medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear George,
I don't know about a concrete "catalogue of sins" that has 'cowardice' listed as a sin in a class of its own.
To your question about the distinction between 'vice' and 'sin', you might want to check what Aquinas writes in S.Th. Ia-IIae q. 71, a.1. There he explains how 'peccatum', 'vitium' and 'malitia' are contrasted with 'virtus', each in its own way. 'Sin' is opposed to 'virtue' regarding its goal (virtue is ordered to the good, sin is inordinate), 'malice' is opposed virtue regarding a consequence ('goodness' is a consequence of virtue), and, finally, 'vice' is opposed to 'virtue' as to its essence.
Maybe needless to say: 'capital sin' and 'deadly sin' are very different but they are often confused, especially in English - I think because of the synonyms 'capital punishment' and 'death penalty'. 'Capital sin' means that a particular sin (traditionally a list of seven) is the beginning or 'head' (caput) of all kinds of other sins. It is a moral issue and it need not be about sins that are very grave in themselves. 'Deadly sin' concerns a theological issue: it means that one has lost the state of grace and is therefore liable to eternal damnation. It concerns very grave sins (as opposed to 'daily' or 'venial' sins). Usually, only a formal definition of 'deadly sin' is given and it is not specified what acts form deadly sins. One might even argue that one can never tell beforehand what kind of act would be a deadly sin, because it depends on the concrete situation. E.g. while one murder would be a deadly sin, another need not be.
All the best,
Harm
dr Harm Goris
senior lecturer systematic theology
School of Catholic Theology (Utrecht campus)
Tilburg University, the Netherlands
phone: +31-13-466 3821
Office: Nieuwegracht 65, Utrecht
Postal address: P.O. Box 80101, 3508 TC Utrecht, The Netherlands
-----Original Message-----
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of George Ferzoco
Sent: maandag 6 oktober 2014 0:26
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [M-R] it's a sin
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Or, maybe, not ...
Dear medieval-religion colleagues,
I hope you can advise me on a couple of queries concerning sin in the later Middle Ages.
The first has to do with cowardice. Does this ever appear, clearly and distinctly, as a 'deadly' or 'capital' sin (as opposed to, for example, one of a sub-set of other 'minor' sins under the category of a 'major' one such as sloth)?
The second is extremely basic: is 'sin' equivalent to 'vice'?
Thanks, as always, for your help.
All good wishes,
George
--
George Ferzoco
University of Bristol
[log in to unmask]
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: subscribe medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/medieval-religion
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: subscribe medieval-religion YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: unsubscribe medieval-religion
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/medieval-religion
|