Kevin Vost - Seven Deadly Sins

KEVIN VOST, PSY.D.

THE

SEVEN DEADLY SINS

A THOMISTIC GUIDE TO
VANQUISHING VICE AND SIN

SOPHIA INSTITUTE PRESS

Manchester, New Hampshire

Other books by Kevin Vost
from Sophia Institute Press:

Memorize the Faith!

Fit for Eternal Life!

The One-Minute Aquinas

Unearthing Your Ten Talents

Copyright 2015 by Kevin Vost

Printed in the United States of America

All rights reserved

Cover design by Perceptions Design Studio

Cover art by John Folley

Sophia Institute Press
Box 5284, Manchester, NH 03108
1-800-888-9344

www.SophiaInstitute.com

Sophia Institute Press is a registered trademark of Sophia Institute.

To Eloisa Eryn Basuel Vost

Grandchildren are the crown of the aged.

(Proverbs 17:6)

Contents

by Shane Kapler

Introduction:

Part I

Part II

Conclusion:

Appendices

A.

B.

C.

Foreword

For the past six years I have had the tremendous pleasure of counting Kevin Vost among my closest friends. I met Kevin shortly after reading and, I must add, greatly benefiting from his books Memorize the Faith! and Fit for Eternal Life! Since that time I have had the good fortune of enjoying countless conversations, collaborating with him on a book and a monthly radio program, and studying each of his subsequent books.

Proverbs 27:17 tells us, Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Let me assure you: men do not come any sharper than Dr. Kevin Vost. Kevin has so fully assimilated the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas and his massive Summa Theologica that he is able to articulate it in the words of todays man and woman in the pew.

That you have opened this particular book by Dr. Vost means that you recognize the destructive power of sin and want to understand its insidious nature and begin the serious work of beating back its power in your life. The Seven Deadly Sins will help you do precisely that. Not only does this book present you with the insights of St. Thomas, who seemed to have synthesized the thought of all the great philosophers and theologians who preceded him, but it unites them with the insights of Kevin as a doctor of psychology. Most importantly, however, it takes seriously the New Testaments claims that all growth in virtue is the result of Christs grace and that we must do all in our power to cooperate with that grace (Phil. 2:1213).

By the time youve finished this book you will have set out anew on the path to heaven. Your gaze will be sharper, your ability to evaluate the spiritual terrain more pronounced; and as a result, your steps will be more deliberate. You will have been led through a penetrating examination of conscience, given practical steps to squash vice and cultivate virtue, and directed to the powerful channels of grace that Christ entrusted to the Church. And I have no doubt that, like me, you will recognize Dr. Kevin Vost as one of todays most gifted communicators of the Churchs divine and timeless wisdom.

Shane Kapler
St. Louis, Missouri
October 1, 2014
Feast of St. Thrse of Lisieux

Acknowledgments

Many thanks once again to Charlie McKinney, Aja McCarthy, Carolyn McKinney, Nora Malone, Sheila Perry, and all at Sophia Institute Press for bringing another of my titles to print just a year or so after the last one. Any literary sloth I might have harbored in my heart was clearly no match for the inspiration, encouragement, good counsel, and plain old hard work they provided.

INTRODUCTION

The Worlds Deadliest Sins

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

No man can be the sufficient cause of anothers spiritual death, because no man dies spiritually except by sinning of his own will.

What Is the Deadliest Sin in the World?

What is the worlds deadliest sin ? This may not be the easiest question to answer. Its not like trying to find out the worlds deadliest joke . The Monty Python crew took that on in the 1960s in their comical skit The Worlds Funniest Joke. They didnt reveal just what the joke was, not in English anyway, but as the story went, the joke, apparently written in the 1940s, was so funny that it was deadly . Indeed, it proved lethal to the jokes own author and to the police officers investigating his death. Any who chanced upon it and read or heard it would fall to their death amid uncontrollable convulsions of laughter. A team of British military experts translated it into German, whence it was used as an effective weapon against the Nazis. And as the farcical story ends, at the end of World War II it was forever buried for the safety of mankind.

Now, we know that jokes arent really deadly. Side-splitting jokes dont really split our sides. What then do jokes have to do with deadly sins? This introduction is not really about deadly or even sinful jokes but about sins that really can be deadly to our souls . Unfortunately, these are the kinds of sins the modern world may joke about, considering them things that enlightened, secular, post-Christian people should not seriously consider sinful. Some even champion them as very good things indeed.

• Sloth? Get real. Work smarter, not harder. Laziness is a sin? If Christian Tradition is to be believed, the simple act of laziness can send you to hell! (Suggesting, perhaps, that its a good thing we are post-Christian!)
• Isnt envy good for the causes of equality and social justice? Why shouldnt we be sad when others are richer than we are and have things that we dont? Why shouldnt we be happy if they lose their wealth or have it taken against their will?
• Whats wrong with avarice? The one who dies with the most toys wins, right? Remember that line from the Wall Street movie proclaiming that greed is good?
• Vainglory? Where would we be without pride ? Weve all heard of Black pride, gay pride, school pride, team pride, and what student should not be taught to develop high self-esteem?
• When was the last time you heard a homily on gluttony ? Supersize mine, please and hurry! Ive got to get home to watch the Food Channel (or is it Network?).
• How old-fashioned to think that lust is a sin, when weve been told for over fifty years, If it feels good, do it! Arent we finally sexually liberated, after all?
• And tell me, whats wrong with wrath ? Nice guys finish last! Shouldnt mothers be MADD against drunk drivers? Are we to become a nation of wimps?

Many modern takes on the very ancient concept of deadly sins are quite muddled, to say the least, laden with falsehoods, misunderstandings, and half-truths that can lead us away from Him who is the Truth with a capital T, and the way and the life as well. Are there times when the deadly sins really are good for us? Are these sins merely feelings ? Do we really need the old-fashioned notion of sin, let alone that dusty-old medieval list of seven deadly sins that arent in the Bible, anyway?