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NASB | Proverbs 6:16 ¶ There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Proverbs 6:16 ¶ These six things the LORD hates; Indeed, seven are repulsive to Him: |
Subject: Are the Seven Deadly Sins in the Bible? |
Bible Note: Dear charis, blessings dear brother in Christ! I appreciate your point of view even though I disagree with you and with your 'dismissing' this point as an afterthought. The Seven Deadly sins is a list of vices that were catalogued by Christian monks in the early Middle Ages (as early as A.D. 600).. They are titled as such ("Seven Deadly Sins") because it was perceived that all of man's sin stemmed from at least one of these seven, being Pride, Greed, Envy, Anger, Lust, Gluttony, and Sloth. The real question here is- were the early monks correct or incorrect in recognizing that these are the roots of man's sin on earth? Now you can look at it in a 'rationalizing' method as you did above, but that does not get us anywhere. Thomas Aquinas spoke about vice and virtuous ethics as well as other things on this line, but we are speaking about the Bible here and man's problem, which is sin, and not Thomas Aquinas or any of the influential ethics philosophers of the past (E. Kant comes to mind). Now we know that there is one sin that is unforgiveable- that being blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. And God sees all of our sins in the same way and forgave them all through Christ. However, if this is true- that if man's sin on earth can be traced back to these seven fundamental roots of sin, then not only can we explain the vice here as something that is not just circumstantial (i.e. in the case of Thomas Aquinas), but also this would help us to explain man's problem of separation with God. You see, if indeed these 'Seven' are the roots of all sin, then we can better reflect upon our own lives and see exactly where we went wrong. We can see that the action that we partook of that was blatantly against the will of God was indeed because of pride/greed/envy/lust/sloth/anger/gluttony in our own hearts. If this is true, if one of these seven was a 'decisive, contributing factor' (again reflecting on Thomas Aquinas) then we can see where we have erred as a result, we can see where we were so blatantly against God's will, where in fact the sin that was committed can be traced to one of these 'Seven'. If this is true, then we must acknowledge this sin before God (confession) and repent of it before Him. Then we should seek to have 'nothing to do with' one of these sins in the future, 'correcting our behavioral pattern' (again Thomas Aquinas) and seek to react differently in the same situation in the future with a corresponding counterpart of the 'Seven', that being Humility, Contentment, Love, Forgiveness, Purity, Self-control and Diligence. If we obey the Spirit and are led by the Spirit in all our actions, then the Spirit will be the aid to help us to react in a way that would counter a 'root' sin. So you see, this is why we should identify a counterpart for each of the Seven Deadly Sins. If the Seven Deadly sins are recognized as such and if it is perceived that they consist or include all of man's sin, then this makes it that much more important to identify a 'corrective' behavior for that sin and therefore free us from the bondage of that sin after asking for forgiveness. And then we must continue in our path of righteousness and be free from all sin and all roots of sin, being free of vice in the exposed areas of our behavior because of the correction that was heeded or adhered to (E. Kant in his 'situational' theory of ethics).. Therefore, we are free from the bondage of sin because of the act of Christ (forgiveness), which enables us to continue in a 'virtuous' behavor (E. Kant again) because we have the aid of the Holy Spirit, which even can help us to impart forgiveness to a fellow soul (the same act of Christ) to another person to negate the 'deadly sin' of anger. In this way, by obtaining the very nature of Christ, can we be free from all sin and vice and be free to forgive and love one another as so commanded by our Lord and Savior. I hope that this explains where I am coming from and the true question that I was trying to present. Blessings to you also in Jesus' name, Nolan.. |