The seven deadly sins appear for the first time already in the Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle. In this famous work he defined them as "bad habits". According to the philospher the capital vices derive from the repetition of actions that, iterated, form in a person a "habit"or, as claims the scientist of ancient Greece as well, even a "second nature" that inclines an individual in a certain direction.
However, when it comes to the specific list of sins, we must not forget about the crucial contribution of Aristotle's successors.
The system of seven deadly sins was created by friars of monasteries who shed light on the mystery of human's heart. This system was "invented" in the 4-th century by a Christian monk and ascetic named Evagrius Ponticus and afterwards it was elaborated by a theologian and hermit - John Cassian (they both are particularly known as two of the Desert Fathers).
Eventually it was the pope Gregory the Great to ameliorate and spread the system of seven capital vices all over the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment