The most serious sin in Christianity. What is considered a mortal sin in Orthodoxy: a list
In the old days in Russia, the favorite reading was always The Philokalia, The Ladder by St. John of the Ladder, and other soulful books. Modern Orthodox Christians, unfortunately, rarely pick up these great books. It's a pity! After all, they contain answers to questions that are often asked in confession even today: “Father, how not to get irritated?”, “Father, how to deal with despondency and laziness?”, “How to live in peace with loved ones?”, “Why Do we keep returning to the same sins?” These and other questions must be heard by every priest. These questions are answered by the theological science, which is called asceticism. She talks about what passions and sins are, how to deal with them, how to find peace of mind, how to acquire love for God and neighbor.
The word "asceticism" immediately evokes associations with ancient ascetics, Egyptian hermits, and monasteries. In general, ascetic experiments, the fight against passions are considered by many to be a purely monastic affair: we are, they say, weak people, we live in the world, we already somehow ... This, of course, is a deep delusion. Every Orthodox Christian without exception is called to the daily struggle, the war against passions and sinful habits. The apostle Paul tells us about this: “Those who are Christ’s (that is, all Christians. - Aut.) have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24). Just as soldiers take an oath and give a solemn promise - an oath - to defend the Fatherland and crush its enemies, so a Christian, as a warrior of Christ in the sacrament of baptism, swears allegiance to Christ and "renounces the devil and all his deeds," that is, from sin. This means that we will have to fight with these fierce enemies of our salvation - fallen angels, passions and sins. The fight is not for life, but for death, the fight is difficult and daily, if not hourly. Therefore, "we only dream of peace."
I will take the liberty of saying that asceticism can be called in some way Christian psychology. After all, the word "psychology" in Greek means "the science of the soul." This is a science that studies the mechanisms of human behavior and thinking. Practical psychology helps a person cope with his bad inclinations, overcome depression, learn to get along with himself and people. As you can see, the objects of attention of asceticism and psychology are the same.
Saint Theophan the Recluse said that it was necessary to compile a textbook on Christian psychology, and he himself used psychological analogies in his instructions to the questioners. The trouble is that psychology is not a single scientific discipline like physics, mathematics, chemistry or biology. There are many schools, directions that call themselves psychology. Psychology includes the psychoanalysis of Freud and Jung, as well as newfangled trends like neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). Some directions in psychology are completely unacceptable for Orthodox Christians. Therefore, one has to collect some knowledge bit by bit, separating the wheat from the chaff.
I will try, using some knowledge from practical, applied psychology, to rethink them in accordance with the teachings of the holy fathers on the fight against passions.
Before we start talking about the main passions and methods of dealing with them, let's ask ourselves the question: "Why are we fighting our sins and passions?". Recently I heard how a well-known Orthodox theologian, a professor at the Moscow Theological Academy (I won’t name him, because I respect him very much; he was my teacher, but in this case I fundamentally disagree with him) said: “worship, prayer, fasting - all this, so to speak, is scaffolding, supports for the erection of the building of salvation, but not the goal of salvation, not the meaning of the Christian life. And the goal is to get rid of passions.” I cannot agree with this, since deliverance from passions is also not an end in itself, but St. Seraphim of Sarov speaks of the true goal: “Acquire a spirit of peace - and thousands around you will be saved.” That is, the goal of a Christian's life is the acquisition of love for God and neighbor. The Lord Himself speaks of only two commandments, on which all the law and the prophets are based. This is "Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind" and "Love your neighbor as yourself"(Matthew 22:37, 39). Christ did not say that these are just two of the ten, twenty other commandments, but said that "on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets"(Matthew 22:40). These are the most important commandments, the fulfillment of which is the meaning and purpose of the Christian life. And deliverance from passions is also only a means, like prayer, worship and fasting. If deliverance from passions were the goal of a Christian, then we would not have gone far from Buddhists, who are also looking for dispassion - nirvana.
It is impossible for a person to fulfill the two main commandments while passions dominate him. A person who is subject to passions and sins loves himself and his passion. How can a vain, proud man love God and his neighbors? And who is in despondency, anger, serving the love of money? The questions are rhetorical.
Serving passions and sin does not allow a Christian to fulfill the most important, key commandment of the New Testament - the commandment of love.
Passion and suffering
From the Church Slavonic language, the word "passion" is translated as "suffering". Hence, for example, the word "passion-bearer", that is, suffering suffering, torment. And indeed, nothing torments people so much: neither illnesses, nor anything else, as their own passions, rooted sins.
First, passions serve to satisfy the sinful needs of people, and then people themselves begin to serve them: "Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin" (John 8:34).
Of course, in every passion there is an element of sinful pleasure for a person, but, nevertheless, the passions torment, torment and enslave the sinner.
