Analytical Essay: The Seven Deadly Sins

A perfect, sin free life is unattainable. The only perfect man is Jesus. Sin has existed as long as man has been on this earth. All of us are guilty of sin and the seven deadly sins proposed by Pope Gregory the First and elaborated on by Thomas Aquinas capture the core of the human condition: gluttony, pride, greed, lust, envy, wrath, and sloth.. Sins are transgressions that are fatal to spiritual progress. Our culture today sees many sins as desirable attributes. An examination of the seven deadly sins reveals they are present and accepted in this world. Gluttony is excess to the point of being wasteful. Many relate this to food, but it is much more than that. A good example of this is health insurance companies profiting off of others’

Lust is commonly mistaken for love when in fact it is an addiction. Today our world is filled with lust on all levels and of all types. Adultery, born of lust, is the second leading cause of divorce. Closely related to lust, there is envy that causes hate and unhappiness. Mme Loisel in, The Necklace, was so envious of others, that she lived a miserable life. She would no longer visit friends on the account of her jealousy after returning home. The story states “She has a friend, a former schoolmate at the convent, who was rich, and whom she did not like to go and see any more, because she suffered so much when she came back.” In our world, the saying “keeping up with the Jones’s” plays out every day. For instance, your neighbor buys a new car, and you cannot be out done so you go purchase a new car to keep up. With this envy, wrath can manifest itself between neighbors. Competing neighbors can be a good friendly competition, but when one neighbor cannot keep up it can turn ugly. . The last of the sins is sloth. It is not just being lazy; it is seeing a need and not doing your part to fill the need. Take a look around your own neighborhood and you will find needs. I am guilty of thinking someone else will take care of the need rather