COMMENTARY ON THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF DANTE
ALIGHEIRI: SLOTH
Dante
places sloth on the fourth level of
Purgatory, but if we consider the gravity of the seven deadly sins, assuming that
they are arranged, beginning at the base of the mountain, from the most to the least
grave, questions arise concerning the assignment of sloth to the level just
above anger.
Dante’s scheme on Mount Purgatory orders the seven deadly sins according to types of love, defined in terms of psychological motivation, from misdirected love at the lowest levels, deficient love in the middle, to excessive love at the highest levels.
While Dante’s is a thoughtful scheme, he doesn’t appear to have arranged the sins according to rank, which we would assume should be the case because the sins are ordered vertically.
In any case, the sin that is condemned after the fifth commandment in the Decalogue is adultery. Together with the sixth commandment, the ninth commandment encompasses all sexual sins.
Therefore, according to the criterion of the gravity of the sin indicated by the Decalogue, the sin that should follow anger in rank order is lust.
Anger is the passion that motivates sins of violence, while lust is the passion driving sexual sins.
According to our logic thus far, therefore, lust should occupy the fourth level of Purgatory. More on this point in the seventh commentary in our series.
The Catholic Encyclopedia defines sloth as “disinclination to labour or exertion.”
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14057c.htm
—“Sloth,” The Catholic Encyclopedia
We define sloth as the deficiency or absence of due effort in the spiritual life.
No doubt resisting spiritual sloth plays an imperative role in the life of the Christian, because any type of spiritual gain requires effort.
Notably, Jesus uses extreme language to describe the personal effort required to attain salvation.
“The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.” (Matthew 11:12)
“Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
“‘You wicked, slothful servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’” (Matthew 25:26-27, 30)
Elsewhere in Scripture, the lackadaisical in spiritual matters are condemned, whether literally or figuratively.
Do not love sleep lest you come to poverty; keep your eyes open, and you will have your fill of food. (Proverbs 20:13)
Let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:6)
“I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,’ and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white garments to put on so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed, and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise. Be earnest, therefore, and repent.” (Revelation 3:15-19)
The tradition of Christian spirituality pointedly remarks about the utter necessity of exerting effort in the spiritual life.
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, transl. with a foreword by Benedicta Ward, SLG, preface by Metropolitan Anthony (Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications, 1984), for example, relates:
A brother said to Abba Anthony, ‘Pray for me.’ The old man said to him, ‘I will have no mercy upon you, nor will God have any, if you yourself do not make an effort and if you do not pray to God.’ (16, page 4)
When the holy Abba Anthony lived in the desert he was beset by accidie and attacked by many sinful thoughts. He said to God, ‘Lord, I want to be saved but these thoughts do not leave me alone; what shall I do in my affliction? How can I be saved?’ A short while afterwards, when he got up to go out, Anthony saw a man like himself sitting at his work, getting up from his work to pray. It was an angel of the Lord sent to correct and reassure him. He heard the angel saying to him, ‘Do this and you will be saved.’ At these words, Anthony was filled with joy and courage. He did this, and he was saved. (1, pages 1-2)
“Idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” says an old English proverb that has been traced to Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.
Dante’s scheme on Mount Purgatory orders the seven deadly sins according to types of love, defined in terms of psychological motivation, from misdirected love at the lowest levels, deficient love in the middle, to excessive love at the highest levels.
While Dante’s is a thoughtful scheme, he doesn’t appear to have arranged the sins according to rank, which we would assume should be the case because the sins are ordered vertically.
In any case, the sin that is condemned after the fifth commandment in the Decalogue is adultery. Together with the sixth commandment, the ninth commandment encompasses all sexual sins.
Therefore, according to the criterion of the gravity of the sin indicated by the Decalogue, the sin that should follow anger in rank order is lust.
Anger is the passion that motivates sins of violence, while lust is the passion driving sexual sins.
According to our logic thus far, therefore, lust should occupy the fourth level of Purgatory. More on this point in the seventh commentary in our series.
The Catholic Encyclopedia defines sloth as “disinclination to labour or exertion.”
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14057c.htm
—“Sloth,” The Catholic Encyclopedia
We define sloth as the deficiency or absence of due effort in the spiritual life.
No doubt resisting spiritual sloth plays an imperative role in the life of the Christian, because any type of spiritual gain requires effort.
Notably, Jesus uses extreme language to describe the personal effort required to attain salvation.
“The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent are taking it by force.” (Matthew 11:12)
“Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
“‘You wicked, slothful servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.’” (Matthew 25:26-27, 30)
Elsewhere in Scripture, the lackadaisical in spiritual matters are condemned, whether literally or figuratively.
Do not love sleep lest you come to poverty; keep your eyes open, and you will have your fill of food. (Proverbs 20:13)
Let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:6)
“I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, ‘I am rich and affluent and have no need of anything,’ and yet do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white garments to put on so that your shameful nakedness may not be exposed, and buy ointment to smear on your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and chastise. Be earnest, therefore, and repent.” (Revelation 3:15-19)
The tradition of Christian spirituality pointedly remarks about the utter necessity of exerting effort in the spiritual life.
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, transl. with a foreword by Benedicta Ward, SLG, preface by Metropolitan Anthony (Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications, 1984), for example, relates:
A brother said to Abba Anthony, ‘Pray for me.’ The old man said to him, ‘I will have no mercy upon you, nor will God have any, if you yourself do not make an effort and if you do not pray to God.’ (16, page 4)
When the holy Abba Anthony lived in the desert he was beset by accidie and attacked by many sinful thoughts. He said to God, ‘Lord, I want to be saved but these thoughts do not leave me alone; what shall I do in my affliction? How can I be saved?’ A short while afterwards, when he got up to go out, Anthony saw a man like himself sitting at his work, getting up from his work to pray. It was an angel of the Lord sent to correct and reassure him. He heard the angel saying to him, ‘Do this and you will be saved.’ At these words, Anthony was filled with joy and courage. He did this, and he was saved. (1, pages 1-2)
“Idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” says an old English proverb that has been traced to Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.
Dante’s
Aligheiri’s universe, Mount Purgatory in particular, is discussed here:
Public domain photo
ReplyDeletePhoto link:
https://pixabay.com/photos/dog-portrait-sleeping-sleep-4069095/
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