Seven Deadly SIns

The Biblical Basis for The Seven Deadly Sins

The Bible includes lists of sins, though none align exactly with the traditional "seven deadly" sins.
Proverbs 6
¹⁶ These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
¹⁷ A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,
¹⁹ A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Galatians 5
¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
²⁰ Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
²¹ Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Here are examples of Bible passages for each of the seven deadly sins:

• Examples Bible passages on lust: Gen. 3:6, Job 31:9, Prv. 6:24-25, Matt. 5:28, 1 Cor. 9:27, 1 Tim. 6:9
• Examples Bible passages on gluttony: Ex. 16:20-21, Num. 11:32-33, Luke 12:19-20, Rom. 13:13-14
• Examples Bible passages on greed: Ex. 20:17, Neh. 5:7, Job 20:15, 31:24, Matt. 16:26, 1 Cor. 5:11
• Examples Bible passages on sloth: Prv. 6:6, 10:4-5, Matt. 25:27, Rom. 12:11, 2 Thess. 3:10, Heb. 6:12
• Examples Bible passages on wrath: Ps. 37:8, Prv. 6:34, 14:17, Matt. 5:22, 2 Cor. 12:20, Eph. 4:26
• Examples Bible passages on envy: Ps. 37:1, 49:16, 73:3, Rom. 1:29, 1 Cor. 13:4, 1 Tim. 6:4-5
• Examples Bible passages on pride: Deut. 8:17, 1 Sam. 2:3, Prv. 8:13, 11:2, Matt. 20:26, Luke 18:14

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The History of The Seven Deadly Sins
"The Seven Deadly Sins" can be traced back to the 4th century A.D. when a monk named Evagrius Ponticus generated his own sin list, likely stemming from problems he saw in his own day (behaviors which undoubtedly were, and still are, present in other times and places). [1]

According to Sacred Origins of Profound Things, by Charles Panati, Greek monastic theologian Evagrius of Pontus first drew up a list of eight offenses and wicked human passions:. They were, in order of increasing seriousness: gluttony, lust (fornication/prostitution), avarice (extreme  greed for wealth or material gain), sadness (ie envy - sadness at another's good fortune), anger-wrath, acedia (dejection, gloominess, depression), vainglory, and boasting (ie verbal proclamation of inner pride). Evagrius saw the escalating severity as representing increasing fixation with the self, with pride as the most egregious of the sins. Acedia (from the Greek "akedia," or "not to care") denoted "spiritual sloth."

In the late 6th century, Pope Gregory the Great reduced the list to seven items, folding vainglory into pride, acedia into sadness, and adding envy. His ranking of the Sins' seriousness was based on the degree from which they offended against love. It was, from most serious to least: pride, envy, anger, sadness, avarice (greed), gluttony, and lust. [2] Later theologians, including St. Thomas Aquinas, would contradict the notion that the seriousness of the sins could be ranked in this way. The term "covetousness" has historically been used interchangeably with "avarice" in accounts of the Deadly Sins. In the seventeenth century, the Church replaced the vague sin of "sadness" with sloth.

Gregory’s list and its order was cemented into Roman Catholic tradition for centuries to come when the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) used them in his epic tale, The Divine Comedy.

Sources
[1.] Evagrio Pontico,Gli Otto Spiriti Malvagi, trans., Felice Comello, Pratiche Editrice, Parma, 1990, p.11-12.
[2.]  Introduction to Paulist Press edition of John Climacus: The Ladder of Divine Ascent by Kallistos Ware, p. 63