The Seven Deadly Sins: An Interpretation And Historical Analysis

Ever since early Christian times, the Seven Deadly Sins have served to define the most heinous spiritual crimes a Christian could commit

. They have been used to educate Christian people and to make the point that human beings are prone to sin according to the Bible. Even though the list has changed over time, the final version of the list that everyone is familiar with includes wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony.

The modern concept of the Seven Deadly Sins can be linked all the way back to the fourth century and is based loosely on seven things that "the Lord hateth" according to the Book of Proverbs. According to the Bible, pride, lying, murder of the innocent, a wicked heart, getting into mischief, being deceitful and encouraging discord are all things that God finds contemptuous. Because pride is the only sin both lists have in common, it is most likely that the Seven Deadly Sins were based on this number but the specific sins evolved with time.

Beginning around the early fourteenth century, European artists of the era incorporated the seven deadly sins as a popular theme in their works. This shift in art sparked Catholic culture to pay more attention to the Seven deadly sins, creating a mnemonic "SALIGIA" which was based on the first letters in Latin of the Seven Deadly Sins. Again, the concepts and definitions of the Seven Deadly sins have evolved as time has passed, once including sorrow and despair, extravagance, and vanity. Dante Alighieri's famous poem "The Divine Comedy" was hugely responsible for popularizing and spreading the idea of the modern list we know today.

Specifically, lust is defined as the act of excessively focusing on sexual thoughts and desires. Christian priests believed that this love of others would render love and devotion to God secondary. Gluttony can be described as grossly indulging of anything to the point that it's wasteful. For Christians, gluttony is risky because it is associated with greed, or withholding from the needy. Greed is a sin of excess however; specifically it applies to excessive pursuit of status, money and power. For Christians, greed means placing worldly objects and desires above following God's word and might involve other sinful activities like betrayal, bribery, hoarding, violence, or theft. Sloth is regarded as a sin of laziness and indifference and therefore is seen as less serious than the other sins, because it involves omission rather than going out of one's way to commit evil acts.

Wrath is defined as a very dangerous sin because of its associations with hatred and anger. These feelings may provoke violence, revenge, and grudges that can last for centuries. Envy is similar to greed because it could be characterized by an insatiable desire. However, greed is associated with material possessions, where envy usually applies to more general things. Additionally, when a person feels envy, they resent the other person that they are jealous of and wish harm to them as a result. Finally there is the sin of pride, which, throughout history has been considered the most heinous sin and the source from which all other sins arise. It is specifically defined as putting yourself above God, ignoring the good work of others, and wanting to be more important and attractive than others. Most importantly, in the legendary story of Lucifer, it was his pride that caused him to fall from Heaven and to subsequently transform into Satan.

by: Mallory Nocks

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