What do you think?
Rate this book
The Seven Deadly Sins
The seven deadly sins are generals leading a vast and deadly army. The soldiers are a variety of sins and misdeeds, and the capital sins are the officers who sent them on their nefarious tasks.
With the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas as his guide, best-selling author Kevin Vost tackles the deadly sins one-by-one, showing how they take root in our soul and give birth to offspring other sinful thoughts and deeds that help it reach its sinful goals.
You'll learn how they attacks us, and how they become ingrained habits that prevent virtue from raising us to heaven. Indeed, these sins hold us down to earth and possibly, ultimately, even much lower.
The deadly sins can be conquered, and in these pages you'll learn the methods employed by saints to vanquish vicious habits and replace them with virtuous ones.
Follow the advice in this book, and you'll soon strike at the head of sin and walk more positively in the light and love of Christ.
You'll also learn:
Which sin can truly be called the deadliest in the world
Why there are only seven deadly sins
What takes place within our souls when we grapple with sin
The relationship between vices and sins - and how to sever their bonds
How each and every deadly sin is outnumbered by several opposite virtues
Six deadly dominoes: Do you know the sins that almost always cause us to commit additional sins?
How the mother of the virtues dethrones the queen of the vices
Seven sacramental and saint-sanctioned strategies to call forth God's graces to grapple with each deadly sin
With the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas as his guide, best-selling author Kevin Vost tackles the deadly sins one-by-one, showing how they take root in our soul and give birth to offspring other sinful thoughts and deeds that help it reach its sinful goals.
You'll learn how they attacks us, and how they become ingrained habits that prevent virtue from raising us to heaven. Indeed, these sins hold us down to earth and possibly, ultimately, even much lower.
The deadly sins can be conquered, and in these pages you'll learn the methods employed by saints to vanquish vicious habits and replace them with virtuous ones.
Follow the advice in this book, and you'll soon strike at the head of sin and walk more positively in the light and love of Christ.
You'll also learn:
Which sin can truly be called the deadliest in the world
Why there are only seven deadly sins
What takes place within our souls when we grapple with sin
The relationship between vices and sins - and how to sever their bonds
How each and every deadly sin is outnumbered by several opposite virtues
Six deadly dominoes: Do you know the sins that almost always cause us to commit additional sins?
How the mother of the virtues dethrones the queen of the vices
Seven sacramental and saint-sanctioned strategies to call forth God's graces to grapple with each deadly sin
207 pages, Paperback
First published May 19, 2015
106 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Vost
39 books52 followersKevin Vost, Psy. D. (b. 1961) has taught psychology at the University of Illinois at Springfield, Lincoln Land Community College, and MacMurray College. He is a Research Review Committee Member for American Mensa, which promotes the scientific study of human intelligence.
He enjoys reading the Classics (especially Aristotle and the Stoics) and St. Thomas Aquinas in his spare time.
He enjoys reading the Classics (especially Aristotle and the Stoics) and St. Thomas Aquinas in his spare time.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
April 14, 2020
Excellent intro to this all important and much neglected topic! Vost is also the author of Memorize the Faith!, a book I bought many years ago and really wanted to read ... but did not*. However, when I heard about this book from the author of a book I was reading about St. John of the Cross, I knew it was a prompt to read this and I am very glad I did. It is excellent and powerful.
Vost provides a lightning-quick history of the vices from Sacred Scripture through the early Church Fathers up to their present development. He gives us battle plans to decimate these vices and then goes into them, one-by-one, describing them in depth, including what he describes as their ‘deadly daughters’ – those vices which, while perhaps not mortal, are certainly severe, closely related to and lead to the parent sin. Vost then pairs each of the Seven Deadly sins up with its redeeming Virtue as well as something else I found extremely helpful. He includes a tie-in developed by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen to the Seven Last Words of Christ from the Cross.
Invaluable! This is one book you WANT to have in your library … unless you have a found a way to give up sin that is.
*Now it is back on my list again!
Vost provides a lightning-quick history of the vices from Sacred Scripture through the early Church Fathers up to their present development. He gives us battle plans to decimate these vices and then goes into them, one-by-one, describing them in depth, including what he describes as their ‘deadly daughters’ – those vices which, while perhaps not mortal, are certainly severe, closely related to and lead to the parent sin. Vost then pairs each of the Seven Deadly sins up with its redeeming Virtue as well as something else I found extremely helpful. He includes a tie-in developed by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen to the Seven Last Words of Christ from the Cross.
Invaluable! This is one book you WANT to have in your library … unless you have a found a way to give up sin that is.
*Now it is back on my list again!
July 22, 2025
Nepamenu, kas man ją rekomendavo, bet aš nesiūlyčiau. 7 nuodėmių skirtingų autorių ir laikmečių nagrinėjomas
June 14, 2023
Virtues perfect our God-given powers leading us toward happiness and ultimately back toward union with God.
There are 35 doctors of the church
St. Thomas also held the deepest respect and gratitude for the natural reason God had implanted in our souls
The summa theological was written for beginners.
Can you attack any sin that hounds us by attacking those that precede it in the chain
You would never have been able to prevail over these, if the lords help had not fortified and protected you.
I am called discord, and my other name is heresy.
Faith in Concorde triumphs over discord since the two are sisters sworn in holy alliance, and the love of Christ ,
Seven deadly sins, their commander-in-chief is the sin of pride.
