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The seven deadly sins
Where the list comes from
Not a list from the Bible · eight thoughts of Evagrius · seven of Gregory the Great
The Bible has no list of seven deadly sins. It has other lists: Proverbs names “six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him” (Proverbs 6:16), from haughty eyes to one who stirs up discord; Paul lists “the acts of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19–21); Jesus names what comes “from within the hearts of men” (Mark 7:21–22). The seven grew out of the experience of Christian monks. In the Egyptian desert in the late 300s, Evagrius Ponticus described eight evil thoughts (logismoi): gluttony, fornication, love of money, sadness, anger, acedia, vainglory and pride. John Cassian brought them to the West in Latin about 420.
About 590 Pope Gregory the Great set pride apart as the root of all vices and counted seven beneath it, adding envy; later Western writers put acedia, or sloth, back in place of sadness and pride in place of vainglory. Catholic teaching calls the seven “capital sins”, the heads from which other sins spring. Orthodox tradition keeps the eight passions as Cassian set them out, and John Climacus’s Ladder (7th century) describes them step by step. Protestant churches have no doctrine of such a list, though it lives on in their literature.
Key verses
There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil, a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness.But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.Sources
Adapted and shortened from the Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0
Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary © 2023 Tyndale House Publishers · CC BY-SA 4.0 — Sin; Fruit of the Spirit*; Evagrius Ponticus, Praktikos 6–14 (late 4th century); John Cassian, Institutes, books 5–12 (c. 420); Gregory the Great, Moralia in Job 31.45 (c. 578–595); John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent (7th century); Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1866 (1992)
Adapted from Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary: articles chosen, shortened and retold in our own words (history, nature and daily life only) and, in languages other than English, machine-translated. The original work by Tyndale House Publishers is available for free at tyndaleopenresources.com.
