Seven Deadly Sins-- Gluttony

[Ambasea]

I’ve always been fascinated with the lists of sins and virtues, and although I can easily comprehend sins such as pride, sloth, wrath, etc., gluttony is the on that I have the most trouble understanding. St. Gregory the Great is said to have made a list of five ways that the sin of gluttony manifests (pasted from Wikipedia):

1. Eating before the time of meals in order to satisfy the palate.
   Biblical example: Jonathan eating a little honey, when his father Saul commanded no food to be taken before the evening.
2. Seeking delicacies and better quality of food to gratify the “vile sense of taste.”
   Biblical example: When Israelites escaping from Egypt complained, “Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers and the melons, and the leeks and the onions and the garlic,” God rained fowls for them to eat but punished them 500 years.
3. Seeking to stimulate the palate with overly or elaborately prepared food (e.g. with luxurious sauces and seasonings).
   Biblical example: Two sons of Eli the high priest made the sacrificial meat to be cooked in one manner rather than another. They were met with death.
4. Exceeding the necessary quantity of food.
   Biblical example: One of the sins of Sodom was “fullness of bread.”
5. Taking food with too much eagerness , even when eating the proper amount, and even if the food is not luxurious.
   Biblical example: Esau selling his birthright for ordinary food of bread and pottage of lentils. His punishment was that of the “profane person . . . who, for a morsel of meat sold his birthright,” : we learn that “he found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully, with tears.”

I understand how eating food in excess, or spending too much money on food, or eating a really unhealthy diet would be sinful. But eating before the time of meals? I usually avoid eating any snack an hour or so before dinner as to not spoil my appetite, but the way point #1 is worded makes it seem like any snacks at all would be sinful. Also, if “eating before mealtime” and snacking is inherently sinful, how would this reconcile with the fact that some in cultures, people eat up to five meals a day as opposed to the common American three?

 

[edward_george1]

Ambasea,

It is unwise for you to read this sort of thing or to post these questions online. Please seek help for your scruples offline.

-Fr ACEGC

 

[edward_george1]

Internet forums are not a place for the formation of conscience. And given your significant struggles with scrupulosity, internet forums present a particular temptation to compulsive behavior.

You might tell yourself that you’re just trying to learn, but that’s a way of rationalizing the compulsions. Please ask these questions of your priest.

 

[Ambasea]

ahhh okay! yeah i lied it was compulsions lol