the absolute worst and the least worst ones.

What is the least evil sin? ›

Ranked in order of least evil to most evil like in Dante's Divine Comedy, the seven deadly sins are:
  • Lust — Lust is one of the seven deadly sins. ...
  • Gluttony — Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins. ...
  • Greed — Greed is one of the seven deadly sins. ...
  • Sloth — Sloth is one of the seven deadly sins.

Why is sloth a sin? ›

Sloth not only subverts the livelihood of the body, taking no care for its day-to-day provisions but also slows down the mind, halting its attention to matters of great importance. Sloth hinders man in his righteous undertakings and becomes a path to ruin.

What is the 9th deadly sin? ›

The sins include all the deadly sins in: pride, envy, wrath, gluttony, lust, sloth, and greed, with an addition of sloth and deceit. The enneagram nine's deadly sin is sloth.

What was the first deadly sin in seven? ›

Pride, sometimes called vanity or hubris, is considered the fundamental sin and the mother of all vices. The first sin ever committed was an act of pride when Satan refused to recognize God as his Lord.

Why is gluttony a sin? ›

Although eating and drinking for pleasure is not seen as sinful, eating or drinking to excess beyond reason is a sin. Drunkenness, which is caused by excessive consumption of intoxicating beverages, is considered a type of gluttony. As a deadly sin, gluttony is believed to spur other sins and further immoral behavior.

What is the Catholic definition of capital sins? ›

The capital sins—sometimes called the seven deadly sins—are pride, avarice, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth. They're referred to as capital sins not because they're necessarily worse than other sins but because they are the bases of other sins.

What does each sin mean? ›

Lust: Excessive desire for sexual gratification. Gluttony: Overindulgence or overconsumption of food or drink. Greed: Excessive desire for material wealth or possessions. Sloth: Laziness, avoidance of work or duty. Wrath: Intense and uncontrolled anger or hatred.

What are the 7 cardinal sins and 7 holy virtues? ›

Christian doctrine incorporates into the Judeo-Christian tradition the deadly sins that we all know (and their demons), as well as the virtues that are supposed to defeat or at least neutralize: 1) pride / humility, 2) greed / generosity, 3) lust / chastity, 4) anger / patience, 5) gluttony / temperance, 6) envy / ...

Are the 7 capital sins in the Bible? ›

What's referred to as the “seven deadly sins” are: lust, gluttony, greed, laziness, wrath, envy, and pride. Although all of these things are sinful, no where in the Bible are they called deadly sins, and no where in the scriptures are they compiled into one list.

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