The most striking examples of passionate addiction are alcoholism and drug addiction. The need for alcohol or drugs not only enslaves the soul of a person, but alcohol and drugs become a necessary component of his metabolism, a part of the biochemical processes in his body. Dependence on alcohol or drugs is a spiritual and physical addiction. And it needs to be treated in two ways, that is, healing both the soul and the body. But at the core lies sin, passion. An alcoholic, a drug addict has a family falling apart, he is expelled from work, he loses friends, but he sacrifices all this to passion. A person addicted to alcohol or drugs is ready for any crime to satisfy his passion. No wonder 90% of crimes are committed under the influence of alcoholic and narcotic substances. That's how strong the demon of drunkenness is!
Other passions can enslave the soul no less. But with alcoholism and drug addiction, the enslavement of the soul is further enhanced by bodily dependence.
People who are far from the Church, from the spiritual life often see only prohibitions in Christianity. Like, they came up with some kind of taboos, restrictions, in order to complicate people's lives. But in Orthodoxy there is nothing accidental, superfluous, everything is very harmonious and natural. In the spiritual world, as well as in the physical world, there are laws that, like the laws of nature, cannot be violated, otherwise it will lead to damage and even catastrophe. Some of these laws are expressed in commandments that protect us from trouble. Commandments, moral prescriptions can be compared with signs warning of danger: “Beware of high voltage!”, “Do not climb in, it will kill you!”, “Stop! Zone of radiation contamination” and the like, or with inscriptions on containers with poisonous liquids: “Toxic”, “Toxic” and so on. Of course, we are given freedom of choice, but if we do not pay attention to disturbing inscriptions, then we will only need to be offended by ourselves. Sin is a violation of very subtle and strict laws of spiritual nature, and it harms, first of all, the sinner himself. And in the case of passions, the harm from sin intensifies many times over, for sin becomes permanent, takes on the character of a chronic illness.
The word passion has two meanings.
Firstly, as St. John of the Ladder says, “the very vice is called passion, which from a long time has nested in the soul and through habit has become, as it were, its natural property, so that the soul already voluntarily and by itself strives for it” (Ladder. 15: 75). That is, passion is already something more than sin, it is sinful dependence, slavery to a certain type of vice.
Secondly, the word "passion" is a name that unites a whole group of sins. For example, in the book “Eight Major Passions with Their Subdivisions and Branches,” compiled by St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), eight passions are listed, and after each there is a whole list of sins united by this passion. For example, anger: irascibility, acceptance of angry thoughts, dreaming of anger and revenge, indignation of the heart with rage, clouding of his mind, incessant screaming, argument, swear words, stress, pushing, murder, remembrance of malice, hatred, enmity, revenge, slander, condemnation, indignation and resentment of one's neighbor .
Most of the holy fathers speak of the eight passions:
1. gluttony,
2. fornication,
3. love of money,
4. anger,
5. sadness,
6. despondency,
7. vanity,
8. pride.
Some, speaking of passions, combine sadness and despondency. In fact, these are somewhat different passions, but we will talk about this below.
Sometimes the eight passions are called deadly sins . Passions have such a name because they can (if they completely take over a person) disrupt spiritual life, deprive them of salvation and lead to eternal death. According to the holy fathers, behind every passion there is a certain demon, dependence on which makes a person a prisoner of a certain vice. This teaching is rooted in the Gospel: “When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, he walks through dry places, looking for rest, and not finding it, he says: I will return to my house from whence I came out, and when I come, I find it swept and cleaned; then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits worse than himself, and having entered, they dwell there, and the last for that man is worse than the first ”(Luke 11: 24-26).
Western theologians, such as Thomas Aquinas, usually write about the seven passions. In the West, in general, the number "seven" is of particular importance.
Passions are a perversion of natural human properties and needs. In human nature there is a need for food and drink, a desire for procreation. Anger can be righteous (for example, to the enemies of the faith and the Fatherland), or it can lead to murder. Thrift can be reborn into avarice. We mourn the loss of loved ones, but this should not grow into despair. Purposefulness, perseverance should not lead to pride.
A Western theologian gives a very good example. He compares passion to a dog. It's very good when the dog sits on a chain and guards our house, but it's a disaster when he climbed on the table with his paws and devoured our dinner.
Saint John Cassian the Roman says that the passions are divided into sincere, that is, coming from spiritual inclinations, for example: anger, despondency, pride, etc. They feed the soul. And bodily: they are born in the body and nourish the body. But since man is soul-bodily, the passions destroy both the soul and the body.
