The Seven Deadly Sins: What the Bible Says and Where They Come From
The seven deadly sins are pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth. The Bible never lists them as a set of seven. The list grew out of early church teaching, from the monk Evagrius in the fourth century to Pope Gregory the Great in 590, and each of the seven vices is warned against in Scripture.
If you have ever wondered what the seven deadly sins really are, and whether the Bible lists them, you are in good company. The phrase turns up in films, paintings and everyday talk, yet many people could not say where it came from.
This guide gives you the full list, the history behind it, and what Scripture says about each vice. It also looks at where Christians differ, and it ends with a practical and hopeful way to deal with these habits, because the Christian story is about forgiveness as much as warning.
Contents
What are the seven deadly sins?
Are the seven deadly sins in the Bible?
Where does the list of the seven deadly sins come from?
What does the Bible say about each of the seven deadly sins?
Why are they called deadly sins?
Where do Christians differ on the seven deadly sins?
Which deadly sin do people in Britain think is worst?
How can a Christian overcome the seven deadly sins?
Frequently asked questions
Key takeaways
References and further reading
What are the seven deadly sins?
The traditional list has seven vices. The Catechism of the Catholic Church names them in paragraph 1866 as pride, avarice (greed), envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia. Britannica gives the same seven, with greed also called covetousness and gluttony understood to include drunkenness.
Pride: thinking more of yourself than you ought, and forgetting what you have been given by God.
Greed: an immoderate desire for riches and possessions, or for fame, attention and power.
Lust: disordered desire, usually sexual, that treats another person as something to use.
Envy: sadness at someone else's good fortune, with a wish to have it for yourself.
Gluttony: excess in eating and drinking, which includes drunkenness.
Wrath: hatred or resentment with a desire for revenge.
Sloth: a lack of effort in spiritual and practical duties, often called acedia.
The word capital here comes from the Latin caput, meaning head. The Catechism says these sins are called capital because they engender other sins and vices. They are the root habits that other wrongs grow from.
The word deadly describes how dangerous the habits are. It does not mean that every slip is beyond forgiveness. We come back to that in the section on why they are called deadly.
Are the seven deadly sins in the Bible?
No. The Bible never gives this list as a set of seven. Wikipedia's summary puts it plainly: the sins are not explicitly listed in the Bible but developed within early Christian teaching, drawing on various biblical passages. So the list is a teaching tool built from Scripture, not a verse you can quote.
Scripture does give lists of its own. Proverbs 6:16-19 says in the NIV: "There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him". The items that follow are haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a wicked scheming heart, feet quick to rush into evil, a false witness and someone who stirs up conflict. That is a different seven, although it begins with haughty eyes, which is pride.
Paul's list of the "acts of the flesh" in Galatians 5:19-21 includes "hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like". He warns that "those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Jesus names the same roots in Mark 7:21-23: "it is from within, out of a person's heart, that evil thoughts come". His list there includes greed, envy and arrogance. Colossians 3:5 says, "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature", and goes on to name lust, evil desires and greed, "which is idolatry".
So each of the seven is condemned in the Bible. What the Bible does not do is bundle them into this exact list. That came later, and it is worth seeing how.
Where does the list of the seven deadly sins come from?
The story begins in the Egyptian desert. Evagrius Ponticus (346 to 399) was a monk who wrote guidance for other monks about eight troubling thoughts, called logismoi in Greek. They were gluttony, lust, avarice, sadness, anger, acedia (a weary listlessness), vainglory and pride.
The Thoughtful Catholic's history of the list makes a helpful point. For Evagrius these were tempting thoughts to notice and resist, more than sins to be counted up on a chart.
John Cassian (about 360 to 435) carried the teaching west. In his writing on monastic life he put the eight into Latin and called them principal faults.
Pope Gregory the Great, who led the church from 590 to 604, reshaped the list in his Moralia in Job, a long commentary on the Book of Job. He called pride the queen of the vices and the beginning of all sin, citing a verse from Sirach (10:15), a book found in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles. Under her he placed seven captains: vainglory, envy, anger, sadness, avarice, gluttony and lust.
Wikipedia's summary of the history adds that Gregory added envy, dropped acedia and wrote lust in place of fornication.
In the 13th century Thomas Aquinas (about 1225 to 1274) defended Gregory's idea in his Summa Theologiae. He called them capital sins because they are the head and source of other sins, and he brought sloth back in place of sadness.
The last change came with Robert Bellarmine, a Jesuit whose catechism was approved in 1598. He joined vainglory to pride, and that gives us the list we use today.
Art and literature then fixed the seven in the public mind. Britannica points to Dante's Divine Comedy and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, both written in the 14th century, and Hieronymus Bosch painted the sins around 1505 to 1510.
