SEVEN DEADLY SINS:
Background on the structure of Dante’s Purgatory
Listing of sins in various
cultures as means of self-examination,
in religious terms, “examination of conscience”
Classical version:
Aristotle’s categories of “vices”
(not “sins” in Christian sense)
incontinence Dante’s Inferno: adapts Aristotle:
malice → → violence
bestiality → → fraud (specifically
human)
Virtues (for comparison): together these are the “seven virtues”
Classical virtues: note that these are on purely human level of behavior,
action in the world
4 cardinal virtues (cardinal = chief, central)
Prudence (being careful, avoiding risks, dangers, also discretion
in personal affairs
examples: not gambling, following good advice, choosing wisely)
Justice (fairness to others)
Fortitude (strength, resilience in responding to difficulties
of life)
Temperance (moderation, nothing in extreme)
Christian virtues: directed
to otherworldly goals
3 theological virtues: Faith (in God, Christ)
Hope (in
salvation)
Charity or love (towards
one’s neighbor, drawing on God’s love)
Seven “deadly” sins:
term used from 13th
C. on; sins which lead to damnation (but is this true in Dante’s version?)
Latin
acronym: SALIGIA Order of sins in Dante’s
Purgatory
Superbia
Pride Pride
Avaritia Avarice or greed
Envy
Luxuria Lust Anger
Invidia Envy Sloth
Gola Gluttony Avarice
Ira Anger Gluttony
Accidia * Sloth Lust
(compare 1st Circle of Inferno)
(or Acedia)
earlier monastic lists: Tristitia
= sadness, “dark night of the soul,” in modern terms = depression
* Accidia
= angst, anxiety, soul-weariness or “tedium of the heart”
Note on seven
deadly sins:
How did this list emerge? popular Christian tradition, some classical roots
Essentially based on observation of human nature, not specifically
Christian or religious
Questions:
What would be a more scriptural approach to the issue of sins?
Also, why does above list include both Avarice
and Gluttony?
isn't
gluttony basically a sub category of avarice?
Scholastic theology: Thomas
Aquinas, 13th century
debate
over pride versus avarice as worst of sins;
context of rise of commerce, towns, money, banding
Conflicting scriptural
passages: N.T. I Timothy 6:10
“The love of money is the root of all evil.”
O.T.
Ecclesiasticus 10:7 “Pride is
hateful before God and man.”
10:13
“For pride is the beginning of sin.”
For
Aquinas’ discussion see Summa Theologica, I. II, p. 84
Historical change in ranking in 13th C.:
Pride
as aristocratic sin (eg Dante) : in preaching, gives way to emphasis on
Avarice
as merchants’ sin (13th century urban commercial context)
See
Lester Little, “Pride Goes before Avarice: Social Change and the Vices in
Latin
Christendom,”
American Historical Review LXXVI (1971), pp. 16-49
What is sin??
Turning of the will, which is (or should be) under control of the
intellect, away from God.
Rebellion of the will, choosing of a lesser good.
When did sin start? 1) among the angels, Lucifer’s rebellion against God
2) for humans, original sin: inherited from
Adam and Eve
Free Will
as central to medieval Catholic theology of sin
occupies central cantoes of Dante’s Purgatory
Historical origins of debate
on free will:
St. Augustine
(354-430) vs Pelagius (founder of heresy of Pelagianism)
Pelagius: strong emphasis on free will, man can save himself
by his own actions;
morality, being a good person, is enough for salvation
Augustine: original sin:
causes “inability not to sin” [non posse non peccare]
Confessions: examples of stealing
a pear, nursing infant
corruption of human nature means
divine
grace is needed for salvation
how to get grace?
1)
predestination – God saves some and not others
(this will be emphasis of 16th
C. Reformation, Luther, Calvin)
2) sacraments of the Church as channels of grace, instituted by Christ
Baptism, Penance, Eucharist, Confirmation
Matrimony, Holy Orders, Last Rites or Extreme
Unction
= sacramental emphasis of Catholicism
** grace restores
free will, so that man can choose the good **
Catholic
doctrine: ethical cooperation with grace through free will
Grace is needed for salvation, obtained through Baptism, Sacraments
Man must cooperate with grace, build on that foundation through his own actions
Letter to Can Grande della
Scala on interpretation of the
Commedia
early 14th century attributed to Dante (but probably
not written by him)
Commedia shows how “man in the exercise of his free will becomes
liable for
the rewards or punishments of justice.”
Intellect and will as scholastic
categories:
1) knowledge of the intellect about something
2) judgment: is this thing good or bad?
3) choice of the will: THE WILL CHOOSES THE GOOD
but it could be mistaken, misinformed and choose the wrong
thing
Purgatory 15: discussion
of wealth, love of worldly goods
lesser goods:
things that seem good (money, fame, chocolate)
but are not the ultimate good (God) and might
distract
from the “right path” […la diritta via…, Inf.1]
Purgatory
16: Marco Lombardo on free will vs planets
debate over astrological forces:
influence of planets seen as part of physical
universe (like our gravity)
intellect frees men from being determined by the planets
“the stars incline, but do not compel”: can’t blame the stars
Shakespeare: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our
stars,
But
in ourselves, that we are underlings."
speech
Cassius, in Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141)
Dante:
why do people choose/love the wrong things?
lack of laws (no Emperor) to keep them on the right path
reform of politics, society would lead to reform
of the will
Purgatory 18: love of God versus lesser goods