The same saint writes that the first six passions seem to come from one another, and "the excess of the previous gives rise to the next." For example, from excessive gluttony comes prodigal passion. From fornication - the love of money, from the love of money - anger, from anger - sadness, from sadness - despondency. And each of them is treated by expelling the previous one. For example, to conquer prodigal passion, you need to bind gluttony. To overcome sadness, one must suppress anger, and so on.
Vanity and pride stand out in particular. But they are also interconnected. Vanity gives rise to pride, and pride must be fought by defeating vanity. The Holy Fathers say that some passions are committed by the body, but they are all born in the soul, they come out of the heart of a person, as the Gospel tells us: “Evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies come from the heart of a person - this defiles a person "(Matthew 15: 18-20). The worst thing is that passions do not disappear with the death of the body. And the body, as an instrument with which a person most often commits a sin, dies, disappears. And the inability to satisfy one's passions is what will torment and burn a person after death.
And the holy fathers say that there passions will torment a person much more than on earth - without sleep and rest, they will burn like fire. And not only bodily passions will torment people, not finding satisfaction, like fornication or drunkenness, but also spiritual ones: pride, vanity, anger; because there, too, will not be able to satisfy them. And the main thing is that a person will also not be able to fight with passions; this is possible only on earth, because earthly life is given for repentance and correction.
Truly what and whom a person served in earthly life, so he will be in eternity. If he serves his passions and the devil, he will remain with them. For example, for a drug addict, hell will be an endless, never-ending "withdrawal", for an alcoholic - an eternal hangover, etc. But if a person served God, was with Him on earth, he can hope that he will be with Him there too.
Earthly life is given to us as a preparation for eternity, and here on earth we determine what about for us it is more important that about is the meaning and joy of our life - the satisfaction of passions or life with God. Paradise is a place of God's special presence, an eternal feeling of God, and God does not place anyone there by force.
Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin gives one example - an analogy that makes it possible to understand this: “On the second day of Easter 1990, Vladyka Alexander of Kostroma served the first service since the time of persecution in the Ipatiev Monastery. Until the last moment, it was not clear whether the service would take place - such was the resistance of the museum workers ... When Vladyka entered the temple, the museum workers, led by the director, stood in the porch with angry faces, some with tears in their eyes: “The priests are desecrating the temple of art ...” During the godfather I was holding a bowl of holy water. And suddenly Vladyka said to me: “Let's go to the museum, let's go to their offices!”. Come in. Vladyka says loudly: “Christ is Risen!” - and sprinkles museum workers with holy water. In response, faces twisted with anger. Probably, in the same way, the theomachists, having crossed the line of eternity, will themselves refuse to enter paradise - it will be unbearably bad for them there.
Deadly sins are acts by which a person moves away from God, addictions that a person does not want to recognize and correct. The Lord, in his great mercy to the human race, forgives mortal sins if he sees sincere repentance and a firm intention to change bad habits. You can find spiritual salvation through confession and.
What is sin?
The word "sin" has Greek roots and in translation it sounds - a mistake, a wrong step, an oversight. The commission of sin is a deviation from the true human destiny, entails a painful state of the soul, leading to its destruction and fatal illness. In the modern world, a person's sins are portrayed as a forbidden, but attractive way of expressing a person, which distorts the real essence of the term sin "- an act after which the soul becomes crippled and requires healing - confession.
10 deadly sins in Orthodoxy
The list of apostasy - sinful deeds, has a long list. The expression about the 7 deadly sins, on the basis of which serious pernicious passions arise, was formulated in 590 by St. Gregory the Great. Passion is the habitual repetition of the same mistakes, forming destructive skills that, after temporary pleasure, cause torment.
In Orthodoxy - actions, after the commission of which, a person does not repent, but voluntarily departs from God, loses touch with him. Without such support, the soul becomes stale, loses the ability to experience the spiritual joy of the earthly path, and posthumously cannot exist next to the creator, has no opportunity to go to heaven. To repent and confess, to get rid of mortal sins - you can change your priorities and addictions while in earthly life.
Original sin - what is it?
Original sin is an inclination to commit sinful acts that entered the human race, which arose after Adam and Eve, while living in paradise, succumbed to temptation and made a sinful fall. The tendency of the human will to do bad deeds was transmitted from the first inhabitants of the Earth to all people. Being born, a person receives an invisible inheritance - a sinful state of nature.
Sodomy sin - what is it?
The wording of the concept of Sodom sin is associated with the name of the ancient city of Sodom. Sodomites, in search of carnal pleasures, entered into physical relationships with individuals of the same sex, did not neglect acts of violence and coercion in fornications. Homosexual relationships or sodomy, bestiality are grave sins that come from fornication, they are shameful and vile. The inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as the surrounding cities, who lived in debauchery, were punished by the Lord - fire and rain of sulfur were sent from heaven to destroy the wicked.
