What are the Seven Deadly Sins?
The Catholic Church teaches that seven vices lead to the breaking of the Ten Commandments.
These are “mortal” sins, and so are called the Seven Deadly Sins.
The list was originally created in the fourth century by a Christian monk, Evagrius Ponticus (345-399 AD), who was born in what is now Turkey and died in Egypt. The list initially contained eight sins. In AD 590 Pope Gregory 1 revised the list for the Catholic Church – he combined some sins and introduced an additional one, eventually ending up with Seven Deadly Sins.
Geoffrey Chaucer further immortalised the notion of Seven Deadly Sins in The Parson’s Tale, one of the stories in his famous and enduring book, The Canterbury Tales.
The Seven Deadly Sins are:
- Sloth
- Gluttony
- Pride
- Envy
- Greed
- Wrath
- Lust
The Catholic Church uses the concept of the Seven Deadly Sins to curb people from committing misdeeds.
