What Are the Seven Deadly Sins?

An Old List That Still Fits

The seven deadly sins have become part of popular culture. They turn up in films, novels, paintings and advertising, often as a kind of joke. Gluttony sells chocolate. Pride is a badge of honour. Lust sells almost everything.

But the list was never meant as entertainment. It was drawn up by Christian teachers who had spent their lives studying the human heart, and it remains one of the most useful tools for understanding ourselves. The Church still teaches it (CCC 1866).

Why “Deadly”? Why “Capital”?

The Church’s more precise name for them is the capital sins, from the Latin caput, meaning “head.” They are called capital because they are the heads or sources of other sins. Each one is a disordered desire that, left unchecked, gives rise to many other sins.

They are popularly called “deadly” because they can lead to spiritual death. But this does not mean every act of pride or anger is a mortal sin. Some acts are minor and venial. Others are grave. What makes these seven special is not that they are always serious, but that they are the roots. For the difference between serious and lesser sins, see What Are Mortal and Venial Sins?

Where the List Comes From

The list developed in the early Church. In the fourth century, the desert monk Evagrius described eight “evil thoughts” that tempted the monks. John Cassian brought this teaching to the West. In the sixth century, Pope St Gregory the Great reshaped it into seven, placing pride at the root of them all. St Thomas Aquinas later explained each one in depth. The list we know today has been taught by the Church ever since.

The Seven

Pride

Pride is an excessive love of oneself — putting ourselves in the place of God, and above others. It is the sin of the devil and of Adam, and the tradition sees it as the root of all the others. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).

Pride is not the same as healthy self-respect or satisfaction in work well done. It is the refusal to acknowledge that everything we have comes from God, and the desire to be admired, to be right, to be first.

The remedy is humility — seeing ourselves as we really are, gifts and faults alike, before God.

Greed

Greed, or avarice, is a disordered love of money and possessions. It is not wrong to own things or to earn a living. Greed is wanting more than we need, clinging to what we have, and making wealth the measure of our security or worth. “The love of money is the root of all evils” (1 Timothy 6:10).

The remedy is generosity — holding possessions loosely and sharing them freely.

Envy

Envy is sadness at another person’s good — their success, talents, possessions or happiness — as if it were a loss to us. It often leads to resentment, gossip and even delight when others fail. Envy is one of the most miserable sins, because it brings no pleasure at all.

The remedy is charity and gratitude — rejoicing in others’ good and thanking God for our own gifts.

Anger

Not all anger is sinful. Jesus was angry when He drove the money-changers from the Temple. Anger at real injustice can be right and good. The sin of anger, or wrath, is anger that is out of proportion, aimed at the wrong target, or that seeks revenge. “Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26).

The remedy is patience and meekness — controlling anger and directing it rightly.

Lust

Lust is a disordered desire for sexual pleasure, sought for its own sake, apart from its true purpose within marriage. Sexuality is a good gift from God. Lust turns it into a means of using others, or ourselves, rather than loving them.

The remedy is chastity — the virtue that integrates sexuality into the whole person, whether married or single.

Gluttony

Gluttony is a disordered desire for food and drink — not enjoying a good meal, which is God’s gift, but excess, or making eating and drinking the centre of life. It includes drunkenness. Gluttony is often treated as a trivial sin, but the tradition took it seriously because it shows how easily the body’s appetites can rule us.

The remedy is temperance — enjoying good things in moderation.

Sloth

Sloth is the most misunderstood of the seven. It does not simply mean laziness. Its older name is acedia, which means a kind of spiritual indifference — a weariness with the things of God, a reluctance to do the good we know we should. It can show itself in idleness, but also in restless busyness that avoids prayer and the deeper questions of life.

The remedy is diligence — and, above all, zeal for God.

Using the List

The seven capital sins are most useful as a mirror. When examining your conscience, it can help to ask not only “What did I do?” but “Where did it come from?” A harsh word may spring from pride. Gossip may spring from envy. Overspending may spring from greed. Treating the root is more effective than trimming the branches.

Most people find that one or two of the seven are their particular weakness. The saints called this a person’s “predominant fault.” Knowing yours is a great help in the spiritual life. See How Do I Examine My Conscience Before Confession?

Not a Counsel of Despair

It can be discouraging to read a list of sins and recognise yourself in it. But the purpose of naming them is hope, not shame. Every one of the seven has a corresponding virtue, and with God’s grace every one can be overcome. For more on the virtues, see What Are the Cardinal and Theological Virtues?

The saints were not people who never felt pride, anger or desire. They were people who, with God’s help, slowly turned those energies towards Him.