Seven Deadly Sins

Seven Deadly Sins, in Christian thought, classification of certain sins. The seven deadly sins are pride, avarice (greed), lust, anger, gluttony, envy, and sloth (laziness). There is no foundation in the Bible for the classification, but the above list has been found in the works of several spiritual writers and theologians, including St Thomas Aquinas, a leading Roman Catholic theologian during the 13th century. Aquinas slightly modified the earlier lists of St Gregory the Great, who was the first to refer to the concept, and of St John Climacus. The seven sins are not singled out because of their severity, but rather because they are the inevitable source of other sins.