There are eight main passions: gluttony, fornication, love of money, anger, sadness, despondency, vanity, pride.
Passions are of two kinds: natural, degenerating from natural needs, such as gluttony and fornication, and unnatural, not rooted in nature, such as the love of money. Their actions manifest themselves in four ways: some act only in the body and through the body, like gluttony and fornication, and some manifest themselves without the assistance of the body, like vanity and pride; Further, some are aroused from the outside, like love of money and anger, while others come from internal reasons, like despondency and sadness. This kind of discovery of the action of passions gives reason to admit two more types in them, dividing them into carnal and spiritual: carnal ones arise in the body and nourish and delight the body; and spiritual ones come from spiritual inclinations and nourish the soul, but often have a destructive effect on the body. These latter are healed by simple healing of the heart - internal; and the carnal are healed with twofold medicine - both external and internal.
The passions of gluttony and fornication, rooted in the body, are sometimes aroused without the assistance of the soul, simply by irritation of the needs from which they come; but they also attract the soul through its connection with the body. To curb them, mental tension alone against them is not enough, but at the same time it is necessary to tame the body itself through fasting, vigil, exhaustion through labor; Temporary solitude is also necessary, and often complete hermitage. For, since they arise from the depravity of the soul and body, they can be defeated only by the labor of both. Vanity and pride arise in the soul without the body. For what need does vanity have for anything bodily, when, because of the mere desire for praise and glory, it brings the soul captive to it to fall? Or what bodily action took place in the pride of Lucifer, when he conceived him in one soul and thought, as the prophet says: “You said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven and ... I will be like the Most High” (Is. 14:13-14). He had no outside instigator in such pride; it was born and matured entirely within him.
Connecting passions in a chain
These eight passions, although they have different origins and different actions, however, the first six (gluttony, fornication, love of money, anger, sadness, despondency) are connected to each other by a special affinity, according to which the excess of the previous one gives rise to the next one. For from excess of gluttony, fornication necessarily comes, from fornication, love of money, from love of money, anger, from anger, sadness, and sadness, despondency. Therefore, one must fight against them in the same order, moving in the fight against them from previous to subsequent ones: in order to defeat despondency, one must first suppress sadness; to drive away sadness, you first need to suppress anger; to extinguish anger, you need to trample on the love of money; in order to extirpate the love of money, one must tame fornication; in order to suppress fornication, one must curb the passion of gluttony. And the other two passions (vanity and pride) are connected in the same way; the strengthening of the first of them gives rise to the other, from excessive vanity the passion of pride is born; victory over them is achieved in the same manner; in order to destroy pride, it is necessary to suppress vanity. But they are not united in a generic way with those six passions; for they are not born from them, but, on the contrary, after their destruction. We fall into these two passions especially after conquering other passions. However, although these eight passions are in such a relationship with each other, as now shown, however, upon closer examination they are divided into four unions: lust is united in a special union with gluttony, anger with the love of money, despondency with sadness, pride with vanity.
List of sins for confession
The theological science that answers questions about sins is called asceticism. She gives a definition of criminal passions and ways to get rid of them, and also tells how to find love for God and neighbor.
Asceticism is similar to social psychology, since the first teaches how to overcome mortal sins, and the second helps to cope with bad tendencies in society and overcome apathy. The goals of the sciences are actually no different. The main task of the entire Christian religion is the ability to love God and one’s neighbor, and renunciation of passions is a means of achieving the truth.
The believer will not achieve it if he is subject to sin. The person who commits a crime sees only his own self and his own passion.
The Orthodox Church defines eight main types of passions, below is a list of them:
- Gluttony, or gluttony, is excessive consumption of food that degrades human dignity. In the Catholic tradition, this includes debauchery.
- Fornication, which brings into the soul lustful sensations, unclean thoughts and satisfaction from them.
- The love of money, or self-interest, is a passion for profit that leads a person to dulling of mind and faith.
- Anger is a passion that is directed against perceived injustice. In Christianity, this sin is a strong impulse against one's neighbor.
- Sadness (longing) is a passion that cuts off all hopes of finding God, as well as ingratitude for previous and present gifts.
