From Andrew Cameron & Brian Rosner ed., 'Still Deadly: Ancient Cures for the 7 Sins' (Aquila Press, 2007).

I wrote elsewhere: 'Don't bother buying the 'Still Deadly' book. It's too 'Sydney Anglican' - somewhat desiccated, and heady, replete with many Bible texts and evangelical concepts. It has 'in-group' language (ex-Sydney Anglicans will know what I mean), but is quite scholarly, centring the essays by well-known Anglicans like Peter Jensen, Graham Cole, Gordon Preece etc. around the writings of Luther, Augustine, Basil of Caesarea, Aquinas, Reinhold Niebuhr and Calvin. It's actually a small feschrift for Michael Hill, formerly lecturer in ethics and vice-principal of Sydney's Moore Theological College. Its preface says 'Although you've picked up this book because it seemed interesting, we hope you'll become really, really bored by it... We hope you'll become bored witless by the pathetic pointlessness of [these 7 sins].' (Sounds like undergrad evangelicalese preachy language, eh?). I was quite bored: but there are a few gems of ideas...

Here are some passages I marked:

* (The 7 Deadly Sins are Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Anger, Pride, and Sloth.) Simone Weil has suggested this list of opposites: generosity, faithfulness, thankfulness, contentment, gentleness, humility and usefulness.

* In our culture the philosopher's question 'Who am I?' is best answered 'I am a consumer - I spend, therefore I am.' Clive Hamilton's book 'Affluenza' compares materialism to a disease. (A parliament of owls, a murder of crows, a pride of lions, a greed of humans...)

* Augustine thought that sexual lust was one of many lusts that plague us. He was far more disturbed by our lust to dominate one another, as seen in the Roman lust for power. In biblical logic, thankfulness is the antidote and vaccine for concupiscence (sexual lust).

* We are jealous of what we already have and envious of what other people have. Jealousy guards while envy seeks to steal or destroy. So envy is the plague of friendship. We desire things because others desire them, not because the the thing desired is intrinsically attractive: I desire it because you desire it. Desire is not of itself the problem, but the object of desire.

* Because over-eating leads to obesity, this form of gluttony is the most visible of the seven deadly sins. But other forms of self-abuse, like anorexia or bulimia have also recently hit epidemic proportions. So gluttony is whatever robs us of health and strength.

* Anger is not strictly evil or a vice. We can be angry without sinning, as Jesis did and as God does... anger becomes devilish when it leads to hatred.

* The sin of pride is not to be confused with legitimate self-love that recognizes one's rightful place in relation to others and to God. Nor is it to be confused with rightful expressions of aggressiveness, assertiveness, initiative, self-confidence or self-esteem, or with taking pleasure in praise (D L Okholm). Group pride, says Reinhold Niebuhr, is especially pernicious: a group can become so convinced of its goodness, excellence and holiness that it is no longer open to the reforming word of God. For surely (we reason), my group of 'right-thinking', like-minded people cannot possibly all be wrong.

* A cure for sloth? The bible tells us both to work and to cease from work. In sleep we rest. The Sabbath enables us to look after our neighbours and to attend to our fellowship with God. The work practices of the modern world are in grave danger of consuming us.

Rowland Croucher

December 2007