Seven Deadly Sins: Superbia

The Seven Deadly Sins

---

Envy is said to be the motivation behind Cain murdering his brother, Abel , as Cain envied Abel because God favored Abel's sacrifice over Cain's. In accordance with the most widely accepted views, only pride weighs down the soul more than envy among the capital sins. Just like pride, envy has been associated directly with the devil, for Wisdom 2: Pride Latin, superbia is considered, on almost every list, the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins: It is also thought to be the source of the other capital sins. In even more destructive cases, it is irrationally believing that one is essentially and necessarily better, superior, or more important than others, failing to acknowledge the accomplishments of others, and excessive admiration of the personal image or self especially forgetting one's own lack of divinity, and refusing to acknowledge one's own limits, faults, or wrongs as a human being.

As pride has been labelled the father of all sins, it has been deemed the devil's most prominent trait. Lewis writes, in Mere Christianity , that pride is the "anti-God" state, the position in which the ego and the self are directly opposed to God: Pride leads to every other vice: One can be prideful for different reasons. Author Ichabod Spencer states that "[s]piritual pride is the worst kind of pride, if not worst snare of the devil.

The heart is particularly deceitful on this one thing. In Ancient Athens, hubris was considered one of the greatest crimes and was used to refer to insolent contempt that can cause one to use violence to shame the victim. This sense of hubris could also characterize rape. The term has been used to analyse and make sense of the actions of contemporary heads of government by Ian Kershaw , Peter Beinart and in a much more physiological manner by David Owen In this context the term has been used to describe how certain leaders, when put to positions of immense power, seem to become irrationally self-confident in their own abilities, increasingly reluctant to listen to the advice of others and progressively more impulsive in their actions.

Dante's definition of pride was "love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbour". Pride is associated with more intra-individual negative outcomes and is commonly related to expressions of aggression and hostility Tangney, As one might expect, pride is not always associated with high self-esteem but with highly fluctuating or variable self-esteem. Excessive feelings of pride have a tendency to create conflict and sometimes terminating close relationships, which has led it to be understood as one of the few emotions with no clear positive or adaptive functions Rhodwalt, et al.

Pride is generally associated with an absence of humility [46]. John Gay states that "By ignorance is pride increased; They most assume who know the least. In accordance with the Sirach 's author's wording, the heart of a proud man is "like a partridge in its cage acting as a decoy; like a spy he watches for your weaknesses. He changes good things into evil, he lays his traps.

Just as a spark sets coals on fire, the wicked man prepares his snares in order to draw blood. Beware of the wicked man for he is planning evil. He might dishonor you forever. Benjamin Franklin said "In reality there is, perhaps no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history.

For even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility. The proverb "pride goeth goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall" from the biblical Book of Proverbs , Pride is also referred to as "pride that blinds," as it often causes a committer of pride to act in foolish ways that belie common sense. The first volume, Hubris , [50] describes Hitler's early life and rise to political power.

The second, Nemesis , [51] gives details of Hitler's role in the Second World War , and concludes with his fall and suicide in Much of the 10th and part of 11th chapter of the Book of Sirach discusses and advises about pride, hubris, and who is rationally worthy of honor. Pride is odious to both God and man; injustice is abhorrent to both of them. Sovereignty is forced from one nation to another because of injustice, violence, and wealth.

How can there be such pride in someone who is nothing but dust and ashes? Even while he is living, man's bowels are full of rottenness. Once a man is dead, grubs, insects, and worms are his lot.

The beginning of man's pride is to separate himself from the Lord and to rebel against his Creator. The beginning of pride is sin. Whoever perseveres in sinning opens the floodgates to everything that is evil. For this the Lord has inflicted dire punishment on sinners; he has reduced them to nothing. The Lord has overturned the thrones of princes and set up the meek in their place. The Lord has torn up the proud by their roots and has planted the humble in their place.

The Lord has overturned the land of pagans and totally destroyed them.

He has devastated several of them, destroyed them and removed all remembrance of them from the face of the earth. Pride was not created for man, nor violent anger for those born of woman. Which race is worthy of honor? Those who are good. Which race is despicable? Those who break the commandments. The leader is worthy of respect in the midst of his brethren, but he has respect for those who are good.

Whether, they be rich, honored or poor, their pride should be in being good.

It is not right to despise the poor man who keeps the law; it is not fitting to honor the sinful man. The leader, the judge, and the powerful man are worthy of honor, but no one is greater than the man who is good. A prudent slave will have free men as servants, and the sensible man will not complain. Do not feel proud when you accomplished your work; do not put on airs when times are difficult for you. Of greater worth is the man who works and lives in abundance than the one who shows off and yet has nothing to live on.

My son, have a modest appreciation of yourself, estimate yourself at your true value. Who will defend the man who takes his own life? Who will respect the man who despises himself? The poor man will be honored for his wisdom and the rich man, for his riches. Honored when poor-how much more honored when rich! Dishonored when rich-how much more dishonored when poor! The poor man who is intelligent carries his head high and sits among the great. Do not praise a man because he is handsome and do not hold a man in contempt because of his appearance.

