This site focuses on what the seven deadly sins are and how they are punished. The essay covers the history of where the seven sins came from, goes into depth about what they are and also explains the punishment that comes with the sin.
Cardinal Sins for the Sinner
Many people have heard of the cardinal sins or the seven deadly sins but many do not know where they came from or what they are used for. This essay will describe what each of these sins entails as well as their punishments, and the history of how they came to be followed. This essay will discuss what the seven deadly sins are, how they are punished, were they come from and the way they contrast the seven heavenly virtues. The seven deadly sins are the basic guidelines for today’s Christians to know the major sins that will cause them to fall out of the will of God.
Prothero states, “sin refers more generally to the human propensity toward wrongdoing and evil.” (Prothero, 71). In Roman Catholicism the seven deadly sins are considered to be the worst vices that a person can commit, these are all guaranteed to cut a person off from Gods grace. The reason that these sins are considered to be deathly is because of the fact that if an individual commits them they have fallen out of the grace of God by choice and they are now in chance of damnation if they do not correct their mistakes. If repentance did not occur it was believed that the sinner would be alive in the afterlife and have to endure painful punishment for going against God for the rest of their afterlife. (Frank). The seven deadly sins include, pride, envy, greed, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth.
The first sin is pride is defined as a pleasure or satisfaction of yourself and something you have done. Being prideful is an excess love of yourself while failing to give credit where credit is due. The punishment for being prideful is being broken on a turning wheel. (Kastenbaum, Robert.) In relation to being prideful, the opposite virtue is humility. For a sinner to make themselves well with God again they must begin to be humble and less prideful. (Frank, Lisa).
Second is envy. Envy is defined as a covetousness regarding someone else’s possessions, success or advantages. The act of being envious can simply be defined as jealousy. Envy can be seen as the “root of theft and self-loathing” (Frank, Lisa). If an individual is envious their punishment was being encased in freezing water. (Kastenbaum, Robert.)
The third sin is greed. Greed is defined as an excessive desire for wealth and worldly possessions. Greedy individuals have a strong desire to gain for personal use. This sin can be seen as a sin that can lead to more sins, for example stealing to gain something an individual thinks they need. The greedy were punished by being boiled in oil. (Kastenbaum, Robert.)
The next sin is wrath. Wrath is defined as a need for vengeance as a consequence of anger and or hatred. For an individual to seek revenge they are seeking for evil or harm to be done against another, which can be seen as the root of murder as well as assault.(Frank, Lisa) people who commit this sin are said to have been torn apart, limb by limb. (Kastenbaum, Robert.)
The fifth sin is lust. Lust is defined as an intense sexual desire. This type of sexual desire can be seen as sex outside of marriage or unnatural sexual appetites as defined in the bible. Other acts of lust include rape and sodomy. (Frank, Lisa) Lust was punished by roasting the individual by fire and brimstone. (Kastenbaum, Robert.)
The sixth sin is gluttony. Gluttony is defined as a thoughtless waste of anything or an overindulgence or even uncleanliness. Overeating, substance abuse and even binge drinking fall under this category. (Frank, Lisa). These sinners were deemed to eat vermin for eternity, or to overindulge in vermin. (Kastenbaum, Robert.)
The last of the seven deadly sins is sloth. Sloth is defined as the act of being lazy and apathetic for oneself. The main issue with this sin was that for every sloth individual there was another individual that had to work twice as hard to pick up their slack. (Frank, Lisa). The punishment for this sin is being thrown into a pit of snakes and forced to stay in one place. (Kastenbaum, Robert.)
The punishment of these sins are meant to make the sinner feel worse about their sin, for example a glutton would still get to eat all the time just disgusting food, and a sloth would be able to be a homebody, but they would have to be in a pit of snakes for the rest of their lives. For the seven deadly sins, their punishment is meant to be related to the crime so that the individual that turned away from God willingly will constantly be reminded of the fact that thy chose the life that they now live. Because their punishment is somewhat related to the sin it is a constant reminder to the sinner that they always had a choice to sin and they did so for their own pleasure. These sinners were people that voluntarily did something, now they will have to live a life in which they will always suffer doing the thing that brought them the most pleasure even though it was a sin.
The reason that these seven are clearly defined as the seven worst is that they can lead to other sins that fall in the Ten Commandments. There is no distinct place in which the seven deadly sins are spelt out for the modern day Christian because they are given the list of commandments to follow. The seven deadly sins were founded by Pope Gregory the Great in the sixth century. Theologians attempted to create a list that the holy individuals would follow in order for them to live a life of virtue and to completely avoid the worst sins. For Pope Gregory, pride was the absolute worst sin that could be committed because he considered it to be the breeder of all sins, this is because pride can be seen as a direct rebellion of the authority of God. In Christianity, one of the main ideas that should be followed is that you are just a piece of something so much bigger than the individual and you must thank God for the things that have been brought into your life because without Him, nothing would be possible.
In contrast with the seven deadly sins, there are also the seven heavenly virtues. These virtues include: faith, hope, charity, fortitude, justice, temperance, and prudence. These seven are the seven that followers are meant to use as guides to ensure that they are doing what God actually wants them to do because they are considered to be the opposite of the seven deadly sins. In Christianity it is believed that the sinner has the ability to be saved if they repent, but the seven deadly sins are sins that are constantly occurring and they come from the decisions that an individual makes completely on their own. Because these sinner turn away from God completely while committing these sins, it is difficult to repent from so the individual must repent, as well as prove themselves as worthy. By following the seven deadly sins, as what not to do an individual can consider themselves to be on the right track to heaven.
Work Cited
Frank, Lisa. “The Evolution Of The Seven Deadly Sins: From God To The Simpsons.” Journal Of Popular Culture 35.1 (2001): 95-105. Academic Search Complete. Web. 2 May 2016.
Kastenbaum, Robert. “Seven Deadly Sins.” Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 21 Apr. 2016
This movie trailer for the movie “Se7en” follows two detectives as they chase a murderer that feels he is doing God’s work by killing individuals that commit the seven cardinal sins. This trailer summarizes how the sins relate and what they are. I highly recommend the whole movie, if you’re interested.
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