Thomas then was not nearly so interested in how low we can sink into sin and depravity, as in how high we can rise toward God in virtue and grace.
When we sin we declare that we love ourselves for most. Inordinate love of self is the cause of every sin.
Whatever is lacking for things, natural perfection may be called advice. Virtues are habits that make a person good, vices are habits that disposes toward evil.
Vices are bad or evil habits as virtues are good habits.
By repeatedly, choosing not to act on vicious habits, vices may be diminished
Vices, as engrained habits disposing us toward acts of sin if we do not act to conquer those vicious habits, and to replace them with the virtuous ones. Virtues perfect us, making us and our actions good. Vices destroy the spark of God within us, leading us toward sin .
Climb away from sin and toward virtue. Saint Thomas in describing the three fundamental stages of spiritual perfection as the avoidance of sin, consuming the effort of beginners, the pursuit of virtue, claiming the focus of proficiency along the way, and the union with and enjoyment of God, as the focus of the perfect. Even the proficient in pursuit of virtue at step two of the latter are never completely free from sin. They must also continue to fight the good fight against their sinful nature‘s.
Seven steps toward conquering the seven deadly sins number one examination of conscience. Number two embracing the sacraments. Number three, watching the steps of our movements toward sin. Number for practising prayer. Number five cultivating virtue. Number six immersion in the world of the spirit. Number seven imitation of Christ.
Sloth is known by Many names such as acedia, despondency, tedium, apathy, sorrow, laziness, indolence.
St. John Damascene described sloth as an oppressive sorrow that weighs down a man’s mind so that he wants to do nothing.
Sloth is a sluggishness of the mind which neglects to do good
Socrates famously said that the unexamined life is not worth living.
Sloss is a spiritual apathy, a sadness or boredom, about the divine good of God.
Sluggish regarding the Commandments, wondering, after unlawful things, being faint hearted, succumbing to despair, feeling spiteful. Feeling malice.
Sloth is an indifference or apathy toward divine things, and God.
To train ourselves to love our labours and to pray, always, as we do them, is to train ourselves to experience and relish, the spiritual joys born of charity.
Prayer has been called a turning of the heart and a rising of the mind toward God.
Diligence is a virtue directly opposed to the physical manifestations of sloth, or such as idleness or laziness, since it basically means the habit of doing hard work. Habits are built by patience. Gratitude. We should avoid taking for granted the good gifts from God.
Piety is another way to develop diligence. It gives God special reverence, not only as the creator, or even the sustainer of our existence, but as our father.
Religion is a virtue that Saint Thomas treats under the cardinal virtue of justice.
If we are to con, conquer, spiritual sloth, we need to harness our senses and arrange our environments so that we regularly receive the spiritual tonic that can come from the true, the good, and the beautiful. Gregorian chant, a beautiful aid to meditation and prayer .
Envy
Envy has been called a just Fais, because the unpleasant emotions associated with envy serves as their own automatic, built in punishment.
Envy regards, our sadness and reaction to someone else’s. Good, all jealousy regards, our sadness at the prospect of losing some good of our own.
Our very act of confessing this embarrassing sin strikes at the pride that can foster it.
Engage reaction, reflection, and resolution, to improve fight vice.
Reaction is the almost reflexive or automatic, bodily reaction that sets the ball rolling.
Develop the kind of virtues that can decondition. This kind of envious reflects and perhaps transform it into a knee-jerk reaction, so to speak, joy, and not sorrow at another’s good.
Become attuned to identifying these initial reactions in ourselves . “Oh, here is that icky feeling inside me. Is envy sneaking up on me?“
To pray for those we envy is to pour down rain on our in feet in the parade. Envy is sadness at another’s good.
To thank God for the goodness, he has bestowed on the envy person, and to petition him to keep that good coming is a pretty direct counterattack on NBA and all its daughters.
In the our father, He taught us to say our, not my, father, to remind us that we are all children of God, bound together with Christ, in the communion of saints.
In the spiritual realm, the situation could not be further from a zero sum game. One persons gain is not another persons loss. When any member of the body of Christ grows in grace or virtue, we all should rejoice, and share in the bounty.
Fight and be with kindness and humility. When we are humble, we recognize our place in the hierarchy of gods universe.
When someone spoke I’ll of Epictetus, instead of being sad, or angry, or trying to defend himself, he merely responded, “surely he did not know about all my other faults, or he would have brought those up to.“
Aristotle said we become builders by building and harvest by playing the harp. So to do we become lovers of our neighbours by loving our neighbors.
Thomas compares the love of charity to the fires of a great furnace, those closest to the furnace, our family and closest friends, naturally receive the most heat, but the more powerful the furnace of our life, the further will its warmth reach, even to strangers and enemies.
Avarice.
St. Thomas said, avarice is in moderate love of processing.
Saint Thomas uses an apt military metaphor here, noting that a virtuous soldiers, fortitude consists not only in wielding his sword in battle, but in sharpening it in between battles and storing it and its sheath.
The virtue of magnificence requires a willingness to suffer damage to one’s pocketbook, in order that great things can be made or accomplished .
Fulton sheen, said the remedy for avarice, is in the words that Jesus spoke on the cross. “Father, into the hands, I commit my spirit.“
The more ties we have to the earth, the harder will it be for us to die.
We were never meant to be perfectly satisfied here Below.