The bee is one of the smallest winged insects but she excels in the exquisite sweetness of her honey. Do not be irrationally proud just because of the clothes you wear; do not be proud when people honor you. Do you know what the Lord is planning in a mysterious way? Many tyrants have been overthrown and someone unknown has received the crown. Many powerful men have been disgraced and famous men handed over to the power of others. Do not reprehend anyone unless you have been first fully informed, consider the case first and thereafter make your reproach. Do not reply before you have listened; do not meddle in the disputes of sinners.

My child, do not undertake too many activities.

If you keep adding to them, you will not be without reproach; if you run after them, you will not succeed nor will you ever be free, although you try to escape. Jacob Bidermann's medieval miracle play , Cenodoxus , pride is the deadliest of all the sins and leads directly to the damnation of the titulary famed Parisian doctor.

In Dante's Divine Comedy , the penitents are burdened with stone slabs on their necks to keep their heads bowed. It is translated to apathetic listlessness; depression without joy. It is related to melancholy: In early Christian thought, the lack of joy was regarded as a willful refusal to enjoy the goodness of God; by contrast, apathy was considered a refusal to help others in time of need.

It also indicates love for those outside one's immediate family, specifically forming a new family with one's "beloved. Pope Gregory combined this with tristitia into sloth for his list. When Thomas Aquinas described acedia in his interpretation of the list, he described it as an uneasiness of the mind , being a progenitor for lesser sins such as restlessness and instability. Dante refined this definition further, describing acedia as the failure to love God with all one's heart, all one's mind and all one's soul ; to him it was the middle sin , the only one characterised by an absence or insufficiency of love.

Acedia is currently defined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church as spiritual sloth, which would be believing spiritual tasks to be too difficult. In the fourth century, Christian monks believed acedia was not primarily caused by laziness, but by a state of depression that caused spiritual detachment. Vainglory Latin, vanagloria is unjustified boasting.

Pope Gregory viewed it as a form of pride, so he folded vainglory into pride for his listing of sins. The Latin term gloria roughly means boasting , although its English cognate — glory — has come to have an exclusively positive meaning; historically, the term vain roughly meant futile a meaning retained in the modern expression "in vain" , but by the 14th century had come to have the strong narcissistic undertones, that it still retains today. With Christianity , historic Christian denominations such as the Catholic Church and Protestant Churches, [55] including the Lutheran Church , [56] recognize seven virtues , which correspond inversely to each of the seven deadly sins.

Confession is the act of admitting the commission of a sin to a priest, who in turn will forgive the person in the name in the person of Christ, give a penance to partially make up for the offense, and advise the person on what he or she should do afterwards. According to a study by Fr Roberto Busa, a Jesuit scholar [ who? The second book of Dante's epic poem The Divine Comedy is structured around the seven deadly sins.

The most serious sins, found at the lowest level, are the abuses of the most divine faculty. For Dante and other thinkers, a human's rational faculty makes humans more like God. Abusing that faculty with pride or envy weighs down the soul the most. Abusing one's passions with wrath or a lack of passion as with sloth also weighs down the soul but not as much as the abuse of one's rational faculty.

Finally, abusing one's desires to have one's physical needs met via greed, gluttony, or lust abuses a faculty that humans share with animals. This is still an abuse that weighs down the soul, but it does not weigh it down like other abuses. Thus, the top levels of the Mountain of Purgatory have the top listed sins, while the lowest levels have the more serious sins of wrath, envy, and pride.

The last tale of the Canterbury Tales , the "Parson's Tale" is not a tale but a sermon that the parson gives against the seven deadly sins. This sermon brings together many common ideas and images about the seven deadly sins. This tale and Dante's work both show how the seven deadly sins were used for confessional purposes or as a way to identify, repent of, and find forgiveness for one's sins. The Dutch artist created a series of prints showing each of the seven deadly sins.

Each print features a central, labeled image that represents the sin.

Seven Deadly Sins

Around the figure are images that show the distortions, degenerations, and destructions caused by the sin. Spenser's work, which was meant to educate young people to embrace virtue and avoid vice, includes a colourful depiction of the House of Pride. Lucifera, the lady of the house, is accompanied by advisers who represent the other seven deadly sins. The seven sins are personified and they give a confession to the personification of Repentance. Only pride is represented by a woman, the others all represented by male characters. This work satirized capitalism and its painful abuses as its central character, the victim of a split personality, travels to seven different cities in search of money for her family.

In each city she encounters one of the seven deadly sins, but those sins ironically reverse one's expectations.

