The 7 Deadly Sins – Sin is an act of deviation from God’s law and will. In the Bible there is a lot of terminology for sin, such as sins of the heart, sins of the mind, sins of the mouth, and sins of deed. Surprisingly, humans often commit these sins in everyday life.
The church fathers also classify sins in the Bible into two types, namely venial sins and also deadly sins. “The Seven Deadly Sins” or the 7 major deadly sins is a concept used by the church since ancient times to teach congregations about sin. So, what’s included in The Seven Deadly Sins?
History of the 7 Deadly Sins
Actually, the Bible does not directly mention the 7 mortal sins, but this concept has been known for a long time. Starting from the fourth century, when Evagrius Ponticus a Christian monk wrote down the idea of the Eight Evil Thoughts consisting of pride, lust, anger, greed, sadness, sloth, gluttony and pride.
Ponticus wrote the idea only for the other monks and not for the general public. In his writings, he explains how these eight thoughts can interfere with their spiritual practice.
Furthermore, John Cassian, one of Ponticus’ students, brought these ideas and ideas to the western church, it was here that Ponticus’ thoughts were translated from Greek into Latin.
In the sixth century, Ponticus ideas were reorganized by St. Gregory the Great who later became Pope Gregory I. In the process, the idea was changed by eliminating laziness and adding jealousy.
He also described pride as the “ruler” of the other seven vices. In the 13th century, a theologian named Thomas Aquinas revised this idea in his Summa Theologica (Summary of Theology).
In his list, Aquinas again includes “laziness” and removes “sorrow”. In addition, he also describes the nature of pride separately and makes it the supreme ruler of the seven great sins of mankind.
Finally, the concept of the seven grave sins that we know today was born which consists of Pride, Greed, Anger or Wrath, Envy or Envy, Lust or Fornication, Gluttony and Sloth or Torpor.
Basically, these seven major sins are not literally deadly sins or directly make the person who commits them die. However, these seven sins can give birth to other sins which are more serious and contrary to the “Seven Virtues of Catholicism”.
The Seven Virtues of Catholicism is another Catholic teaching which consists of Humility, Chastity, Liberality, Temperance, Patience, Diligence, and Kindness.
For example, when Sinaumed’s is controlled by greed you can do anything to satisfy that desire. Like stealing and even killing to get what you want. So greed is the main reason you commit other crimes.
7 Great Human Sins
1. Pride
As described above, pride is the culmination of the seven major sins, the most important and most dangerous sins. Arrogance is a trait that makes humans have excessive belief in their own abilities, so they are not aware of the existence of a gift from the Almighty.
Humans who are controlled by pride will feel that they are the most righteous among the others. This trait can also make humans really love themselves and will do anything to maintain their self-esteem.
God has indeed bestowed faith on human beings and at a reasonable point belief is a positive thing. However, if it is too much it can make humans trapped in self-destructive arrogance.
Unfortunately, sometimes it is still difficult for us to distinguish whether we are feeling confident or trapped in arrogance. However, if you think about it again, arrogance is usually born when we position ourselves as someone who is superior to others.
To deal with pride, we can start by building awareness that everything we get is a gift from God, giving more thanks for God’s grace, avoiding talking about our own goodness, and praising God a lot.
2. Greed
Covetousness means greed or a great desire to have wealth. A greedy person will keep wealth for himself without anyone else needing help.
Even greedy people are willing to sell anything to get wealth, when in fact wealth itself is only temporary. In addition to wealth, greed can also make humans ambitious to fulfill their personal interests in any way, including committing betrayal.
For a greedy person, stealing, robbing, and cheating are considered as an attempt to get wealth or something he wants. Then, what’s worse, he doesn’t want to share anything he has to help fellow humans in need.
The easiest way to overcome greed is to remember that wealth, position, social status are temporary. In addition, remembering that we will always need other people can also help reduce feelings of stinginess. Don’t forget to appreciate the efforts that have been made by others.
3. Envy
Envy is a feeling of dissatisfaction or displeasure when you see the strengths of others. These advantages are of various types, it can be power, wealth, achievement, position, to happiness. For example, feeling unhappy when there are friends who get better grades.
Generally, this feeling of jealousy arises because of the inability to have something better and also because they feel dissatisfied when they see other people’s happiness.
In this era of social media, it’s easier for us to feel jealous of other people. Because, we can see other people’s achievements and strengths through the photos or videos they upload on social media.
Then, how to overcome this jealousy? First, we must realize that envy is a great sin. Then, avoid words and deeds that belittle other people and always thank God for what we have.
4. Wrath/Anger (Wrath)
Wrath or anger, in Latin is called “Ira”. Under normal conditions, anger is a natural response that arises when you see injustice. However, anger in grave sins is more than that because it can lead to evil deeds.
In the Catechism it is stated that anger is the same as the desire to intentionally hurt or kill another person. These feelings can arise from selfish reasons, such as jealousy or something else.
When someone is controlled by anger, it will be difficult for him to use his mind, so he can easily hurt others, both through words and actions.
Therefore, it is better to build patience within yourself because patience is the opposite of anger. In addition, we must also always see the presence of God in fellow human beings.
On the other hand, try to do more exercise and divert feelings of anger to more positive things. For example, when you feel angry, you can listen to a song or take a walk while controlling your emotions.
5. Lust
Lust is defined as lust which means the desire to experience excessive sexual pleasure. Therefore, things such as sexual addiction, adultery, rape, fornication, perversion, bestiality, and incest are included in this lust.
When in fact lust with sex is a different thing. Sex is a way for humans to reproduce and includes a gift from God to men and women who are bound in a marriage.