According to God's plan, a man and a woman were endowed with distinctive mental and bodily features in order to complement each other. They became one whole, prolonging the human race. Family relations in marriage, the birth and upbringing of children are the direct responsibility of every person. Fornication is a carnal sin involving a physical relationship between a man and a woman, without coercion, not supported by a family union. Adultery is the satisfaction of physical lust with damage to the family union.
Msheloimstvo - what is this sin?
Orthodox sins cause the habit of acquiring different things, sometimes completely unnecessary and unimportant - this is called misloimism. The desire to acquire new objects, to accumulate many things in the earthly world, enslaves a person. The addiction to collecting, the tendency to acquire expensive luxury items - the storage of soulless valuables that are not useful in the afterlife, but in earthly life take a lot of money, nerves, time, become an object of love that a person could show in relation to another person.
Covetousness - what is this sin?
Covetousness is a way of making money or receiving money at the expense of infringement of a neighbor, his difficult circumstances, the acquisition of property by fraudulent actions and transactions, theft. Human sins are harmful addictions that, having realized and repented, can be left in the past, however, the rejection of covetousness requires the return of acquired or squandering property, which is a difficult step towards correction.
Covetousness - what kind of sin is this?
According to the Bible, sins are described as passions - the habits of human nature to occupy life and thoughts with hobbies that prevent you from thinking about God. The love of money is the love of money, the desire to possess and preserve earthly wealth, it is closely connected with greed, avarice, covetousness, mischief, self-interest. A money-lover collects material values - wealth. He builds human relationships, career, love and friendship on the basis of whether it is profitable or not. It is difficult for a money-loving person to understand that true values are not measured by money, real feelings are not for sale and cannot be bought.
Malachi - what is this sin?
Malakia is a Church Slavonic word meaning the sin of masturbation or masturbation. Masturbation is a sin, the same for women and men. By committing such an act, a person becomes a slave to prodigal passion, which can develop into other serious vices - types of unnatural fornications, turn into a habit of indulging impure thoughts. It is fitting for those who are unmarried and widowed to preserve bodily purity and not defile themselves with destructive passions. If there is no desire to abstain, one must enter into marriage.
Despondency is a mortal sin
Despondency is a sin that weakens the soul and body, it develops a decline in physical strength, laziness, and a feeling of spiritual despair and hopelessness comes. The desire to work disappears and a wave of hopelessness and careless attitude overtakes - an obscure emptiness appears. Depression is a state of despondency, when unreasonable longing arises in the human soul, there is no desire to do good deeds - to work to save the soul and help others.
The sin of pride - what is it expressed in?
Pride - a sin that causes a desire to rise, to be recognized in society - an arrogant attitude and contempt for others, based on the significance of one's own personality. A sense of pride is the loss of simplicity, the cooling of the heart, the lack of a sense of compassion for others, the manifestation of strict merciless reasoning about the actions of another person. The proud person does not recognize God's help in the path of life, does not have feelings of gratitude for those who do good.
Idleness - what is this sin?
Idleness is a sin, an addiction to which makes a person unwilling to work, to put it simply - idleness. From such a state of mind, other passions are generated - drunkenness, fornication, condemnation, deceit, etc. A non-working - idle person lives at the expense of another, sometimes blaming him for insufficient maintenance, is irritable from unhealthy sleep - without having worked hard during the day, he does not receive proper rest granted by fatigue. Envy seizes an idle person when he looks at the fruits of a worker. He is seized by despair and despondency - which is considered a grave sin.
Gluttony - what is this sin?
Addiction to food and drink is a sinful desire called gluttony. It is an attraction that gives the body power over the spiritual mind. Gluttony manifests itself in several forms - overeating, delighting with tastes, gourmetism, drunkenness, secret eating. Saturation of the womb should not be an important goal, but only a reinforcement of bodily needs - a need that does not limit spiritual freedom.
Mortal sins inflict spiritual wounds that lead to suffering. The initial illusion of temporary pleasure develops into an addiction that requires more and more sacrifices, takes away part of the earthly time allocated to a person for prayers and good deeds. He becomes a slave to a passionate will, which is unnatural for the state of nature and, as a result, causes harm to himself. The opportunity to realize and change their addictions is given to everyone, passions can be overcome by virtues that are opposite to them in action.
If a person is asked: “What do you think is the worst sin?” - one will call the murder, the other - theft, the third - meanness, the fourth - betrayal. In fact, the most terrible sin is unbelief, and it gives birth to meanness, and betrayal, and adultery, and theft, and murder, and whatever.
Sin is not an offense; transgression is a consequence of sin, just as a cough is not a disease, but its consequence. It often happens that a person has not killed anyone, has not robbed, has not done any meanness, and therefore thinks well of himself, but he does not know that his sin is worse than murder, and worse than theft, because he is in his life passes by the most important.
