One lesson I have learned well is that words evolve.
What they were invented to mean is not at all what they mean decades or centuries later. We see this in The 7 Deadly Sins. With my new information coming to light on Narcissism, I thought back on the Deadly Sins, and I recalled an article I recently read on Gluttony. That Gluttony in the Nicene Bible does NOT mean today what we are told it means.
Nor does the word mean what the 15th Century Nicene Church taught.
Gluttony today means “Over-eating.” But I believe the word actually meant “Pleasure Eating,” quite literally meaning, “Enjoying Your Food.” Here is an article that talks deeper on this. I returned to the original meaning intended and this is what I dug up.
- Gluttony – Enjoy Your Food
- Lust – Sex. Any and all sex.
- Pride – Arrogance and Self-Esteem
- Greed – Abundance
- Wrath – Anger
- Envy – Sadness
- Sloth – Zen State or Being without Worry.
With my new research on Narcissism, what this list of the 7 Deadly Sins did was literally set up every human in the world for an unrealistic expectation of Perfect Failure. These “Deadly Sins” were impossible for any human to achieve, and mandated the aspirations of every person going forward to aspire to being miserable.
It was not possible. Hence the argument that followed: Every man is born a Sinner. Hence the need to “Repent.” Why these words? What would result?
- Gluttony – Eating was to be an unenjoyable suffering.
- Lust – Individuals were required to be celibate.
- Pride – Shame and Self-Loathing were encouraged.
- Greed – Embrace Poverty. Well, there is the “Money is the root of all evil” belief that most of us still embrace today.
- Wrath – Avoid and reject anger. Now, I know in Psychology that Anger is where Change and Uprising occur.
- Envy – Sadness? And you’re not supposed to be sad about this misery either. You must be happy about your miserable life.
- Sloth – Zen State or Being without Without worry? They wanted you to worry. They awarded a constant state of worry.
Over the centuries the meaning of these words have changed.
- Gluttony – Enjoy Your Food became overeating.
- Lust – Sex. Any and all sex. This changed to “possessive” sex. Or Sex Addiction.
- Pride – Arrogance and Self-Esteem. No change there.
- Greed – Abundance. Greed means an Excess or abundance to the point of Wasteful.
- Wrath – Anger became Vengeance or Rage. Violence.
- Envy – Sadness. Was desiring what was not yours or Jealousy.
- Sloth – Zen State or Being without Worry. Became Lazy.
It is extraordinary to me how much this Psychology still is embedded deeply into our Culture today. As a Psychologist, these 7 Deadly Sins are the recipe for “How to Destroy the Self and Self Love in 7 Easy Steps.”
The Nicene Church literally declared war on the Self and Self-Love.
Mind-boggling how toxic this is. It is one of the primary reasons why I have hated on the Christian Religion for as long as I did. First made aware to me by Carl Jung and Ayn Rand. Jung was the one who first implied that religion was an emotional prosthetic that allows the worshipper to avoid Self-Accountability and Responsibility. Rand openly stated that Religion destroys the Ego. I agreed with them both.