Meanwhile, lust is the desire to get excessive sexual pleasure so that you are immersed in it and do not believe in the existence of pleasure that can be obtained from other things.
Humans who are controlled by their lust will be filled with dirty thoughts, lose their own freedom, do not feel inner peace, often feel guilty, have difficulty accepting themselves, can even fall into promiscuity.
In order to avoid the snares of lust, we must avoid things that can stimulate such as adult pictures and films. In addition, do more positive activities such as exercising, reading books, socializing with neighbors, or others.
6. Gluttony
Greedy or gluttony is a sin that arises from the habit of eating excessively so that what is eaten is eventually wasted. In short, gluttony is related to our way of eating.
A human being is said to be greedy if he eats before his time (Praepropere), consumes food that is very expensive (Laute), eats excessively (Nimis), eats with great desire (Ardenter), eats quickly because he does not want to lose to others (Studiose). ), and eat wildly like beasts (Forente).
In addition to being related to eating, greed can also be associated with an excessive desire to earn money. Humans who are enslaved by greed will justify any means to get wealth and wealth. In fact, he valued his wealth more than God.
In order to avoid this feeling of greed, we must get used to eating, drinking, studying, working in a balanced way so that life is more organized. In addition, we must also remember that our body can only accommodate a certain amount of food each day, if it is too much it will cause dangerous diseases.
7. Sloth (Sloth)
Laziness is a condition of not caring about anything around it. Laziness is included in the great sin because it can make humans fail to maximize the potential that has been given by God.
Lazy people usually give up easily, have no desire to act, often do careless things, and only try half-heartedly. More than that, laziness can be related to a feeling of despair which will make humans fail to maximize their talents.
In addition, there are several characteristics that describe laziness, including:
- Glad to be unemployed
- Often negligent in carrying out tasks
- Reckless and irresponsible
- Not being able to complete assignments or work on time
- Not prioritizing cleanliness and tidiness
- Too much rest
- Often procrastinate and undisciplined
One of the most effective ways to overcome laziness is to live in an orderly and disciplined manner so that we get used to doing things as they should. Then, don’t forget, always motivate yourself to complete assignments and work on time.
The 7 Demons Representing the 7 Deadly Sins
The seven deadly sins are represented by the 7 devils or princes of hell who have extraordinary power and become the highest authority in hell. Originally, they were archangels (Archangels) who lived in heaven, but after rebelling against God and causing war, they fell into hell with Lucifer.
After falling into hell, they lost God’s love and grace and then turned into terrible demons that represent the 7 great sins. Well, who are these demons? Here’s the full list.
1. Lucifer (Pride)
Lucifer comes from the Latin which means “Bringer of Light” and is the name for the planet Venus or the Morning Star. Lucifer became the most powerful ruler of hell as well as the most beautiful heavenly being.
Lucifer used to be an archangel, but thanks to his arrogance he felt he could rule heaven so he opposed God. Finally, Lucifer was thrown into hell and then turned into a devil.
2. Mammon (Covetousness)
Mammon is a demon that represents greed and is a symbol of wealth, greed, and injustice. In hell, Mammon will enslave people who are greedy for money, happy to cheat, often harm others, are stingy, and greedy for their wealth.
3. Leviathan (Envy)
Leviathan is a representative of the sin of envy and is often depicted as a terrible creature in the form of a large sea monster that holds the door to Hell in its mouth (Hellmouth).
Leviathan has the job of tempting men to commit blasphemy. In addition, in hell he is responsible for punishing humans who are overcome by feelings of envy and jealousy by swallowing them.
4. Satan/Amon (Wrath/Anger)
Satan or Ammon is a fallen angel who is the embodiment of wrath and rage. Satan is depicted as a sad and disgusting figure. His job is to bring out the anger that triggers other sins in humans. Examples of actions that arise due to Satan’s influence are killing other people and also committing suicide.
5. Asmodeus (Lust)
Asmodeus is a demon who represents lust and is in charge of twisting human sexual desires. Every human being trapped into Asmodeus’s temptations will be punished in the second level of hell forever.
Asmodeus is also the king of hell who has subordinates as many as 72 demon armies. He is often depicted as a being with three heads. The first head resembles that of a bull, the second that of a man with a crown, and the third that of a ram. He also has a mouth that emits fire and a snake’s tail.
In the book of Tobit, it is told that Asmodeus fell in love with a woman named Sarah. In order to have Sarah, he then killed seven of Sarah’s husbands. But Asmodeus must be defeated by the eighth husband named Tobias.
As a result of this incident, Asmodeus was appointed a devil when he was banished to hell and because of his lust Asmodeus became a representative of the sin of lust.
6. Beelzebub (Gluttony)
Beelzebub is the name of the devil who represents the sin of gluttony. He is also known as the “Lord of Flies” because he has the ability to fly. He is in charge of inviting people to be greedy, eat a lot, and be picky about food.
Beelzebub is often associated with Lucifer because he is a devil whose cruelty is almost the same as Lucifer.
7. Belphegor (Sloth)
Belphegor becomes a demon that represents the sin of laziness and has two different depictions. First, Belphegor is described as a beautiful young woman while in the world and the second is described as a bearded demon who has horns and sharp nails.
In some traditions, Belphegor was once an archangel named Bola-Peor. But when Lucifer rebelled, he did not support the rebels and did not support the angels. As a result, he was considered a deserter and then banished to hell.
Belphegor is known for his cunning. He will make people try to gain wealth by means of deceit, such as deceit or corruption.
Thus the discussion about the 7 major sins and also the devil who represents the 7 great sins. Hopefully all the discussion above can add to your insight. If you want to find various kinds of insights through books, then you can get them at sinaumedia.com .