About the 7 Deadly Sins

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benjamin1973

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First of all. . . are they Catholic canon, or are they just a list that somebody made up?

Second, on their interpretation. It seems to me that all of the sins are animal instincts that can easily spin out of control, causing harm to someone. Sex is great-- it’s fun, and it’s how we reproduce; nothing wrong with it. But lust, that drives us to adultery, rape, etc. is clearly a case where the animal in someone has overshadowed his humanity.

So it seems to me a sin is any animal motivation that we let get divorced from its purpose: if you eat for pleasure and ignore that eating is supposed to be for keeping the body functioning well, that would be a sin. If you want to do a good job, and are so highly motivated that you will rage against anyone who criticizes you, even in an attempt to help you, that would be a sin.

Do you guys agree with this interpretation?
 
Seems like there’s a lot more to this question than on the surface … makes me think of the gnostic heresy … but to scratch it, the surface that is, read through Proverbs 6, around verse 16, that will give you the source of the 7 deadly sins. Then, we can take it from there if need be.
 
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ty for the guidance.

This increases my curiosity, actually. It’s a list of moral failings, but it seems to me the 7 are specifically those failings which are dependent on animal instincts getting out of control. Lying, for example, couldn’t possibly be an animal instinct, and it is pretty conspicuously missing from the 7-- although many of those would probably require lying in order to sustain them.

As you see, I kind of have a thesis I’m exploring here, and I’m curious how that particular list of 7 came about.
 
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