The Seven Deadly Sins 

Three Spiritual Sins 

1. Pride (spiritual sin)

2. Envy (spiritual sin)

3. Wrath (spiritual sin affected by body)

Four Corporal Sins 

4. Accidia or Sloth (corporal sin)

5. Avaricia/Cupiditas or Greed (corporal sin)

6. Gluttony (corporal sin)

7. Lust (corporal sin)

The Seven Holy Virtues 

Three Spiritual Virtues 

1. Fides (Faith)

2. Spes (Hope)

3. Caritas (Charity)

The Four Cardinal (Pagan) Virtues 

4. Prudence

5. Temperance

6. Fortitude

7. Justice

The Seven Virtues opposed the Seven Sins. In one scheme, the Seven Virtues are based on the three spiritual virtues listed by Saint Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13: Faith, Hope and Charity, followed by the four Cardinal or “Pagan” virtues: Prudence, Temperance, Fortitude, and Justice. (The idea was that any person, whether he or she was a Christian or not, might possess the four Cardinal Virtues. Only a Christian in medieval belief would possess faith in God, hope for an afterlife, and caritas— the type of charity in which one does good deeds out of love for God alone.)

An alternative but equally popular version of the Seven Virtues was the “remedial” or “contrarian” model, which listed specific virtues as the “cures” or “remedies” that stand in opposition to each of the seven sins. Prudentius devised this model in 410 AD in his allegorical poem the Psychomachia (“The Battle for the Soul”). His scheme of virtues and vices looked something like this:

Humility cures Pride 

Kindness cures Envy 

Abstinence cures Gluttony 

Chastity cures Lust 

Patience cures Wrath 

Liberality cures Greed 

Diligence cures Sloth

Continuing the numerological mysticism of seven, the medieval church assembled a list of seven good works in the catechism as cures to the seven deadly sins: these included sheltering strangers, feeding the hungry, giving drink to those thirsting, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, ministering to the imprisoned, and burying the dead. All these traditional views, however, were objects of much intellectual tinkering in the Renaissance when Protestant Christians sought to separate themselves theologically from the older Catholic teachings, and Catholic theologians sought to distinguish themselves from the upstart Protestant groups.

Whatever your religious or ethnic orientation may by, promoting virtue is promoting liberty and justice for all.