Unbelief is a state of mind when a person does not feel God. It is connected with ingratitude to God, and not only people who completely deny the existence of God are infected with it, but also each of us. Like any mortal sin, unbelief blinds a person. If someone is asked, say, about higher mathematics, he will say: “This is not my topic, I don’t understand anything about it.” If you ask about cooking, he will say: “I can’t even cook soup, it’s not in my competence.” But when it comes to faith, everyone has their own opinion.
One states: I think so; other: I think so. One says: fasting is not necessary. And the other: my grandmother was a believer, and she did this, so you need to do this. And everyone undertakes to judge and judge, although in most cases they do not understand anything about it.
Why, when questions relate to faith, everyone strives to express their opinion without fail? Why do people suddenly become experts in these matters? Why are they sure that everyone here understands, everyone knows? Because everyone believes that he believes in the very degree to which it is necessary. In fact, this is absolutely not true, and it is very easy to check. The Gospel says: "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, and say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move." If this is not observed, then there is no faith even with a mustard seed. Since a person is blinded, he believes that he believes enough, but in fact he cannot do even such a trifle as moving a mountain, which can be moved even without faith. And because of lack of faith, all our troubles occur.
When the Lord was walking on the waters, Peter, who loved no one in the world as much as Christ, wanted to come to Him and said: “Command me, and I will go to You.” The Lord says, "Go." And Peter also walked on the waters, but for a second he was frightened, doubted and began to sink and exclaimed: “Lord, save me, I am perishing!” First, he collected all his faith, and as long as it was enough, he went through so much, and then, when the "reserve" dried up, he began to sink.
That's the way we are. Who among us does not know that God exists? Everybody knows. Who doesn't know that God hears our prayers? Everybody knows. God is omniscient, and wherever we are, He hears all the words we speak. We know that the Lord is good. Even today's Gospel confirms this, and our whole life shows how merciful He is to us. The Lord Jesus Christ says that if our child asks for bread, shall we give him a stone, or if he asks for a fish, shall we give him a snake. Who among us can do this? None. But we are evil people. Can the Lord who is good do this?
Nevertheless, we grumble all the time, we moan all the time, we all the time disagree with one thing, then another. The Lord tells us that the path to the Kingdom of Heaven lies through many sufferings, but we do not believe. We all want to be healthy, happy, we all want to do well on earth. The Lord says that only the one who follows Him and takes up his cross will reach the Kingdom of Heaven, but this again does not suit us, we again insist on our own, although we consider ourselves believers. Purely theoretically, we know that the gospel contains the truth, but our whole life goes against it. And often we do not have the fear of God, because we forget that the Lord is always there, always looking at us. Therefore, we sin so easily, we easily condemn, we can easily wish evil to a person, it is easy to neglect it, offend him, offend him.
Theoretically, we know that there is an omnipresent God, but our heart is far from Him, we do not feel Him, it seems to us that God is somewhere out there, in the infinite space, and He does not see us and does not know us. Therefore, we sin, therefore we do not agree with His commandments, we claim the freedom of others, we want to remake everything in our own way, we want to change our whole life and make it the way we see fit. But this is completely wrong, we can’t manage our lives to such an extent. We can only humble ourselves before what the Lord gives us, and rejoice in the goodness and the punishments that He sends, because through this He teaches us the Kingdom of Heaven.
But we do not believe Him - we do not believe that it is impossible to be rude, and therefore we are rude; we do not believe that it is impossible to be irritated, and we are irritated; we do not believe that it is impossible to envy, and we often put our eyes on someone else's and envy the well-being of other people. And some dare to envy spiritual gifts from God - this is generally a terrible sin, because everyone receives from God what he can bear.
Unbelief is not only for people who deny God; it penetrates deeply into our lives. Therefore, we are often discouraged, in a panic, we do not know what to do; tears choke us, but these are not tears of repentance, they do not cleanse us from sin - these are tears of despair, because we forget that the Lord sees everything; we are angry, we grumble, we are indignant.
Why do we want to force all our loved ones to go to church, pray, take communion? From unbelief, because we forget that God wants the same. We forget that God wants every person to be saved and cares about everyone. It seems to us that there is no God, that something depends on us, on some of our efforts - and we begin to convince, tell, explain, but we only make it worse, because you can only be attracted to the Kingdom of Heaven by the Holy Spirit, and we don't have him. Therefore, we only irritate people, cling to them, annoy, torment, under a good pretext, turn their lives into hell.