Navigation menu

When the character goes to Los Angeles, for example, she is outraged by injustice, but is told that wrath against capitalism is a sin that she must avoid. Between and , the American painter Paul Cadmus created a series of vivid, powerful, and gruesome paintings of each of the seven deadly sins. Ferdinand Mount maintains that liquid currentness , especially through tabloids , has surprisingly given valor to vices, causing society to regress into that of primitive pagans: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This is the latest accepted revision , reviewed on 13 December Not to be confused with Mortal sin. For other uses, see Seven deadly sins disambiguation. For other uses, see Deadly Sins. This section contains too many or too-lengthy quotations for an encyclopedic entry. Please help improve the article by presenting facts as a neutrally-worded summary with appropriate citations. Consider transferring direct quotations to Wikiquote. The Virtues and Vices in the Arts: Oxford and New York: Newman Press of the Paulist Press.

Sin and Its consequences. The Seven Deadly Sins: Their origin in the spiritual teaching of Evagrius the Hermit. The Greek Ascetic Corpus. The Institutes First ed. Moral Reflections on the Book of Job, Volume 1. The cause of sin, in respect of one sin being the cause of another Prima Secundae Partis, Q. In Inferno, Dante encounters these sins in the following order canto number: In modern times, references to the Seven Deadly Sins continue to be a popular topic in music and art.

In the official Catechism of the Catholic Church, consisting of 2, numbered sections and first published in , by order of Pope John Paul II , the seven deadly sins are dealt with in one paragraph. The principal codification of moral transgression for Christians continues to be the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes, which are a positive statement of morality. Lust fornication, perversion — Obsessive, unlawful depraved thought, or unnatural desire for sexual excitement, such as desiring sex with a person outside marriage or engaging in unnatural sexual appetites.

Rape and sodomy are considered to be extreme lust and are said to be mortal sins. Dante's criterion was "excessive love of others," thereby detracting from the love due to God.

Collection online

Lust prevents clarity of thought and rational behavior. Gluttony waste, overindulgence — Thoughtless waste of everything, overindulgence, misplaced sensuality, uncleanliness, and maliciously depriving others. Marked by refusal to share and unreasonable consumption of more than is necessary, especially food or water. Destruction, especially for sport. Substance abuse or binge drinking. Dante explains it as "excessive love of pleasure". Greed treachery, avarice — A strong desire to gain, especially in money or power.

Disloyalty, deliberate betrayal, or treason, especially for personal gain or when compensated. Scavenging and hoarding of materials or objects. Theft and robbery by violence.

Simony is the evolution of avarice because it fills you with the urge to make money by selling things within the confines of the church. This sin is abhorred by the Catholic Church and is seen as a sin of malice. Dante included this sin in his first novel. Simony can be viewed as betrayal. Thomas Aquinas on greed: Sloth apathy, indifference — Apathy, idleness, and wastefulness of time. Laziness is particularly condemned because others must work harder to make up for it. Abandonment, especially of God.

Dante wrote that sloth is the "failure to love God with all one's heart, all one's mind and all one's soul". Wrath anger, hatred — Inappropriate unrighteous feelings of hatred and anger. Denial of the truth to others or self. Impatience or revenge outside of justice. Wishing to do evil or harm to others.

Wrath is the root of murder and assault. Dante described wrath as "love of justice perverted to revenge and spite".

Envy jealousy, malice — Grieving spite and resentment of material objects, accomplishments, or character traits of others, or wishing others to fail or come to harm. Envy is the root of theft and self-loathing. Dante defined this as "love of one's own good perverted to a desire to deprive other men of theirs".

Pride vanity, narcissism — A desire to be more important or attractive to others, failing to give credit due to others, or excessive love of self especially holding self out of proper position toward God. Dante's definition was "love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbor". In Jacob Bidermann's medieval miracle play, Cenodoxus , superbia is the deadliest of all the sins and leads directly to the damnation of the famed Doctor of Paris, Cenodoxus. Pride was what sparked the fall of Lucifer from Heaven. Vanity and narcissism are good examples of these sins and they often lead to the destruction of the sinner, for instance by the wanton squandering of money and time on themselves without caring about others.

Pride can be seen as the misplacement of morals. In the original classification, Pride was considered to be the 'deadliest' of all sins, and was the father of all sins. This relates directly to Christian philosophy and the story of Lucifer as told in the Bible.

Lucifer, the highest angel in heaven, surrendered to the sin of pride and demanded that the other angels worship him. This being a violation of God's will, Lucifer and his followers were cast from heaven. However, other interpretations have viewed "Greed" as the keystone of the seven deadly sins, and see the other deadly sins as manifestations of wanton greed:. Another interpretation of these sins is to see all the Seven Deadly Sins as an extension of "Sloth":.

Many of these interpretive schemes are reductionistic, and are not accepted by the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church recognizes the seven virtues as opposites to the seven sins:. New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation.

To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats. The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:. Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed. Previous Seven Days Battles. Next Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. Credits New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• The Boy On The Lake: He Faced Down the Biggest Bully of His Life and Inspired Trevors Law
• You Can Count On Me
• Mary (Six Weeks with the Bible)
• The Healthy Start Kids Cookbook: Fun and Healthful Recipes That Kids Can Make Themselves
• La voce dellamore (Italian Edition)
• Bully
• Weekender