Here are three brief anecdotes from the life of Saint Thomas. One story holds that when Thomas and some friars approached the great city of Paris, a brother friar stayed at how grand it would be to own all of that cities vast wealth. Saint Thomas replied that he would rather have a copy of St. John Chrysostom‘s homilies on the gospel of Saint Matthew. Another story tales of a rich man who conversed with Saint Thomas through the streets of Paris, and insisted that Thomas allow him to buy him a generous gift. Saint Thomas requested that he buy him all the caged birds being sold on the street so that he could set them free. finally Saint Thomas once had a vision of Christ. Christ told him he had written well and asked Thomas what he could give him. Thomas replied, “only you, Lord.“
Vain glory.
The glory we seek is vain if we seek glory for the wrong things, for the wrong people from the wrong people, or for the wrong reasons.
the deadly daughters of vainglory are boasting, obstinacy, discord, contentiousness, and disobedience.
Appropriate prayer to counter, our selfish vainglory would be the glory be. Glory be to the father, and to the side, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was, in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Fortitude is that virtue that enables us to obtain the arduous or difficult goods by doing battle with things that keep us from those goods. Magnanimity seeks out truly great things and does not bother with trifles.
Gluttony.
When we for sake reason, when it comes to eating, we are likely to forsake it in many more areas of our physical and spiritual lies as well.
Seneca once said, “he will have mini masters, who makes his body his master.“
Gluttony is an inordinate, unreasonable, desire for food and drink.
If we haven’t mastered our gluttony, the enemy within that ravages our body , we’re not in a very good position to build a spiritual life.
Seeking excess comfort for our bellies makes us less apt to imitate Christ through suffering and sacrifice.
The Eucharistic fast is a penance for our sins and an act of temperance, that modifies bodily desires and preparation for the reception of Christ.
We should arise from the table satisfied, neither overly full, nor still hungry.
When we modify our bodies, we can become more attuned to sanctifying our souls.
a prayer after meals: “we give thanks for all the benefits, 00, mighty God, who list and rainiest world without end amen. May the souls of the faithful departed to the mercy of God rest in peace amen“ by our praying for the faithful departed. The prayer transforms, the simple, active, eating into an opportunity to let our thoughts and prayers rise beyond ourselves.
Virtues are essentially good habits. Vices are essentially bad habits. If we are to conquer the bad habit of gluttony, we must build the contrary virtue of dietary temperance. We become builders by building, harvest by playing the harp, and temperate eaters by eating temperately.
To tend to our bodily temples properly, and to glorify God in the process, we need to strive every day to acquire the virtue of temperance as it applies to our daily food and drink.
Lust
Sense of lust can be very embarrassing, and shameful, because in them, we allow ourselves to operate at the animal level, guided by the pleasures of sensation, rather than the restraint of our human reason.
Saint Thomas, suggest that we focus on the opposite of singular’s, namely, universals. For instance, a man, instead of turning his eyes and imagination on this, or that particular woman, can try re-focusing on woman. Instead of lusting, after a particular woman, he can try focussing on her identity as a daughter, or a sister, and perhaps as someone else’s current or future, wife, or mother.
Ross
Wrath is a failure of our reason to rain in our appetite that seeks to fight against things that thwart our desires.
Those most prone to heart attacks have a tendency toward frequent bouts of anger.
Patience is a virtue related to fortitude that St. Thomas tells us enables us to endure hardship and suffering, without becoming sorrowful, or defeated.
Clemency tempers our desire for revenge. According to Seneca, clemency is a leniency of a superior toward an inferior. .
Saint Thomas says, clemency, moderates, external punishment, while meekness properly mitigate the passion of anger.
Love of God governs all other virtues. Charity is the form and mother of all the virtues. Pry is the root in queen of all sins.
All of the deadly sins have this in common, if not, is there a direct cause, then, as an indirect consequence. The sin that has pride of place is the sin of pride itself.
All sins involve a turning toward some lesser, good or pleasure, while turning away from hump some higher good, and ultimately from God,
Pride is an inordinate desire for one’s own excellence, and to have things one’s own way, rather than God’s way.
When someone once told Saint Theresa of Lisieux that she was a saint, she rejoined, “no, I am not a saint. I am a very little soul, and God has overwhelmed with graces.“
Humility opposes, all forms of pride. And grounds us in the earth, and reminds us who we are, and where we come from.
If we are not humble, we will succumb to pride, and our edifice of virtue will crumble.
Saint Thomas calls charity the mother of all virtues, since every virtue depends on it in a way.
Saint Thomas compares the life of charity to the heat of a powerful furnace. The stronger the furnace, a charity, we build within ourselves, the further will its flames reach, serving even to heat strangers and our enemies.
Humility and charity, the base of the and the pinnacle of virtue, the left and the right bookends of the book of aof virtue, say “God, neighbor, and then, yes, me too.”
Virtue grows from simple daily deeds.
Virtue can prevail over all manner of vice, and all from the grace, and for the glory of God.
ploy the virtues of fortitude and magnanim
There are 35 doctors of the church
St. Thomas also held the deepest respect and gratitude for the natural reason God had implanted in our souls
The summa theological was written for beginners.
Can you attack any sin that hounds us by attacking those that precede it in the chain
You would never have been able to prevail over these, if the lords help had not fortified and protected you.
I am called discord, and my other name is heresy.
