Confession 7
May 18, 2009
I have been reading Richard Foster and Gayle Beebe in Longing for God: Seven Paths of Christian Devotion.
Beebe speaks of Evagrius of Ponticus (345-399) as the first to categorize the sins of humanity. They have come to be known as the seven deadly sins. He actually names 8. He also came up with the corresponding virtues that counter these sins. Here are his eight sins and the corresponding Greek: Gluttony (gastrimargia), Anger (orge), Greed or avarice (xenodixia), Pride (hyperphania), lust or imppurity (porneia), indifference or impatient discouragement (akedia or acedia–sloth), and melancholy or depression (lype).
Evagrius believed that every Christian is assailed by these eight deadly thoughts and the actions they result in. The question is how will we react to the gravitational pull of each deadly thought when it arrives? We know from experience they will arrive, all of them, sometimes with a vengeancce. Often simultaneously. None is independent of the others. At times one triggers others. All affect us in their individual and cumulative effects. The continuous effort of spiritual formation into the likeness of Christ often begins here.
The starting point in dealing with these deadly thoughts and the resultant actions is confession which is an attitudinal adjustment that makes us agree with God that we think and act out these sinful thoughts. We also humbly agree that we are not able to overcome them on our own. We need the grace of God, which enables us to do what we cannot do on our own. In the next posts in this series ( previous posts here) I will take each of the eight sin categories and the corresponding eight virtues of Evagrius and elaborate on them.
Prayer: Lord, I come to you without one plea and only under the spell of the power of your love. If the charge is laid against me for each of these deadly thoughts and the actions they cause in me, I plead guilty as charged. I am sorry that I am careless at times to create the distance that exists between us. May my confession yield the desire to love you more dearly and to obey you more readily. I seek more of your mercy and grace daily. May my confession break down any gulf between me and you. I confess so that I may receive grace upon grace, and mercy upon mercy. Receiving these I am able to withstand every attack that would take my mind captive. I set my mind on the things that are above where Christ is at the right hand of God. Lord, have mercy. Amen.
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Georges, very good post. I sat in on a lecture about Evagrius last month. Very good stuff.