We violate the precious gift that is given to man - the gift of freedom. By our claims, by the fact that we want to remake everyone in our own image and likeness, and not in the image of God, we lay claim to the freedom of others and try to force everyone to think the way we think ourselves, but this is impossible. Truth can be revealed to a person if he asks about it, if he wants to know it, but we constantly impose it. There is no humility in this act, and if there is no humility, then there is no grace of the Holy Spirit. And without the grace of the Holy Spirit, there will be no result, or rather, there will be, but the opposite.
And so it is in everything. And the reason is disbelief in God, disbelief in God, in His good Providence, in the fact that God is love, that He wants to save everyone. Because if we believed Him, we would not act like that, we would only ask. Why does a person go to some grandmother, to a healer? Because he does not believe either in God or in the Church, he does not believe in the power of grace. First, he will bypass all sorcerers, sorcerers, psychics, and if nothing helped, then he turns to God: maybe he will help. And the most amazing thing is that it helps.
If some person neglected us all the time, and then began to ask us for something, we would say: you know, this is not good, you treated me so badly all your life, and now you come to ask me? But the Lord is merciful, the Lord is meek, the Lord is humble. Therefore, no matter what paths-roads a person walks, no matter what outrages he does, but if he turns to God from the heart, at the last, as they say, worst end, the Lord helps here, because He is only waiting for our prayer .
The Lord said, “Whatever you ask the Father in My name, he will give it to you,” but we do not believe. We do not believe in our prayer, nor in the fact that God hears us - we do not believe in anything. That is why everything is empty with us, therefore our prayer, as it were, is not fulfilled, it cannot not only move a mountain, but cannot manage anything at all.
If we really believed in God, then any person could be directed to the true path. And it is possible to direct on the true path precisely by prayer, because it gives a person love. Prayer before God is a mystery, and there is no violence in it, there is only a request: Lord, rule, help, heal, save.
If we had done so, we would have been more successful. And we all hope for conversations, that we can somehow manage it ourselves, save something like that for some rainy day. Whoever waits for a rainy day, he will surely come. Without God, you won’t achieve anything anyway, so the Lord says: “Seek first of all the Kingdom of God, and everything else will be added to you.” But we don't believe that either. Our life is not aimed at the Kingdom of God, it is more focused on people, on human relations, on how to fix everything here. We want to satisfy our own pride, our own vanity, our own ambition. If we aspired to the Kingdom of Heaven, we would rejoice when we are oppressed, when we are offended, because this contributes to our entry into the Kingdom of Heaven. We would rejoice at illness, but we grumble and are horrified. We are afraid of death, we all try to prolong our existence, but again, not for the sake of the Lord, not for the sake of repentance, but out of our own lack of faith, out of fear.
The sin of lack of faith has penetrated very deeply into us, and we must fight very hard against it. There is such an expression - "feat of faith", because only faith can move a person to something real. And if every time in our life there is such a situation that we can act in a divine way and we can act in a human way, if every time we courageously act according to our faith, then our faith will grow, it will be strengthened.
Every sin separates a person from God, the source of life.
With eight deadly sins. A sin that leads to death all mankind, regardless of their religion. Know your enemy by sight, memorize sevenmortal sins.
With mortal sin in Christianity is a grave sin that entails the loss of the salvation of the soul in the absence of repentance. This term is widely used in Catholic theology, where a creed is developed that distinguishes between serious and ordinary sins. Similarly, the term is also used in some non-Catholic churches, including Orthodoxy. But there is no such definition of mortal sin, which is contained in a specific Catholic doctrine (Encyclopedia).
AT In this article, I will try to remind the reader and draw his attention to the sin that leads to death. The goal is to remind about what we have ceased to betray the value and attention. Sin does not prolong life, but. We face the manifestation of sin every day, it manifests itself in various areas of our lives. We see this in real life environments on the internet and on television. It is important to understand and not forget that the sinful nature surrounds you and the world in which you are, remember this and be fully armed, keep sin out of your life.
With mortal sin is not based on biblical texts and is not a direct revelation of God, but the bible reveals and warns about each of these seven sins, if possible I will try to convey this.
To briefly about where the doctrine came from, about the seven deadly sins. Early in the 5th century, the Greek monk Evagrius of Pontus created a list of sins, and there were eight of them. At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gregory I the Great reduced the list to seven elements. Later Christian theologians objected to this teaching. However, this teaching still exists today.
D Let's look at these seven sins, as well as what the Holy Scriptures say about it. The Bible has enough word to turn a person away from sin. Please do not judge strictly if I was not fully able to convey this.
1. Pride- this is an excessive faith in one's own abilities, which conflicts with the greatness of the Lord. In the Bible in the book of the prophet Jeremiah it is written
(Jer.50:31-32) “Behold, I am against you, pride, says the Lord God of hosts, for your day has come, the time of your visitation. And pride will stumble and fall, and no one will lift it up; and I will kindle a fire in its cities, and it will consume all around it.”
