Mortal sins are a term that we are beginning to scare from childhood, so that we grow into virtues. They are also called the main sins of man, or the root, but from this the essence changes little. Christianity defines them in lists of 7 and 8 sins (seven for Catholics, eight for Orthodox). This division does not at all mean that the former are less moral than the latter, simply there is some difference in systematization.
The sins of man must be distinguished from the ten commandments, if only because the commandments are of biblical origin, and the list of sins is compiled by our ancestors - Cyprian of Carthage and Pope Gregory the Great, respectively.
Seven Deadly Sins
The list of the seven sins of the Pope is headed by pride and finishes the lust. This list was used by Dante Alighieri, when he described seven circles of purgatory, one sin per circle.
The list of 7 mortal sins of a person is as follows:
- pride;
- envy;
- anger;
- discouragement;
- greed;
- gluttony;
- lust.
Eight Deadly Sins
The system of the eight sins of man was spread by John Cassian and brought to them by their Egypt:
- gluttony;
- fornication;
- avarice love;
- anger;
- sadness;
- discouragement;
- vanity;
- pride.
In this case, pay attention to exactly the order of the location, in principle, the same things. The higher the sin stands, the more "mortal" it is. These two lists perfectly demonstrate the differences in mores in Western and Eastern Christianity.
Deadly sins in a scientific way
Science does not stand still and tries to "get in" and deal with all that was written and created by our ancestors. Such is human curiosity.
The Spanish biologist, J. Medina, even wrote a book on the relationship between the mortal sins of man and the chemical reactions that occur in the body, in fact, being the cause of a second-surnal fall.
- Laziness - according to Medina and many other researchers, our brain has its own "alarm clock" and a schedule of activity. Turn this alarm clock on and off genes, which contain information about when to recharge the batteries. In principle, if not for this "alarm clock", we would all be "Stakhanovites", and, probably, our life would be much shorter.
- Gluttony is one of the most popular sins of modern man. The gluteny work of taste and olfactory receptors, as well as the hormone leptin. This hormone gives signals to the appetite center in the hypothalamus, and the one, as soon as the body needs energy (psychological or physiological), orders to eat. In principle, even if a person suffers from gluttony, it hurts exclusively to him, and not to humanity.
- Anger is a very ancient sin that helped preserve humanity. After all, our distant ancestors only this animal state gave a chance to be competitive in a cruel world. When the world became quieter and calmer, a special zone for suppressing anger - the anterior part of the brain - developed in our brain, but it is impossible to remove this mechanism from our consciousness 100%.
- Greed - at the heart of this sin lie the genes responsible for fear and anxiety. A person experiences these feelings when he has a property right, but he is taken away. In addition, American scientists have identified a center of greed - it turns out, in anticipation of money, blood is actively pouring into one of the departments of the brain.
- Envy - this is what pushes us to action. Envy is the fruit of evolution, which is created for motivation.
- Pride - this sin comes from the ordinary sense of inferiority. For the emergence of pride include two genes, responsible for ambition and arrogance. And in principle, a haughty person is harmless,
he can donate a large sum to charity, just to feed his pride. - Lust - if not for this sin, humanity would degenerate. This is the most "biochemical" sin, since more than 30 mechanisms and genes are included in the action. Moreover, we can not consider it harmful, because the root is still the desire of a person to continue his family.
Of course, we can assume that it is very convenient to justify the animal instincts and not be responsible for their actions. However, while everything in moderation (and even gluttony and lust can be moderate), these sins can even be very useful to society.