This concept originated in the beliefs of every believer. It denotes an event that a certain person can commit or has already committed. The concept of sin is almost the same for everyone, but everyone’s attitude towards it is different. It depends on many factors: upbringing, religion, beliefs, morality. Also, everyone has a different attitude towards good and evil. Over the many years that humanity has lived, established stereotypes and concepts about this or that event have formed. Let's consider now - what is sin? And also, at the end of the article you will find a list of the most serious sins.
Believers fear sin and keep the commandments and canons of their faith. Atheists, on the other hand, do not believe in either Good or Evil.
There is a category of people who are afraid to sin, but do not understand the reasons why this or that sin was included in the sacred list of God’s rules. They are called religious fanatics, they are afraid, afraid of God and his set of rules, but their faith is not strong. They do not understand and do not distinguish between Good and Evil in the rules. Fanatics think that all people are already sinners at birth, and they must atone for them through suffering and obstacles that will stand in their way.
Atheists are people who do not believe in God. They do not believe in the commandments, and accordingly do not think that they will ever have to pay for their sins. These include materialists and postmodernists. But for God there is no believer or no believer; if a person has sinned, he will still be held responsible for it.
A believer can be considered a person who strives to know God, Faith and Spiritual laws. One who consciously approaches all the laws of the Universe, such a person is a true believer, and he understands what Good and Evil are.
What does mortal sin mean?
The list of mortal sins is the most serious sins that separate a person from the Lord. They enslave the will of a person, deprive him of grace, love for God and, if the sinner has not repented, lead the soul to destruction. Mortal sins can be compared to a stone around the neck, which prevents a person from rising to God and pulls him to the ground, preventing him from straightening up to his full height. The trauma inflicted on the soul by mortal sin becomes a serious obstacle to restoring a person’s communication with God.
What is even considered a sin? According to “Dogmatic Theology” by Archpriest Oleg Davydenkov, sin is an action, a word, a thought, a disposition of the heart, which represents a violation of the moral law established by God. Sin harms a person’s soul, represents a violation of God’s Commandments and a departure from a righteous life, from God. Sin is not a special nature or force created by God. This is a consequence of the distortion of the existence of human nature intended by the Creator.
Particularly serious sins in Christianity are called mortal sins, because their consequence is the spiritual death of the soul. She dies to God and Eternal Life. Also, the definition of “mortals” refers us to the Old Testament law, according to which the most serious sins were considered crimes and were punishable by death.
The forbidden fruit and the tempting serpent are a symbol of the Fall
How do we sin before the Lord?
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How to deal with sins?
Unfortunately, a person cannot overcome sin on his own. And simply being obsessively careful not to commit a sin is not enough. More precisely, this is unlikely to help. Man will inevitably sin, such is his nature after original sin. Therefore, you should try to do everything possible so as not to go against the will of the Lord and pray to Him for the granting of strength in the fight against sin and forgiveness. There is no need to be afraid of mortal sins, because God punishes them with death. This is wrong. Man himself once signed his own death warrant, violating the will of the Creator. Now our task is to try to minimize the power of evil over us, to get closer to the only source of life for a Christian - to Christ.
Deadly sins in Orthodoxy
In the Orthodox Church, the division of sins into mortal and non-mortal is quite conditional, since any sin alienates a person from God. Just as grains of sand can accumulate into stone, so small sins, if left unattended, can lead to serious and even irreversible consequences.
The list of mortal sins is not a list of specific actions, but of basic categories into which the entire multitude of crimes against God’s will can be divided. The Catholic Church practices a slightly different approach: in the doctrine of Western Christianity there is a clear and regulated division of sins according to severity.
Time corrects everything
– Why do they publish books to help penitents?
- In order to sell them. And this has been the case at all times - along with spiritual literature, all sorts of things are sold. And this must be understood. Church shops sometimes sell things that are then taken away and burned.
And this happens precisely because people come to the Church and immediately begin to act without proper spiritual guidance. They ask for a blessing to write a book - they say, I am both a writer and a believer. And you can receive a blessing by being sophisticated and presenting part of the book, and then adding a certain part - there may be different options.
And there is a blessing for the book, but what kind of character will it be?! But time corrects everything: there are authors who will become saints, ascetics and will exert their colossal influence on the Church and the people of God. And there are books that will die along with the author and, perhaps, will even be a reason for him to feel shame and grief at God’s Judgment.
List of deadly sins
How many mortal sins are there in Orthodoxy? Having familiarized ourselves with the works of the Holy Fathers, we can find out that the most common number of mortal sins is 7.