Faith in Concorde triumphs over discord since the two are sisters sworn in holy alliance, and the love of Christ ,
Seven deadly sins, their commander-in-chief is the sin of pride.
Thomas then was not nearly so interested in how low we can sink into sin and depravity, as in how high we can rise toward God in virtue and grace.
When we sin we declare that we love ourselves for most. Inordinate love of self is the cause of every sin.
Whatever is lacking for things, natural perfection may be called advice. Virtues are habits that make a person good, vices are habits that disposes toward evil.
Vices are bad or evil habits as virtues are good habits.
By repeatedly, choosing not to act on vicious habits, vices may be diminished
Vices, as engrained habits disposing us toward acts of sin if we do not act to conquer those vicious habits, and to replace them with the virtuous ones. Virtues perfect us, making us and our actions good. Vices destroy the spark of God within us, leading us toward sin .
Climb away from sin and toward virtue. Saint Thomas in describing the three fundamental stages of spiritual perfection as the avoidance of sin, consuming the effort of beginners, the pursuit of virtue, claiming the focus of proficiency along the way, and the union with and enjoyment of God, as the focus of the perfect. Even the proficient in pursuit of virtue at step two of the latter are never completely free from sin. They must also continue to fight the good fight against their sinful nature‘s.
Seven steps toward conquering the seven deadly sins number one examination of conscience. Number two embracing the sacraments. Number three, watching the steps of our movements toward sin. Number for practising prayer. Number five cultivating virtue. Number six immersion in the world of the spirit. Number seven imitation of Christ.
Sloth is known by Many names such as acedia, despondency, tedium, apathy, sorrow, laziness, indolence.
St. John Damascene described sloth as an oppressive sorrow that weighs down a man’s mind so that he wants to do nothing.
Sloth is a sluggishness of the mind which neglects to do good
Socrates famously said that the unexamined life is not worth living.
Sloss is a spiritual apathy, a sadness or boredom, about the divine good of God.
Sluggish regarding the Commandments, wondering, after unlawful things, being faint hearted, succumbing to despair, feeling spiteful. Feeling malice.
Sloth is an indifference or apathy toward divine things, and God.
To train ourselves to love our labours and to pray, always, as we do them, is to train ourselves to experience and relish, the spiritual joys born of charity.
Prayer has been called a turning of the heart and a rising of the mind toward God.
Diligence is a virtue directly opposed to the physical manifestations of sloth, or such as idleness or laziness, since it basically means the habit of doing hard work. Habits are built by patience. Gratitude. We should avoid taking for granted the good gifts from God.
Piety is another way to develop diligence. It gives God special reverence, not only as the creator, or even the sustainer of our existence, but as our father.
Religion is a virtue that Saint Thomas treats under the cardinal virtue of justice.
If we are to con, conquer, spiritual sloth, we need to harness our senses and arrange our environments so that we regularly receive the spiritual tonic that can come from the true, the good, and the beautiful. Gregorian chant, a beautiful aid to meditation and prayer .
Envy
Envy has been called a just Fais, because the unpleasant emotions associated with envy serves as their own automatic, built in punishment.
Envy regards, our sadness and reaction to someone else’s. Good, all jealousy regards, our sadness at the prospect of losing some good of our own.
Our very act of confessing this embarrassing sin strikes at the pride that can foster it.
Engage reaction, reflection, and resolution, to improve fight vice.
Reaction is the almost reflexive or automatic, bodily reaction that sets the ball rolling.
Develop the kind of virtues that can decondition. This kind of envious reflects and perhaps transform it into a knee-jerk reaction, so to speak, joy, and not sorrow at another’s good.
Become attuned to identifying these initial reactions in ourselves . “Oh, here is that icky feeling inside me. Is envy sneaking up on me?“
To pray for those we envy is to pour down rain on our in feet in the parade. Envy is sadness at another’s good.
To thank God for the goodness, he has bestowed on the envy person, and to petition him to keep that good coming is a pretty direct counterattack on NBA and all its daughters.
In the our father, He taught us to say our, not my, father, to remind us that we are all children of God, bound together with Christ, in the communion of saints.
In the spiritual realm, the situation could not be further from a zero sum game. One persons gain is not another persons loss. When any member of the body of Christ grows in grace or virtue, we all should rejoice, and share in the bounty.
Fight and be with kindness and humility. When we are humble, we recognize our place in the hierarchy of gods universe.
When someone spoke I’ll of Epictetus, instead of being sad, or angry, or trying to defend himself, he merely responded, “surely he did not know about all my other faults, or he would have brought those up to.“
Aristotle said we become builders by building and harvest by playing the harp. So to do we become lovers of our neighbours by loving our neighbors.
Thomas compares the love of charity to the fires of a great furnace, those closest to the furnace, our family and closest friends, naturally receive the most heat, but the more powerful the furnace of our life, the further will its warmth reach, even to strangers and enemies.
Avarice.
St. Thomas said, avarice is in moderate love of processing.
Saint Thomas uses an apt military metaphor here, noting that a virtuous soldiers, fortitude consists not only in wielding his sword in battle, but in sharpening it in between battles and storing it and its sheath.
The virtue of magnificence requires a willingness to suffer damage to one’s pocketbook, in order that great things can be made or accomplished .
Fulton sheen, said the remedy for avarice, is in the words that Jesus spoke on the cross. “Father, into the hands, I commit my spirit.“
The more ties we have to the earth, the harder will it be for us to die.