This verse clearly shows us how the Lord God deals with pride.
2. Envy- displeasure at the sight of someone else's happiness and pleasure in his own not happiness. In the Holy Scriptures in the book of Solomon's parables, it is very intelligibly said about envy.
(Prov. 14:30) "A meek heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones."
3. AngerIt is a feeling of strong indignation and indignation.uh
(Prov.27:3) “Heavy is the stone, weight and sand; but the wrath of a fool is heavier than both of them."
4. Slothis the avoidance of spiritual and physical work. It is written in the word of God
(Prov. 26:13-16) “The sloth speaks; "lion on the road! lion in the squares! The door turns on its hooks, and the sloth on his bed. The sloth puts his hand into the bowl, and it is hard for him to bring it to his mouth. The sloth is wiser in his eyes, the seven who answer thoughtfully.
5. Greed- this is an excessive desire for material enrichment, greed, rejection and ignorance of spiritual principles.
(2 Corinthians 9:6) “At this I will say; whoever sets sparingly will reap sparingly; but whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”
6. Gluttony- this is an unrestrained desire to consume more food than is required for the body. In the book of Jesus son of Sirach
(Sir 37.33) written; « For from overdoing comes sickness, and satiety leads to cholera.
7. voluptuousnessIt is a craving for carnal pleasures.
(Gal.5:19) “The works of the flesh are known; they are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness.”
(1 John 2:1-2) “My children, I write this to you, no matter what you sin, and if anyone sins, then we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
T eologists say that every person, without exception, since the time of Adam and Eve has been corrupted by sin. Sin darkens the mind, weakens and captivates the will, squeezes the heart of a person with sadness and despondency. Blessed is he who realizes the cause of his grief - sinfulness, and not life circumstances or the actions of other people. A correct diagnosis also leads to healing, through the pursuit of righteousness, through humility, repentance, and meekness.
H We must not forget that any sin removes us from God, the source of life, we must not forget that sin is dangerous, because it inevitably entails other sins.
D Dear reader, do not forget to leave your feedback or addition to this article.
If you don't want to burn in hell forever, read on! So, in order not to go to hell, it is necessary: not to commit, not to have, not to experience the following sinful actions, thoughts, impulses:
1. Abortion.
2. Causeless insurance.
3. Pointless collecting.
4. Unnatural fornication (masturbation, or onanism, same-sex copulation, bestiality).
5. Fornication, dreams. Satisfaction with these thoughts.
6. Swearing, cruel, caustic words.
7. In the presence of strangers, a constant game, like on a stage, in order to attract attention.
8. Attention to other qualities of your body (posture, harmony, athleticism).
9. Attention to the beauty of your face, appearance, use of cosmetics.
10. Indignation of the heart with rage.
11. Theft.
12. Enmity.
13. Lies for boasting.
14. Hot temper.
15. High self-esteem, self-worth.
16. Arrogance.
17. Displacement of God from the mind and heart by various addictions and worldly, vain cares.
18. Anger
19. Pride
20. Robbery.
21. Insolence.
22. Prolonged non-participation in the sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion.
23. Thirst for praise.
24. Cruelty to animals.
25. Envy (grief, desire for evil to the neighbor about his well-being).
26. Malevolence.
27. Schadenfreude (joy, rejoicing over failures, misfortune of one's neighbor).
28. Playing cards
29. Excessive sleep comfort.
30. Treason of marital fidelity.
31. Pampered life
32. Exhausting yourself with extra work in order to earn more money.
33. Looking for easy ways.
34. The search for human glory (respect, praise, honors, fame).
35. Confession of false religions (non-Orthodox).
36. Slander.
37. Deceit.
38. Blasphemy (ridiculing any religious truths).
39. Smoking, drinking, drug addiction.
40. Sloth for every good deed, especially for prayer.
41. Hypocrisy (playing a pious person, doing good deeds for show).
42. Lie.
43. Cunning, cunning, shamelessness.
44. Fornication
45. Covetousness
46. Cowardice.
47. Cowardly timidity.
48. Msheloimstvo (acquisition of luxury goods).
49. Thoughts of suicide.
50. Insolence, rudeness.
51. Beating. Murder.
52. Irreverent attitude towards sacred things.
53. Ingratitude to God for everything that happens.
54. Negligence.
55. Unbelief in God as a Provider, Guardian of our life
56. Disbelief in God, as in the Omnipresent, All-Seeing.
57. Inattention, distraction in prayer.
58. Intemperance of spouses during fasting, on the eve of Sundays, holidays.
59. Non-education of children in the Orthodox faith.
60. Unwillingness to have true knowledge of the Orthodox faith.
61. Illicit relations before marriage.
62. Unmercifulness to the poor, the needy.
63. Hatred.
64. Disobedience to superiors, state. authorities, etc.
65. Not attending the temple on Sunday and holidays.
66. Disrespect for parents, refusal to help them.
67. Disrespectful attitude to the state. authorities, chiefs, guardians of public order, military personnel, older in age.