1) Pride (pride, pride, arrogance, vanity, stubbornness)
2) Envy (annoyance at someone else’s well-being, gloating at other people’s misfortunes)
3) Gluttony (gluttony, drunkenness)
4) Fornication (lust, adultery, intimacy before marriage, sodomy, masturbation)
5) Anger (hatred, insults, insults, cruelty, assault)
6) Greed (greed, stinginess, love of money)
7) Dejection (loss of hope in God, melancholy, sadness, despair)
Answers to any questions
This is not a legal document. This is a leaf with the repentance of your soul, your conscience. You need to understand that this small reminder is needed for the confessor, so that in a moment of excitement he does not forget to tell about everything that is bothering him.
In the note you should write down the mistakes that you have made, in your opinion, since your conscious age (about 6 years old). If you have already asked for forgiveness for something once, and have not committed this act again, then you do not need to go back and repent of it again. Once is enough. If you remember the same sin over and over again, then you have weak faith, which in turn is also considered a crime. Therefore, confess once and do not return to this topic again.
Example note:
She did not fast, wanted to earn more money, had an abortion, devoted little time to prayers and rarely visited church, did not baptize her child, became despondent, was lazy, complained about her situation, was jealous and angry, and wondered.
Conventionality of the concept of “mortal sin”
It should be remembered that the list of mortal sins in Orthodoxy is conventional. Any sin is a threat and requires repentance. And any sin can be forgiven by God. Mortal is the sin that remains unrepentant. The Lord will accept and forgive the repentant sinner.
The Monk Paisius the Svyatogorets said that the devil does not have any power or authority over a believer who goes to Church, confesses, and takes communion. In the sacraments of Confession and Communion, God gives a person strength to fight passions. The Lord is All-Merciful, and His mercy is limitless. He does not have the task of necessarily punishing a person for the slightest deviation from the letter of the Law.
Let us quote the words of St. Ephraim the Syrian:
“The door of God is always open to him who strikes it; mercy rejoices at the one who turns, goodness stretches out its hands to him.”
Getting rid of passions: 7 virtues
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov in his works gives step-by-step instructions for getting rid of passions. He reveals to us what virtue is the opposite of passion, and how with its help one can overcome sins.
Here are seven virtues opposite to passions:
- Humility . Awareness of one’s insignificance, fear of God, fear of punishment for sins, change in attitude towards others, awareness of oneself as worse than them, dislike of praise, avoidance of worldly glory, obedience in everything to the Church and its servants, simplicity, silence, seeing one’s sins and passions, desire to fight with them, accepting criticism, not trying to justify themselves to people, silently and meekly enduring insults, unwillingness to take revenge for one’s insults, forgiving insults.
- Non-covetousness . Satisfaction with what you have, not wanting to be rich, giving your wealth to the poor, charity.
- Chastity . Maintaining physical and mental purity. Disgust from prodigal books, images, films, etc. Removal from ambiguous conversations and flirting. Loyalty to your spouse until death. Keeping your hearing, your heart from your thoughts, your sight. Modesty in dress, words and thoughts. Serving the sick. The saint calls the end of chastity the purity that sees God.
- Blessed lamentation for one's sins . Contentment with what the Lord has given. Thanks be to God. Willingness to endure whatever God sends.
- Abstinence in food and drink . Sobriety, fasting, avoiding unnecessary meals, reducing the amount of food taken.
- Sobriety . Some people think that the antagonism of despondency is joy and cheerfulness. However, the saint believes that there is nothing particularly special for an Orthodox Christian to rejoice at. Even Saint Anthony, when the demons said to him: “Rejoice,” replied that he was unworthy of this feeling, because he was a sinner. Should we indulge in insane joy?! Every Christian always has a lot of work to do on himself, a lot of sorrows. And you can resist despondency only by sobriety over your soul, attention to the thoughts and movements of the soul. Some people misunderstand and interpret the words of the Savior: “rejoice and be glad,” but He spoke about the Heavenly reward, which we still need to earn. These words were spoken at the end of the Beatitudes. Consequently, the one who fulfills all these commandments may ultimately be rewarded with another, Heavenly joy from God. But even this should not be desired and sought, as the saints say, otherwise one can fall into delusion - a dangerous spiritual state. Sobriety includes being attentive to prayer, reducing the amount of sleep, increasing the number of bows and time spent in prayer.
- Meekness, kindness , unwillingness to avenge oneself, polite and even attitude towards everyone. Patience, kindness, peace of mind.