We were never meant to be perfectly satisfied here Below.
Here are three brief anecdotes from the life of Saint Thomas. One story holds that when Thomas and some friars approached the great city of Paris, a brother friar stayed at how grand it would be to own all of that cities vast wealth. Saint Thomas replied that he would rather have a copy of St. John Chrysostom‘s homilies on the gospel of Saint Matthew. Another story tales of a rich man who conversed with Saint Thomas through the streets of Paris, and insisted that Thomas allow him to buy him a generous gift. Saint Thomas requested that he buy him all the caged birds being sold on the street so that he could set them free. finally Saint Thomas once had a vision of Christ. Christ told him he had written well and asked Thomas what he could give him. Thomas replied, “only you, Lord.“
Vain glory.
The glory we seek is vain if we seek glory for the wrong things, for the wrong people from the wrong people, or for the wrong reasons.
the deadly daughters of vainglory are boasting, obstinacy, discord, contentiousness, and disobedience.
Appropriate prayer to counter, our selfish vainglory would be the glory be. Glory be to the father, and to the side, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was, in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Fortitude is that virtue that enables us to obtain the arduous or difficult goods by doing battle with things that keep us from those goods. Magnanimity seeks out truly great things and does not bother with trifles.
Gluttony.
When we for sake reason, when it comes to eating, we are likely to forsake it in many more areas of our physical and spiritual lies as well.
Seneca once said, “he will have mini masters, who makes his body his master.“
Gluttony is an inordinate, unreasonable, desire for food and drink.
If we haven’t mastered our gluttony, the enemy within that ravages our body , we’re not in a very good position to build a spiritual life.
Seeking excess comfort for our bellies makes us less apt to imitate Christ through suffering and sacrifice.
The Eucharistic fast is a penance for our sins and an act of temperance, that modifies bodily desires and preparation for the reception of Christ.
We should arise from the table satisfied, neither overly full, nor still hungry.
When we modify our bodies, we can become more attuned to sanctifying our souls.
a prayer after meals: “we give thanks for all the benefits, 00, mighty God, who list and rainiest world without end amen. May the souls of the faithful departed to the mercy of God rest in peace amen“ by our praying for the faithful departed. The prayer transforms, the simple, active, eating into an opportunity to let our thoughts and prayers rise beyond ourselves.
Virtues are essentially good habits. Vices are essentially bad habits. If we are to conquer the bad habit of gluttony, we must build the contrary virtue of dietary temperance. We become builders by building, harvest by playing the harp, and temperate eaters by eating temperately.
To tend to our bodily temples properly, and to glorify God in the process, we need to strive every day to acquire the virtue of temperance as it applies to our daily food and drink.
Lust
Sense of lust can be very embarrassing, and shameful, because in them, we allow ourselves to operate at the animal level, guided by the pleasures of sensation, rather than the restraint of our human reason.
Saint Thomas, suggest that we focus on the opposite of singular’s, namely, universals. For instance, a man, instead of turning his eyes and imagination on this, or that particular woman, can try re-focusing on woman. Instead of lusting, after a particular woman, he can try focussing on her identity as a daughter, or a sister, and perhaps as someone else’s current or future, wife, or mother.
Ross
Wrath is a failure of our reason to rain in our appetite that seeks to fight against things that thwart our desires.
Those most prone to heart attacks have a tendency toward frequent bouts of anger.
Patience is a virtue related to fortitude that St. Thomas tells us enables us to endure hardship and suffering, without becoming sorrowful, or defeated.
Clemency tempers our desire for revenge. According to Seneca, clemency is a leniency of a superior toward an inferior. .
Saint Thomas says, clemency, moderates, external punishment, while meekness properly mitigate the passion of anger.
Love of God governs all other virtues. Charity is the form and mother of all the virtues. Pry is the root in queen of all sins.
All of the deadly sins have this in common, if not, is there a direct cause, then, as an indirect consequence. The sin that has pride of place is the sin of pride itself.
All sins involve a turning toward some lesser, good or pleasure, while turning away from hump some higher good, and ultimately from God,
Pride is an inordinate desire for one’s own excellence, and to have things one’s own way, rather than God’s way.
When someone once told Saint Theresa of Lisieux that she was a saint, she rejoined, “no, I am not a saint. I am a very little soul, and God has overwhelmed with graces.“
Humility opposes, all forms of pride. And grounds us in the earth, and reminds us who we are, and where we come from.
If we are not humble, we will succumb to pride, and our edifice of virtue will crumble.
Saint Thomas calls charity the mother of all virtues, since every virtue depends on it in a way.
Saint Thomas compares the life of charity to the heat of a powerful furnace. The stronger the furnace, a charity, we build within ourselves, the further will its flames reach, serving even to heat strangers and our enemies.
Humility and charity, the base of the and the pinnacle of virtue, the left and the right bookends of the book of aof virtue, say “God, neighbor, and then, yes, me too.”
Virtue grows from simple daily deeds.
Virtue can prevail over all manner of vice, and all from the grace, and for the glory of God.
ploy the virtues of fortitude and magnanim
February 12, 2022
Great overview book on the--you guessed it--Seven Deadly Sins.
