Summary of Short Stuff: The S7VEN Deadly Sins

Overview of Short Stuff: The S7VEN Deadly Sins

This Short Stuff episode (from Stuff You Should Know) — hosted by Josh and Jerry (Dave absent) — gives a quick historical and cultural tour of the “seven deadly sins”: where the idea came from, how it evolved, how it was used in medieval Christianity, and how it shows up in modern culture and Vatican thinking. The hosts mix facts with pop-culture references (the movie Seven, Gilligan’s Island fan theories) and a few humorous tangents.

Main takeaways

• The “seven deadly sins” are not a Biblical list; they originated as a monastic diagnostic for sinful thoughts.
• Evagrius Ponticus (4th century) first wrote a list of eight “evil thoughts” aimed at monks; the list was later trimmed and popularized into seven by later Church thinkers.
• Medieval Christianity used visual tools (e.g., the “tree of vices”) and mandatory confession practices to teach and police these sins.
• “Deadly” originally referred to spiritual death (eternal consequences), not immediate physical death.
• The Vatican issued a modernized list of harmful moral behaviors in 2008 (sometimes described as “new deadly sins”).

The lists

Traditional “seven deadly sins” (common modern version)

• Pride
• Greed (avarice)
• Lust (broadly, desire for worldly things)
• Envy
• Gluttony
• Wrath (anger)
• Sloth

Evagrius Ponticus’s original eight “evil thoughts”

• Gluttony
• Lust (in a broader sense)
• Avarice (greed)
• Anger
• Sloth
• Sadness (melancholy)
• Vainglory
• Pride

Origins and historical development

• Evagrius Ponticus (c. 345 CE), a monk and ascetic, wrote the Antirrheticus and listed eight evil thoughts as temptations to avoid for monastic life.
• His list was intended as a practical guide for monks trying to eliminate sinful thoughts during prayer, fasting, and meditation.
• Later Church figures (notably Pope Gregory I and medieval theologians like Thomas Aquinas) adapted and popularized the ideas, trimming Evagrius’s eight into seven and integrating them into broader pastoral teaching.

Medieval use and cultural impact

• The “tree of vices” iconography became common: pride as the root with other vices as branches — these images were often painted on church walls.
• Confession practices were organized around these sins; councils (e.g., the Fourth Lateran Council) set standards for confession frequency (confess at least annually or twice yearly in some periods).
• The concept became a staple of sermons, art, literature (e.g., Canterbury Tales’ Parson’s Tale), and public moral instruction — especially salient during crises like the Black Death.

Modern references and updates

• The seven deadly sins have large cultural visibility (movies like Seven; fan theories like mapping Gilligan’s Island characters to sins).
• In 2008 the Catholic Church issued an updated list of serious contemporary moral issues often described as “new deadly sins”:
  • Genetic manipulation
  • Experiments on humans
  • Pollution of the environment
  • Causing social injustice
  • Causing poverty
  • Becoming obscenely wealthy
  • Drug abuse

Notable insights/quotes (paraphrased)

• “They’re not in the Bible” — the hosts emphasize that the seven deadly sins are a later theological construct, not a scriptural list like the Ten Commandments.
• “Deadly” refers to spiritual death after death, not immediate earthly death.
• Pride was often portrayed as the root cause, with other vices branching from it.

Practical takeaways

• When people reference the seven deadly sins today, they’re usually invoking a long cultural and theological tradition rather than a strict Biblical mandate.
• The list has been adapted over time to address whatever moral concerns were most salient (medieval confession vs. modern social/ethical issues).
• Recognize the distinction between historical/monastic origins and broader popular usage — it started as an introspective guide for ascetics and grew into a public moral taxonomy.

Other notes

• The episode includes several sponsor reads (American Military University, Grainger, Wayfair, LinkedIn) and plugs for the Stuff You Should Know live tour.
• Tone is conversational and humorous, with hosts mixing historical facts, ecclesiastical detail, and pop-culture asides.