Society’s widespread opinion is that there are seven deadly sins that lead to severe punishments. However, the list of offenses is much longer in real life, and the exact number “7” indicates a conditional classification that unites sins into main categories. St. Gregory the Great proposed such a classification at the end of the 6th century.
In Christianity, there was another classification that included eight main sinful passions. Passion was called a habit of the soul, formed through constant repetition of wrong actions and turned into a natural quality. A person cannot get rid of a habit even when it promises nothing but trouble. The very concept of “passion” in Church Slavonic means suffering.
The separation of the human soul from God is its death. When this happens, the blessed connection with the Creator is interrupted, the soul changes for the worse, and it cannot experience joy in earthly and posthumous existence. Let’s try to understand sins and why it is worth fighting for an immortal soul and conquering passions.
The Seven Deadly Sins
Sins are opposed to virtues. They are the basis of many moral problems and conflicts. The relevance of the usual classification in modern society is beyond doubt, awareness and control of sins is an important step towards the spiritual and ethical development of the individual. The list of sins is as follows:
1. Pride. A person revels in his own virtues, not only real, but also imaginary. He gradually distances himself from friends and relatives, and then leaves God. For such people, the main source of their own happiness is themselves. Pride cannot bring true joy, it dries up the soul and cuts it off from love, friendship, sincere communication.
2. Gluttony makes a person a slave to his own stomach. This is not only gluttony, but also excessive pickiness in food. An ordinary glutton and a refined gourmet are considered slaves to eating behavior. Food becomes the meaning of life.
3. Envy is an ambiguous feeling that makes you feel sad because of the well-being of a loved one. Envious people wish ruin to the rich, all sorts of misfortunes to the happy, dishonor to the famous. Envy often underlies terrible crimes and petty nastiness that bring pleasure to envious people.
4. Adultery. Promiscuous sexual life, various perversions and adultery are in first place. The source of physical passion is the mind and imagination. Fornication is considered to be indecent desires, pornography and erotic materials that can excite fantasies on sexual themes.
5. Anger can be considered a natural ability of the human soul, which is intended to deny sin. Useful anger, provided by God, can turn into anger at others for the most trivial reason. Its manifestations are insults, scandals, fights, crimes.
6. Greed. Such spiritual shortcomings are subject not only to the rich who have material goods and want to increase them. A person of average means, a person with little income and even a poor person are also subject to passion, which consists in a pathological desire to possess wealth.
7. Despondency is a complete relaxation of mental and physical strength, which is usually accompanied by extreme pessimism. It is a consequence of the discord between the abilities of the soul, will and zeal. Usually, the will determines the goal of aspirations, and zeal allows you to overcome difficulties. In a state of despondency, a person fails to achieve goals.
The topic of mortal sins is very important and relevant at all times. People express different opinions. Some consider sins to be archaic concepts that do not have much significance in modern reality, while others are convinced of the opposite. Many citizens are confident that human nature is inseparable from shortcomings, while others are convinced that the awareness of sinfulness helps to change for the better and fight temptations for the sake of saving the soul.
Interesting facts
The earliest mentions of the 7 deadly sins are in Christian teachings from the 4th-5th centuries. Italian theologian and bishop Aurelius Augustine first mentions the seven deadly sins in his treatise On Marriage and Lust (419-420 AD). Initially, the list contained six items, but in the 6th century, Pope Gregory the Great added a seventh sin – despondency. The concept began to be actively used as the basis for moral codes and sermons for Catholic countries in the Middle Ages. Later, it became an obligatory part of the Christian tradition and remains so to this day.