50 Fun Facts About Seven Deadly Sins

Which sin is considered the original and worst of the seven on almost every list?

It is viewed as the source of the other capital sins and the opposite of humility.

Which pope revised the list of deadly sins into its familiar form in AD 590?

He folded sorrow into sloth, vanity into pride, and added envy to make seven.

Which sin was added in 590 that had not been on the earlier list of eight?

Its Latin name is invidia; he also merged two pairs of older vices to land on seven.

How many forms of temptation did the monk Evagrius Ponticus settle on in the fourth century?

His Greek list of logismoi included sadness and boasting, which later lists merged away.

Which student of Evagrius carried his list of vices into the Latin West?

Cassian's Latin list included tristitia (sorrow) and vanagloria (vainglory) as separate entries.

What is the Latin name for the sin of sloth on the old Western list?

The word came from a Greek term and originally meant a monk's listless neglect of spiritual duties.

Which Latin word for a deadly sin means anger?

Gula is overeating, luxuria is lust and avaritia is greed, so the other three are sins too.

Which theologian called the seven 'capital sins' because they are the head of all others?

He defended Gregory's list in the Summa Theologica.

Which sin is generally thought to be the mildest of the seven?

Aquinas saw sins of the flesh as less grievous than spiritual sins.

The word for the sin of overeating comes from a Latin verb meaning what?

One objection to it was that the gorging of the rich could leave the needy hungry.

How many forms of overindulgence in food did Aquinas list, including eating too soon?

Laute, studiose, nimis, praepropere and ardenter: too expensively, daintily, much, soon and eagerly.

Aquinas defined which sin as 'sorrow about spiritual good'?

Unlike the others, it is a sin of avoiding responsibilities rather than committing an act.

Which sin is a sad or resentful covetousness toward another person's traits or possessions?

Bertrand Russell called it one of the most potent causes of unhappiness.

Which philosopher said envy was one of the most potent causes of unhappiness?

He noted it brings sorrow to the envious while urging them to inflict pain on others.

Which author wrote in Mere Christianity that pride is 'the complete anti-God state of mind'?

He called unchastity, anger and greed 'mere fleabites in comparison'.

'Pride goeth before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall' comes from which Bible book?

The shortened 'pride goeth before a fall' is from Proverbs 16:18.

The Greek word hubris is used as another name for which sin?

In politics it describes leaders who grow irrationally self-confident and contemptuous of advice.

Which historical vice, meaning unjustified boasting, was merged into pride in 590?

The Latin gloria roughly meant boasting, and 'vain' once simply meant futile.

Fourth-century monks blamed the vice later folded into sloth mainly on what state?

The Catechism now defines acedia as spiritual sloth: believing spiritual tasks to be too difficult.

A 2009 study of confessions found which sin was most commonly confessed by men?

The same Jesuit study found that women most often confessed to pride.

According to that 2009 Jesuit study, which sin did women confess most often?

The researchers could not tell whether the gap reflected behaviour or views about what to confess.

Which cardinal virtue is NOT one of the four named by Ambrose in the 4th century?

The three theological virtues of faith, hope and charity were added to make seven heavenly virtues.

Which virtue is usually paired against lust on the list of seven capital virtues?

The remedial virtues run chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, patience and humility.

Whose 5th-century poem Psychomachia first staged a battle between personified sins and virtues?

Its female combatants did not match the later standard list but popularised the idea.

In Dante's Purgatorio, how many terraces of Purgatory proper correspond to the sins?

Each terrace pairs a sin with an appropriate prayer and beatitude as Dante climbs.

On Dante's first terrace, how are the proud souls punished?

They walk past sculpted examples of humility, starting with the Annunciation.

What letter does the angel erase from Dante's forehead as he leaves each terrace?

It stands for peccatum, the Latin for sin, and climbing grows easier with each one removed.

Which sin does Dante's fourth terrace purge with souls in ceaseless activity?

Having failed to act in pursuit of love in life, the slothful run around the terrace calling out examples of zeal.

On Dante's fifth terrace, the avaricious and prodigal lie how?

They recite Psalm 119:25, 'My soul cleaveth unto the dust'.

Which French king personifies greed on Dante's fifth terrace?

He bemoans how avarice motivated his successors and 'prophesies' events after the poem's date.

Which 1995 thriller follows two detectives hunting a killer who stages murders on the deadly sins?

David Fincher directed it from Andrew Kevin Walker's script; it grossed $327 million worldwide.

In the film Seven, which sin is written on the wall at the first murder scene?

The obese victim had been forced to eat until his stomach burst.

Who plays the serial killer John Doe in Seven?

He won Best Villain at the MTV Movie Awards for the role.

In Seven, the killer says he himself represents which sin?

He envied Mills's life with Tracy, and urges Mills to become wrath.

Who wrote the screenplay for Seven, basing it on his move to New York City in the 1980s?

He was working at Tower Records in 1991 when he began the spec script.

Who directed Seven after the studio's first choice left the project?

His only previous feature, Alien 3, had left him saying he would rather die than make another movie.

Which writer inspired the name of Morgan Freeman's character in Seven?

Walker had pictured William Hurt in the role before Freeman was cast.

Which actor declined to play John Doe, calling the script 'the most evil thing I've ever read'?

Fincher wanted a face that resembled the 1969 Zodiac Killer composite sketch.

Who composed the score for Seven, hired on the strength of The Silence of the Lambs?

An orchestra of up to 100 musicians performed it.

Which museum displays Bosch's The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things in a sealed case?

In 2015 a research project called it the work of a follower; the museum's scholars dismissed the argument.

What does the centre of the large circle in Bosch's sins painting represent?

Its 'pupil' shows Christ rising from the tomb above the words 'Beware, Beware, The Lord Sees'.

Which king kept Bosch's painting of the sins in his own bedroom at El Escorial?

He bought it before 1560, probably at a monastery art sale, convinced it was a Bosch original.

Which leader published a list of 'seven social sins' in Young India in 1925?

The list begins 'wealth without work' and ends 'politics without principle'.

Gandhi's social sins list includes 'science without' what?

Other entries are 'commerce without morality' and 'religion without sacrifice'.

Who wrote and drew the manga The Seven Deadly Sins, about knights named for the sins?

He borrowed character names from King Arthur tales and won the 2015 Kodansha Manga Award.

In the manga The Seven Deadly Sins, what is the name of the knights' leader?

Princess Elizabeth finds him first so the group can clear their names in Liones.

In Fullmetal Alchemist, the homunculi named for the sins were created by which character?

He extracted what he believed were his own flaws into fragments of his Philosopher's Stone.

In Fullmetal Alchemist, which homunculus is called 'the Ultimate Shield' and betrays the others?

He craves money, women and possessions, so feeding Father's appetite would deprive him of his own.

Which composer wrote the 1933 sung ballet The Seven Deadly Sins with Bertolt Brecht?

It was their last major collaboration, premiered in Paris with choreography by George Balanchine.

Which Canterbury Tales pilgrim delivers a treatise on penitence and the sins instead of a story?

It is the final tale, and modern readers often find it pedantic next to the rest.