Like all overview books, it suffers from being an inch-deep-and-a-mile-wide. You're not going to get the deep scriptural analysis you might with Philippe's "The Eight Doors of the Kingdom." And I personally found the first part of the book dealing with the history of the Seven Deadly Sins a bit longer than it could have been (I thought a couple crisp pages on the history would have sufficed; the book after all is more geared toward self-help than history).
But it's a very approachable read and the Examination of Conscience questions he poses are useful daily self-checks.
While many of the sins are relatively obvious (Wrath, for example), I found his analysis of Sloth insightful. Most of us believe sloth to be laziness, but it's really more spiritual luke-warmness. In fact, workaholics are often guilty of slothfulness, crowding out Christ with work.
Quoting 1 Tim 6:10 was a great spiritual challenge to the reader; words are not minced here and I found it hard to read that chapter and not see myself on every page! (Which, to be honest, was the case with most chapters).
And I found that the most admirable quality of the book; it's hard to read without seeing yourself in the mirror. For me, that made it worth the read; it gave me a heightened awareness of my own vices.
Like all overview books, it suffers from being an inch-deep-and-a-mile-wide. You're not going to get the deep scriptural analysis you might with Philippe's "The Eight Doors of the Kingdom." And I personally found the first part of the book dealing with the history of the Seven Deadly Sins a bit longer than it could have been (I thought a couple crisp pages on the history would have sufficed; the book after all is more geared toward self-help than history).
But it's a very approachable read and the Examination of Conscience questions he poses are useful daily self-checks.
While many of the sins are relatively obvious (Wrath, for example), I found his analysis of Sloth insightful. Most of us believe sloth to be laziness, but it's really more spiritual luke-warmness. In fact, workaholics are often guilty of slothfulness, crowding out Christ with work.
Quoting 1 Tim 6:10 was a great spiritual challenge to the reader; words are not minced here and I found it hard to read that chapter and not see myself on every page! (Which, to be honest, was the case with most chapters).
And I found that the most admirable quality of the book; it's hard to read without seeing yourself in the mirror. For me, that made it worth the read; it gave me a heightened awareness of my own vices.
November 12, 2024
Pirmoji knygos dalis apie ydas - 5 balai, antroji apie kovas su jomis 3 balai.
Visgi pakolkas ši knyga yra įkvėpusi mane vaikščioti į mišias papildomai prie kasdienio vaikščiojimo sekmadieniais prijungiant dar į jas vaikščiojima kasdienį ir papildomai kiekviena antradieni, ketvirtadieni ir penktadieni. Nuosekliai tas vyksta nuo rugpjūčio vidurio iki siandienos (lapkricio vidurys). Žiūrėsim kur visa tai nuves. Gal po 5mecio turėsiu grįžti ir koreguoti ši vertinimą antros dalies iš maksimaliu galimu 5 ir mano paskirtuoju tik 3 į nauja maksimumą, kokias 10zvaigzduciu? :)
Visgi pakolkas ši knyga yra įkvėpusi mane vaikščioti į mišias papildomai prie kasdienio vaikščiojimo sekmadieniais prijungiant dar į jas vaikščiojima kasdienį ir papildomai kiekviena antradieni, ketvirtadieni ir penktadieni. Nuosekliai tas vyksta nuo rugpjūčio vidurio iki siandienos (lapkricio vidurys). Žiūrėsim kur visa tai nuves. Gal po 5mecio turėsiu grįžti ir koreguoti ši vertinimą antros dalies iš maksimaliu galimu 5 ir mano paskirtuoju tik 3 į nauja maksimumą, kokias 10zvaigzduciu? :)
December 7, 2020
It’s simple Catholic theology for the laity who want to get their feet wet in deeper spirituality and meditation. We could all use it to examine our consciences especially if the idea of buying another book to meditate on the depth of our souls leads us into an avarice or slothful state. We would do will to remember to pray through those droughts, desolations, and doubts with our eyes and hearts toward charity itself.
April 17, 2021
Overall I enjoyed this read.
Here are my thoughts:
1. Vost teaches the history of the deadly sins very well.
2. Vost presents the virtues well in this book too on how to combat the deadly sins.
3. I think Vost did a great job of describing how to limit these sins in our lives by giving practical advice.
Here are my thoughts:
1. Vost teaches the history of the deadly sins very well.
2. Vost presents the virtues well in this book too on how to combat the deadly sins.
3. I think Vost did a great job of describing how to limit these sins in our lives by giving practical advice.
October 29, 2022
This was so well done. I had to read this as part of a course on moral theology, and the professor was getting very "philosophical" for my brain. Thank you to Dr. Vost, who is able to simplify Aquinas for people like me. Ah yes, and the deadliest sin of them all? Well, you probably already know that.
April 21, 2025
Leitura prática, leve e divertida sobre um assunto denso. Me fez pensar sobre paradoxos. Ao mesmo tempo que um pecado convida a outro, de forma que eles "trabalham" juntos, você pode sacrificar um vício por outro que é o seu pecado capital, (por exemplo sacrificar sua vaidade pra comer de forma desordenada), acabando que os vícios traem-se uns aos outros, o que é próprio dos maus.
May 9, 2019
A great survey of the seven deadly vices and their corresponding virtues. This is NOT formal theology, so it's a really accessible way to learn about this topic. VERY IMPORTANT! I do wish the chapters were a little longer and provided more scriptural references, but it was a great book.
