Believers Throughout Church History – The Early ...

Believers throughout church history – the early church fathers, the Reformers, the Puritans – have been inspired by Scripture to reduce spiritually to two lists known as “the seven deadly sins and the seven virtues” of saintliness. The sin list includes pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, gluttony and lust.

The virtues list includes wisdom, justice, courage, temperance, faith, love and hope.

Mahatma Gandhi was a spiritual leader in India in the middle of the 20th century. He drew up a list of seven deadly sins in the form of contrasts. Even though he was a Hindu and his life was not centered on Christ, his list includes godly perspectives and deserves our attention.

His list of seven deadly sins included:

wealth without work,

pleasure without conscience,

knowledge without character,

commerce without morality,

science without humanity,

worship without sacrifice and

politics without principle.

–Max DePree, Leadership Is an Art.