So the list is old, but it is not apostolic. It was not handed down by Jesus or Paul. That does not make it useless. Many Christians find it a sharp mirror for ordinary habits.
What does the Bible say about each of the seven deadly sins?
Here is each vice in the order most people know it, with the Scripture that speaks to it and the quality the tradition sets against it. All quotations are from the NIV.
Pride
Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." James 4:6 adds, "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble."
Jesus tells a story about two men at prayer in Luke 18:9-14. The Pharisee thanks God that he is not like other people. The tax collector will not even look up and says, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Jesus says that man went home justified, because "all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."
Britannica describes sinful pride as thinking more of yourself than you ought, with no appreciation of the gifts received from God. The opposing virtue is humility. That does not mean thinking poorly of yourself. It means seeing yourself truthfully, as someone who depends on God and on other people.
Greed
In Luke 12:15 Jesus warns, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." In Matthew 6:24 he says, "You cannot serve both God and money."
Paul goes further in Colossians 3:5, where he lists "evil desires and greed, which is idolatry." Greed is not only about the rich. It can sit in anyone who feels they never have enough. The opposing virtue is charity, which here means open-handed generosity. Our guides on what the Bible says about money and biblical stewardship look at this in detail.
Lust
Jesus teaches in Matthew 5:28 that "anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." The concern is the heart, not only the act.
Paul puts it simply in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20: "Flee from sexual immorality." He gives the reason too: "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you". Britannica describes lust as inordinate or illicit sexual desire. The Bible does not treat desire within marriage as sinful. The warning is about desire that has slipped its proper place and treats a person as an object. The traditional opposing virtue is chastity.
Envy
Proverbs 14:30 says, "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." Paul lists "envy" among the acts of the flesh in Galatians 5:21.
The first murder in the Bible grows from this kind of resentment. In Genesis 4:5-7 Cain is angry that his offering was not received. God says to him, "sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it." Britannica notes that envy is more than jealousy because it believes another person's good fortune lessens your own. Its opposite is gratitude.
Gluttony
Proverbs 23:20-21 warns, "Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor". Paul says of some people in Philippians 3:19, "their god is their stomach."
Britannica is careful here. Eating and drinking for pleasure is not seen as sinful. It is excess beyond reason that is the sin, and drunkenness counts as a form of it. The opposing virtue is temperance. Please read this section with care if you struggle with food or alcohol. The Bible is concerned with a life ruled by appetite, never with body shape. If eating or drinking is causing you distress, a GP can help, and the NHS mental health services page is a good place to start.
Wrath
Ephesians 4:26-27 gives a wise rule: "In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold." Colossians 3:8 says to rid yourselves of "anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language".
Not all anger is wrong. Britannica separates wrath, which is hatred with a desire for vengeance, from anger that is balanced with reason. It also notes that Christian teaching distinguishes God's wrath, a form of divine justice, from human wrath. The opposing virtue is patience.
Sloth
Proverbs 6:9-11 asks, "How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?" Romans 12:11 gives the other side: "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."
Sloth is more than laziness. The Catechism's wording, quoted by Britannica, is a "culpable lack of physical or spiritual effort", and some theologians use the older word acedia for a spiritual weariness that leads to discouragement. Acedia is not the same thing as clinical depression. If you feel flat or hopeless for weeks, speak to your GP, and read our careful guide on what the Bible says about depression. In the UK, Samaritans are free to call on 116 123. The opposing virtue is diligence.
Why are they called deadly sins?
In Romans 6:23 Paul writes, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Every sin, then, has a serious end if it is left alone. The seven are called deadly because they are the roots that feed so many other wrongs, as the Catechism puts it.
Catholic teaching also separates mortal sin, which cuts a person off from God's grace, from venial sin, which is less serious. Britannica gives lust as an example. It could lead to adultery, a mortal sin, or to less intentional thoughts classed as venial. The Bible itself says in 1 John 5:17, "All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death."
Notice that the word deadly describes the danger of a habit. It is not a sentence on the person. The same Bible says in Romans 3:23 that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God". Our guide to what sin is in the Bible explains this more fully.
Where do Christians differ on the seven deadly sins?
Wikipedia notes that the list is retained in the Anglican Communion, the Lutheran Church and the Methodist Church, as well as in the Catholic Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church gives it formally in paragraph 1866. The older set of eight thoughts from Evagrius belongs to the Eastern monastic tradition, and Wikipedia notes that his list was rendered in the Philokalia, a collection of Orthodox spiritual writing.
Some Christians, especially in traditions that put Scripture first, treat the list as a helpful teaching from the church fathers and not as doctrine. They would point out that the Bible has other lists, such as Proverbs 6:16-19, and that no verse gives these seven in this order. Others find the old list a practical guide for examining the conscience.