68. Incessant gluttony.
69. Non-self-reproach (do not consider yourself guilty when failures, misfortunes, sorrows befall).
70. Non-observance of fasts.
71. Impatience in any business.
72. Impatience of denunciations, admonitions, reproaches.
73. Immoderate fasting at Christmas, Easter (drunkenness, festivities, visiting guests).
74. Deception for the purpose of profit.
75. Seeking help from the servants of Satan (sorcerers, soothsayers, psychics, hypnotists, bioenergetics, coders, etc.).
76. Grief of the soul, loss of a good mood for various reasons (had little to eat, or tasteless, lost a thing, money; there is no opportunity to rest; they do not respect, scold, etc.)
77. To offend, anger one's neighbor, cause him annoyance, displeasure.
78. Denial of existence (atheism)
79. Despair (lack of hope in God in misfortunes that have befallen).
80. Memory of malice
81. Sadness.
82. Carnival
83. Peeping, eavesdropping, reading other people's letters.
84. Breaking things in anger.
85. Visiting the mausoleum, laying flowers to the monuments to the leaders of the revolution.
86. Haste in prayer.
87. Loss of the meaning of life.
88. Idle pastime (trip, restaurants, discos, concerts, gambling, sports, etc.).
89. Idle thought (empty fantasies, memories, mental dialogues).
90. Idle talk, jokes, blasphemers, gossip.
91. Preferring yourself to everyone.
92. Premonition of something terrible.
93. Contempt of neighbor.
94. Controversy.
95. The habit of interfering in conversation.
96. The habit of pleasing yourself with delicious food.
97. Addiction to money, property.
98. Addicted to certain things (favorite cup, vase, etc.)
99. Curse your neighbor, wish him death, misfortune.
100. Curse yourself, wish yourself death, misfortune.
101. Curse a person in anger, wish him death, misfortune.
102. Disclosure of other people's weaknesses, bad deeds.
103. Conversations in the temple.
104. Disposition towards worldly sciences, striving to succeed in them in order to acquire earthly honors.
105. Murmuring
106. Self-admiration.
107. Self-justification: after a committed sin, justify oneself, forgetting about repentance; when someone convicts trying to make excuses, to find reasons, to put the blame on oneself.
108. Sacrilege (neglect, mockery of a temple, a cross, an icon and other sacred objects).
109. Tendency to leadership, desire to command.
110. Tendency to argue.
111. Tendency to draw attention to oneself (to joke, to be witty, to be original; to dress flashy).
112. Tendency to humiliate the guard.
113. Avarice, greed.
114. Ridiculous.
115. Seducing one's neighbor to sin (paying with vodka, exposing one's body on the beach, wearing short, immodest clothes, etc.)
116. Cohabitation in a marriage not consecrated by the Sacrament of the Wedding.
117. Doubt about the existence of hell, eternal torment.
118. Doubt or disbelief in any other truths of the Orthodox faith.
119. Doubts about the existence of the afterlife
120. Dispute turning into a scandal, disturbing the heart with anger.
121. Passionate desire to get rich.
122. The desire to look no worse than others, the acquisition of fashionable clothes, things, rich furniture, dishes, a car, etc. for this.
123. The desire to teach others, to point out, to give advice.
124. Shame to confess one's sins, hiding them in Confession.
125. Superstition
126. Consider yourself an extraordinary person, endowed with some abilities, intelligence, knowledge, strength, beauty, etc.
127. Consider yourself righteous before God, worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven for the sake of your own virtues.
128. Dancing.
129. Pushing in anger. Beatings. Murder.
130. Difficulty asking for forgiveness.
131. Vanity
132. Dejected state of mind, impotence, apathy.
133. Evasion from service in the Armed Forces.
134. Despondency
135. Unnecessarily mentioning evil spirits; curse.
136. Mention of the name of God, holy saints of God in vain conversation.
137. Stubbornness (unwillingness to give in when possible).
138. Participation in demonstrations. Celebration of the New Year (falls on Advent).
139. Participation in pioneer, Komsomol, party and other organizations that deny the existence of God.
140. Familiarity (free treatment of others).
141. Negligent performance of one's duties at work and at home.
142. Boasting
143. It's bad to talk about your neighbor.
144. Frequent, unnecessary walks, visiting friends.
145. Human pleasing, flattery, compliments; to give praise, honors to people for the sake of their goals or out of fear of the boss.
146. Reading books on sinful topics, watching TV shows, photographs.