- Dejection is a psychological state in which a person relaxes and begins to feel sorry for himself. Melancholy is a mortal sin in Orthodoxy because this depressive state is accompanied by laziness.
- Vanity is a passionate desire to gain fame among people.
- Pride is a sin, the function of which is to belittle one’s neighbor and impudently put oneself at the center of the whole world.
On a note! The term “passion” in Church Slavonic is translated as “suffering.” Sinful acts torment people more than serious illnesses. The criminal man soon becomes a slave to the devil's passions.
Basic manifestations of passions
Each passion manifests itself in more than one form. Thus, gluttony is of three types: the desire to eat before the appointed hour; seeks to eat a lot of food before overeating, without considering the qualities of food; requires tasty food. Hence the indiscriminate eating, casually, gluttony and voluptuousness. From these three, various evil ailments arise in the soul: from the first, annoyance with the monastery rules is born - from this annoyance, dissatisfaction with life in the monastery increases to intolerance, which is usually quickly followed by flight from the monastery; from the second, carnal lust and voluptuousness are aroused; and the third plunges into the love of money and does not give room to the poverty of Christ.
There are three types of fornication: the first occurs through the mixing of one sex with another; the second is done without mixing with a woman, for which Onan, the son of the patriarch Judah, was struck by the Lord (Gen. 38:9-10), and which in Scripture is called uncleanness; the third is produced by the mind and heart, about which the Lord says in the Gospel: “Whoever looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). The blessed Apostle Paul indicated these three types in the following verse: “Mortify your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness... evil lust” (Col. 3:5).
There are three types of love of money: in the first, it does not allow the one who renounces the world to be stripped of all property; in the second, it forces the one who has already distributed everything to the poor to acquire the same property again; in the third, it kindles the desire for acquisitions even in those who had nothing before.
There are three types of anger: the first is the one that burns inside; the second is the one that breaks through into word and deed; the third is the one that burns for a long time and is called rancor.
There are two types of sadness: the first occurs after the cessation of anger or is caused by damages and losses and failure to fulfill desires; the second comes from fears and fears for one’s fate, or from unreasonable worries.
There are two types of despondency: one plunges you into sleep, and the other drives you out of your cells.
Although vanity comes in many forms, it has two main types: in the first, we are exalted in carnal advantages and visible things; and in the second - spiritual.
There are two types of pride: the first is contempt of neighbors; the second is attributing good deeds to oneself.
Although these eight passions tempt the entire human race, they do not attack everyone in the same way. For in one the main place is occupied by the spirit of fornication; in another, anger predominates; in others vanity reigns; and in the other, pride dominates: so that although all passions attack everyone, each of us in a different way and order serviles them.
Therefore, we need to wage war against these passions in such a way that everyone, having discovered which passion especially harms him, directs the fight against it, using every effort and care to observe it and suppress it, directing the spears of daily fasts against it, throwing every minute arrows of heartfelt groaning and sighing, and constantly shedding tears in prayer to God for an end to the war that troubles him.
When you win victory over one or more passions, you should not be proud of this victory. Otherwise, the Lord, seeing the arrogance of your heart, will cease to protect and protect it, and you, abandoned by Him, will again begin to be outraged by the same passion that you defeated with the help of the Grace of God. And the prophet would not have prayed: “Do not, O Lord, betray the soul of your turtledove to the beasts” (Ps. 73:19), if he had not known that those who exalt themselves in heart again give themselves over to the passions that they have conquered, so that they would humble themselves.
How to deal with sins
The phrase “seven deadly sins” in Orthodoxy does not demonstrate a certain number of crimes, but only numerically indicates their conditional division into seven fundamental groups.
However, the church sometimes talks about eight sins. If we consider this issue in more detail, the list can be increased to ten to twenty.
Important! The daily struggle with sins is the most important task of every Orthodox person, and not just a monk. Soldiers take an oath to defend the fatherland, while Christians promise to renounce diabolical deeds (crimes).
After committing original sin, that is, disobedience to the Will of the Lord, humanity doomed itself to a long stay in the bonds of intractable passions. Let's look at them in order.