May 30, 2023
A good book that is not heavy handed. Vost has nice tables and lists. I appreciate his approach to this topic which can be difficult and uncomfortable and his writing is thought provoking and uplifting without being shaming or demeaning.
October 11, 2024
Great book to have a better understanding of sin
Although being a life-long Christian, I have never understood sin like I do now! Kevin Vost opened my eyes to the ability to recognize sin before it becomes hard to extinguish.
Although being a life-long Christian, I have never understood sin like I do now! Kevin Vost opened my eyes to the ability to recognize sin before it becomes hard to extinguish.
January 25, 2025
A clear and concise way to conquer vice and embody virtue. I don't always agree with the author, mainly with some of the Catholic practices mentioned. But I highly appreciated his integration of philosophy, theology, and psychology to work in random with each other.
June 25, 2020
Great read!
Really opened my eyes and allowed me to reflect on the seven deadly sins and how they have affected me. Will need to reread!
Really opened my eyes and allowed me to reflect on the seven deadly sins and how they have affected me. Will need to reread!
February 10, 2022
Básico de teología moral. Muy completa la historia de los pecados capitales. Integra la psicología y moral.
August 7, 2025
st thomas is lowkey goated
September 25, 2025
Fantastic book that I have been reading with my small community of faith. It’s a keeper that I will refer to again and again.
September 24, 2019
Before I picked up this book, i knew there were 7 deadly sins. I am shocked to find out in this book being sloth is also one of the deadly sins. This isn't the kind of book I was hoping to read. Not a pleasure to read. I found it is hard to understand what it says.
October 19, 2015
FTC REQUIRED DISCLOSURE: The FTC requires me to tell you that I was provided a review copy of this book at no cost.
DO NOT read this book unless you are willing to change the way you think about sin.
The Seven Deadly Sins: A Thomistic Guide to Vanquishing Vice and Sin by Kevin YostI found Dr. Kevin Vost’s book The Seven Deadly Sins: A Thomistic Guide to Vanquishing Vice and Sin to be well-organized, enlightening, and is causing me grief as the Lord has tried to help me deal with some of my sins.
Overview
This was the first of Vost’s books that I have ever read, and I am looking forward to reading his other works. While there are a few points when professor Yoast comes out, by and large he takes his wisdom about Thomas Aquinas and explains it easier to understand language.
Development of the Theology of the Seven Deadly Sins
If you are interested in how the theology of the seven deadly sins developed then the first part of the book will be a treat to you. As a new fan of Thomas Aquinas, I particularly enjoyed chapter 7 to understand more of how "the dumb ox" thought. If you do skip these first seven chapters be forewarned that Vost -- as a good teacher -- frequently refers those mentioned in this first part.
The Sins and Their Daughters
The second part of the book is amazing. He has a chapter for each one of the vices: Sloth, greed, avarice, vainglory, gluttony, lust, and wrath. My original intention was to loan my copy of the book to my wife so that we could have something to talk about but I ended up marking up these seven chapter so much that I might need to buy her another copy.
Vost breaks down our understanding of each one of the vices using Scripture, Church teaching, and the words of Thomas Aquinas. He talks about the daughters of each vice -- the sins associated with the seven deadly ones.
For example, envy has five daughters: hatred, tail bearing, detraction, joy at another’s misfortune, and grief at another’s prosperity. Reading the definition of the vices and their daughters helped me see how easy it is to commit one of the seven deadly sins.
The chapter that caused me the most problems was the one on wrath. This is an issue I have struggled with for as long as I can remember. While the Lord is helping me overcome my anger issues, I still have a long way.
Vost presents a table about halfway through this chapter talking about the ABCs of emotional disturbance. In that table, he presents the Thomistic-Christian way of reacting when somebody wrongs us as opposed to what is considered normal by most people.
About a week after I read this chapter, I had a situation where I could have responded as the world does or as Aquinas suggests: I picked the former. Had I not recently read this book, I probably would have thought nothing of the incident but now that I am aware of the truth, I went confession the following week.
Recommendation
If you have any interest in living a life worthy of your calling, I would highly recommend getting a copy of Dr. Vost’s book The Seven Deadly Sins.
Saint Thomas teaches that “sin is nothing else than a bad human act. Now that an act is a human act is due to its being voluntary…as being elicited by the will.” (Summa, Question 71, article 6) Sin is knowing what is wrong and choosing it anyway. Saint Paul tells us (Romans 6:23) that reward of living a sinful life is death; separation from God forever. Too many of us are willingly committing the subtle sins that separates from the love of God.
This book has opened my eyes to the scope of sin. If we do all the suggestions Vost has for us to avoid sin, several saints will be made from this book.
Book Information
Title: The Seven Deadly Sins: A Thomistic Guide to Vanquishing Vice and Sin by Kevin Vost
Page Count: 207
Publisher: Sophia Institute press (May 19, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-1622822348
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Deadly-Si...
Cost: $9.95 Kindle $15.95 Paperback
DO NOT read this book unless you are willing to change the way you think about sin.
The Seven Deadly Sins: A Thomistic Guide to Vanquishing Vice and Sin by Kevin YostI found Dr. Kevin Vost’s book The Seven Deadly Sins: A Thomistic Guide to Vanquishing Vice and Sin to be well-organized, enlightening, and is causing me grief as the Lord has tried to help me deal with some of my sins.