Every Christian has a lot of work to do on himself, his soul, if, of course, he wants to be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. But one should not despair; one must hope for God’s help, which is certainly given to those who want to be saved. After all, the Lord wants our salvation even more than we ourselves. Therefore, we must turn to Him for help, but also not be lazy, make efforts. “The Kingdom of God is in need,” this means that only the diligent and diligent enter into It, and not the lazy and relaxed. Any sin can be overcome by repentance, as the saints say.
prot. Andrey Tkachev about the sins of death
Ignorance is removed by acquaintance with Christ
– What about people who start going to church in adulthood and see a lot of different literature there?
- They are children too. These are babies of faith, neophytes - people who are not softened in heart. Moreover, a person can go to the temple for 30 years and remain a neophyte. There is no standard here. God finds his own approach to everyone, as long as the person opens his heart. And this requires work.
And confession and communion are, first of all, a study of Scripture. Prayer helps a lot, and you need to get used to prayer - going to services, listening to liturgical texts, psalms, poems, songs.
“But it often happens that a person comes to church almost for the first time with the desire to confess and asks how to do it.
“There are people who come to the pharmacy for treatment, and there are those who go to the doctor for treatment. And if you come to a church shop for treatment, these are your problems and your immaturity. This approach to solving the problem is unscientific and unweighted.
And the scientific approach is to consult a doctor. And if I have doubts about the doctor, I will go to the head physician and the professor. I will spend money and time on this, the most precious time is Sunday morning.
Useful tips
- The free will of each person is whether to go to confession or not and how often to perform this sacrament. You cannot impose your will on another, forcing him to go to church for confession when he himself does not want to do this.
- Before confession, you should make a list of sins you have committed in advance, while being as frank as possible, without hiding or saying anything.
- Ideally, you need to find your personal spiritual mentor, to whom you will constantly go to confess, and will also be able to talk with him on spiritual topics and ask questions that concern you.
- In the church, you should find out in advance the days when confessions take place, because they are usually not held every day.
- On the right day, come to church in proper attire: men should wear a T-shirt or shirt, always with sleeves, and trousers or jeans (but not short shorts). Women cover their heads with a scarf, do not wear makeup and wear a skirt of minimum length to the knee.
The importance of sincerity in confession
During the process of confession, the clergyman also takes on the role of a psychologist; he is able to recognize the degree of sincerity of a person in his repentance. After all, there can be types of confessions that offend the sacrament and God.
If, for example, an individual simply remembers his sins in a mechanical form, confesses to several confessors at once, and strives to conceal the truth, repentance cannot be achieved with the help of such actions.
At the same time, great importance is paid to the behavior and tone of speech with which a person confesses. This (plus the presence of pangs of conscience) helps the priest to be confident in the sincerity of the repentant.
Also, in some cases, the identity of the clergyman is important to a person. But this should not become a reason for condemning or commenting on the actions of clergy. If for some reason you do not like your spiritual father, you can always change him by contacting another temple.
Some sins and bad actions cause a person so much moral suffering that he does not even dare to voice them out loud. In such cases, the option of compiling a list of sins and absolving them by a clergyman is allowed, even without reading or viewing.
At the end of the article, we recommend that you watch an interesting thematic video material:
Marissa
Sincerity of Confession
A priest as a psychologist can recognize how sincere a person is in his repentance. There are confessions that offend the sacrament and the Lord. If a person mechanically talks about sins, has several spiritual fathers, or hides the truth, such actions do not lead to repentance.
Behavior, tone of speech, words used to pronounce confession - all this matters. This is the only way the priest understands how sincere the penitent is. Pangs of conscience, embarrassment, worries, shame contribute to spiritual cleansing.
Sometimes the personality of the priest is important for the parishioner. This is not a reason to condemn and comment on the actions of clergy. You can go to another church or turn to another holy father for confession.
It can be difficult to voice your sins. The emotional experiences are so strong that it is more convenient to make a list of unrighteous actions. Father is attentive to every parishioner. If, due to shame, it is impossible to tell about everything and the repentance is deep, then the priest has the right to forgive the sins, a list of which was compiled before confession, without even reading them.
If you want live communication...
– When a person sees books with recommendations for preparing for confession, how should he react?
Archpriest Grigory Kryzhanovsky
– A person needs to see his neighbor and God, and then books. You need to go to a priest and read the New Testament. Let him humble himself and listen to the priest’s recommendations.
A person who wants to go to God must think about what God needs, why God created man, what God wants from him. The answers to these questions are in the Holy Scriptures. By comprehending Divine Revelation through the Holy Scriptures, a person understands what is wrong with him and what he is doing wrong. And he regrets this, and this he repents of.
And no one needs a simple listing of sins. Even a confession from a piece of paper is not good form - it is bad style. A person can make a list of sins in preparation for confession.