Confession of sins
Pride
This is the first sin and the most terrible sin in Orthodoxy, which was known even before the creation of mankind. He despises his neighbor, darkens the mind and makes his own “I” the most important. Pride inflates self-esteem and distorts the rational vision of the environment. To defeat the sin of Satan, you must learn to love the Creator and every creature. This will require great effort at first, but gradual purification of the heart will soften the mind towards the entire environment.
Gluttony
The need for drink and food is natural; any food is a gift from Heaven. By taking it, we gain strength and enjoy it. The line separating measure from excess is located within the soul of the believer. Everyone needs to be able to live both in poverty and in abundance, without taking more than they should.
Important! The sin is not in the food itself, but in the unfair and greedy attitude towards it.
Gluttony is divided into two types. The first includes the desire to fill the stomach with a colossal amount of food, the second is the desire to delight the tongue receptors with delicious dishes, without knowing the measure. Sated bellies do not allow their owners to think about the sublime and spiritual.
Gluttony reduces the quality of prayer and leads to desecration of body and spirit.
The demon of gluttony can only be overcome by prayer and fasting, which serves as a colossal educational tool. The one who is able to develop the skill of spiritual and physical abstinence, as well as strict adherence to church precepts, becomes blessed.
About spiritual life:
- Namesake in Orthodoxy
- Bible prophecies
- Ecumenism in the Orthodox Church
Fornication
The Holy Scriptures call sexual relations outside of marriage a grave sin. The Lord blessed only marital intimacy, where husband and wife become one flesh. An action blessed in marriage will be a crime if it goes beyond moral boundaries.
Fornication allows bodies to unite, but in lawlessness and injustice. Each such carnal relationship leaves deep wounds on the heart of the believer.
Important! Only divine marriage creates proper spiritual intimacy, spiritual unity, true love and trust.
Disorderly fornication does not achieve this and destroys the moral foundation. Adulterous people steal from themselves in an attempt to gain joy through dishonest means.
To get rid of passion, it is necessary to reduce sources of temptation to a minimum and not become attached to objects that irritate your attention.
Love of money
This is an indescribable love for finance and material acquisitions. Society today has created a cult of consumption. This way of thinking takes a person away from spiritual self-improvement.
Wealth is not a vice, but a greedy attitude towards property gives rise to the passion of love of money.
To get rid of sinfulness, a person needs to soften his own heart and remember that things are harder for those around you. The Lord, the Ruler of the Universe, will never leave a merciful and generous believer in trouble.
Happiness does not depend on financial wealth, but is achieved through softening your own heart.
Anger
This passion is the cause of most conflicts, killing love, friendship and human sympathy. In anger, a distorted image of the person with whom we are angry appears before the person.
The manifestation of passion, which often arises from pride and envy, traumatizes the soul and entails huge troubles.
You can get rid of it by reading the scriptures. Work and humor also distract from the effects of an angry mindset.
Sadness
It has many synonyms: melancholy, depression, melancholy, grief. It can lead to suicide if emotions take precedence over common sense.
Prolonged sadness begins to take over the soul and lead to destruction. This sin deepens the understanding of the present, making it harder than it actually is.
To overcome unpleasant depression, a person must turn to the Almighty for help and gain a taste for life.
Dejection
This passion is associated with bodily relaxation and laziness. It distracts from daytime work and prayer. In despondency, everything seems uninteresting and there is a desire to quit it. Everyone should understand: you cannot succeed in business if you are bored.
For the struggle, the cultivation of one’s own will is suitable, which will overcome all laziness. Every important matter, especially in honor of the environment, requires detailed coercion from the individual.
Vanity
Passion is the desire for vain glory, which does not provide any advantages or riches. Any honor is short-lived in the material world, so the desire for it distracts from truly correct thinking.
Vanity happens:
- hidden, dwells in the hearts of ordinary people;
- exposed, stimulates the acquisition of the highest positions.
To share the desire for empty glory, one should learn the opposite - humility. It is necessary to calmly listen to the criticism of others and agree with obvious thoughts.