Christians also differ on how to rank the sins. Gregory and Aquinas made pride the root of the rest, while Wikipedia notes that lust is generally thought the mildest of the seven in the medieval view. Scripture itself warns against ranking too neatly, since Jesus said in Mark 7:21-23 that all such evils "come from inside and defile a person."
See also our comparison of Christianity and Catholicism for more on how traditions differ.
Which deadly sin do people in Britain think is worst?
A YouGov poll published on 20 February 2014 asked people in Britain about the seven vices. It is now several years old, but it is still a useful snapshot. Greed was seen as the deadliest sin by 43% of those asked, followed by wrath at 18%, sloth at 11% and envy at 7%.
When asked which sin they showed most themselves, 25% said gluttony and 25% said sloth. Pride was the third most common at 19% overall, and it ranked first for people over 60 at 25%. Those figures come from YouGov's own report, and attitudes may well have changed since.
How can a Christian overcome the seven deadly sins?
The Christian message is not "try harder". It is forgiveness first, then change with God's help. Here is a practical way to begin.
Name the habit honestly. Ask which of the seven you drift towards. Most of us have one or two that show up again and again.
Confess it. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." You can say this in your own words, alone or with a trusted friend or minister.
Receive forgiveness. Psalm 103:12 says, "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." Guilt is not meant to be a place to live.
Practise the opposite. Choose one small action: give something away, thank someone, take a walk before replying in anger, or start one overdue task. Habits are changed by repeated small choices.
Pray for the Spirit's fruit. Galatians 5:22-23 describes it: "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Our guide on the Holy Spirit says more, and how to pray is a gentle place to begin.
Keep company that helps. Faith is rarely lived alone. A church, a small group or one honest friend makes change far more likely.
If you are new to all this, What Is Salvation in Christianity? and Christianity and Forgiveness explain why Christians say forgiveness is a gift and not a wage. The big picture is in our guide to what Christianity is.
A short prayer
Lord, you know the habits I keep returning to. I bring them to you honestly, without hiding. Forgive me, as you promised, and give me a humble heart, a generous hand, a calm temper and a grateful spirit. Help me take one small step today. Amen.
Frequently asked questions
What are the seven deadly sins in order?
The common order is pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth. The Catechism of the Catholic Church lists them in paragraph 1866 as pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony and sloth, so the order varies by source. Pope Gregory the Great's own order was different again.
Are the seven deadly sins in the Bible?
Not as a list of seven. The Bible condemns each of these vices, but the set of seven developed in early church teaching from the fourth to the sixth century. Proverbs 6:16-19 gives a different list of seven things the Lord hates.
Which of the seven deadly sins is the worst?
Gregory the Great and Thomas Aquinas treated pride as the root of the others. In the 2014 YouGov poll of people in Britain, 43% named greed as the deadliest. Scripture does not rank them neatly.
Are the deadly sins unforgivable?
No. 1 John 1:9 promises that God forgives those who confess. Catholic teaching distinguishes mortal from venial sin, and in the Catholic view mortal sin is forgiven through repentance and the sacrament of reconciliation. Protestant churches generally teach that all sin is forgiven in Christ.
Was there ever an eighth deadly sin?
Yes, in the earliest lists. Evagrius Ponticus named eight troubling thoughts in the fourth century, and Cassian's Latin list also had eight. Gregory the Great reduced them to seven in his Moralia in Job in the sixth century.
What are the opposites of the seven deadly sins?
The traditional pairings are humility for pride, charity for greed, chastity for lust, gratitude for envy, temperance for gluttony, patience for wrath and diligence for sloth.
Do Protestants believe in the seven deadly sins?
Some do. Wikipedia notes the list is retained in Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist teaching. Others treat it as a useful tradition and not as doctrine, since no verse lists the seven together.
Key takeaways
The seven deadly sins are pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth.
The Bible condemns each vice but never lists the seven together. The list came from Evagrius, Cassian, Gregory the Great and Aquinas.
Pride is traditionally the root of the others, and each sin has an opposite virtue.
Christians differ on how much weight the list carries, and on mortal and venial sin.
Deadly describes how dangerous a habit is. Forgiveness is promised to those who confess (1 John 1:9).
References and further reading
Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1865 to 1869: The proliferation of sin
The Thoughtful Catholic: A Brief History of the Seven Deadly Sins
YouGov: Greed is seen as the deadliest sin (20 February 2014)
Wikipedia: Seven deadly sins (second-hand summary, used only for history and denominations)
Checked on 22 October 2026. Every NIV quotation was compared with the text on Bible Gateway, and the history and the poll figures come from the pages listed above, which were opened that day. Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV).
Explore more Christian guides on jesuslightstudio.com, and remember that every habit named here can be brought to God for forgiveness and a fresh start.
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