Overview
This was the first of Vost’s books that I have ever read, and I am looking forward to reading his other works. While there are a few points when professor Yoast comes out, by and large he takes his wisdom about Thomas Aquinas and explains it easier to understand language.
Development of the Theology of the Seven Deadly Sins
If you are interested in how the theology of the seven deadly sins developed then the first part of the book will be a treat to you. As a new fan of Thomas Aquinas, I particularly enjoyed chapter 7 to understand more of how "the dumb ox" thought. If you do skip these first seven chapters be forewarned that Vost -- as a good teacher -- frequently refers those mentioned in this first part.
The Sins and Their Daughters
The second part of the book is amazing. He has a chapter for each one of the vices: Sloth, greed, avarice, vainglory, gluttony, lust, and wrath. My original intention was to loan my copy of the book to my wife so that we could have something to talk about but I ended up marking up these seven chapter so much that I might need to buy her another copy.
Vost breaks down our understanding of each one of the vices using Scripture, Church teaching, and the words of Thomas Aquinas. He talks about the daughters of each vice -- the sins associated with the seven deadly ones.
For example, envy has five daughters: hatred, tail bearing, detraction, joy at another’s misfortune, and grief at another’s prosperity. Reading the definition of the vices and their daughters helped me see how easy it is to commit one of the seven deadly sins.
The chapter that caused me the most problems was the one on wrath. This is an issue I have struggled with for as long as I can remember. While the Lord is helping me overcome my anger issues, I still have a long way.
Vost presents a table about halfway through this chapter talking about the ABCs of emotional disturbance. In that table, he presents the Thomistic-Christian way of reacting when somebody wrongs us as opposed to what is considered normal by most people.
About a week after I read this chapter, I had a situation where I could have responded as the world does or as Aquinas suggests: I picked the former. Had I not recently read this book, I probably would have thought nothing of the incident but now that I am aware of the truth, I went confession the following week.
Recommendation
If you have any interest in living a life worthy of your calling, I would highly recommend getting a copy of Dr. Vost’s book The Seven Deadly Sins.
Saint Thomas teaches that “sin is nothing else than a bad human act. Now that an act is a human act is due to its being voluntary…as being elicited by the will.” (Summa, Question 71, article 6) Sin is knowing what is wrong and choosing it anyway. Saint Paul tells us (Romans 6:23) that reward of living a sinful life is death; separation from God forever. Too many of us are willingly committing the subtle sins that separates from the love of God.
This book has opened my eyes to the scope of sin. If we do all the suggestions Vost has for us to avoid sin, several saints will be made from this book.
Book Information
Title: The Seven Deadly Sins: A Thomistic Guide to Vanquishing Vice and Sin by Kevin Vost
Page Count: 207
Publisher: Sophia Institute press (May 19, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-1622822348
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Deadly-Si...
Cost: $9.95 Kindle $15.95 Paperback
January 30, 2016
In the first centuries of the Christian epoch, devotees retreated into the desert wastes to flee temptation. Even away from the cry of the maddening crowd, however, they found themselves struggling with the everyday vices of mankind -- tendencies toward pride, apathy, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth, and so on. In an attempt to organize a campaign against them, the monk-progenitors first had to identify the enemy, creating a list of the chief frailties that all others stemmed from. These seven enemies of the soul are not uniquely Christian sins; they are universal problems of the human condition, and Vost draws on classical sources (Aristotle and the Roman Stoics -- Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius) for both insight and remedy. The remedy is only partially philosophical, however, as Vost also counsels readers to seek help in the sacraments of the Church, especially Confession and the Eucharist. Written in three stages, Vost first reviews how these seven in particular were singled out, shares patristic thought on the progression of vice from initial impulses to behavioral habit, and then offers a "Jacob's ladder" route away from downfall. These include practices useful against every vice, while some are sin-specific. A few of the 'rungs' -- an examination of conscience, mental awareness of drifting into vicious habit, and the deliberate cultivation of each vice's counter-virtue, could easily be found in a book like A Guide to the Good Life.The master here, however, is not Epictetus, but Thomas Aquinas. It is Aquinas' study of the desert fathers that produces a list of seven sins, and not eight -- and Aquinas who offers advice for remedy, himself bringing together both the Hebrew and Greek wisdom traditions -- harnessing both mindfulness and prayer, contemplation and action, philosophical principle and sacrament. The Seven Deadly Sins is thus true to its name in being a 'Tomistic' guide to vice and virtue, in effect offering laymen a guide into the theological expanse of Aquinas. Few people commit great evils, but we all hindered by the same seemingly minor snares. It is those small seed which can produce horror if left unchecked, however, and so this tidy little volume seems most valuable in the pursuit of spirituality, especially Christian.
December 28, 2020
It was ok. simplistic, which I think was intentional. I am not sure I got what i wanted from it and that is ok.
January 5, 2017
THE Sins
Man must understand how they behave towards others and within himself. Satan is the Commander of the evil spirits who are directly responsible for causing man to sin, knowingly or unknowingly. Beware of what you say and do.
Man must understand how they behave towards others and within himself. Satan is the Commander of the evil spirits who are directly responsible for causing man to sin, knowingly or unknowingly. Beware of what you say and do.
February 6, 2016
Not as meaty as I hoped, but still good. Simple and quick understanding of the seven deadly sins, and the virtues we can cultivate to combat vice.
February 25, 2016
"My people perish for lack of knowledge"
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews