The Middle East, Russia-Ukraine, Yemeni Civil War, South Sudan... and the list goes on. We can't seem to get along. Human history is punctuated with greater periods of conflict than peace. Why? Is this simply a consequence of how flawed we appear as a species?
Is it really our fault or can we blame Adam and Eve for starting us down this path? How about that damn Snake and why wasn’t there a “Do Not Eat” sign on the Tree of Knowledge?
And whose idea was it to plant the Tree in the first place? And who let the Snake in the Garden? I thought the Garden was a Snake Free Zone. Didn't the guy who created Adam and Eve, also create the Snake? And was the Snake acting alone or did He put the Snake up to it? Does the blame ultimately rest with Him? And why couldn’t He, God of Mercy, have given the couple a pass for their first violation; maybe a gentle rap on the knuckles and an ‘Alright, you’re forgiven this time, but DON’T let it happen again... Beeeehave!’
That would have saved us a lot of trouble don’t you think? Well, we know that’s not how the story ended, and, as some believe, we are tainted with Original Sin, and we’ve been misbehaving ever since.
10 Do’s and Don’ts
Later, following the Garden incident, we get Moses trudging up Mount Sinai to hang out, have a chat with Him, and receive 10 Do’s and Don’ts inscribed on two stone tablets. By the time he returns, he finds his tribe worshiping a golden calf. He loses his temper (Deadly Sin No. 3), smashes the tablets, and either directs and/or lends a hand in burning the golden calf and slaughtering the worshipers -- a symbolic purging of sin and a show-and-tell moment to get back in God's good graces. All this despite flagrant violations of Commandments 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 -- the very commandments that Moses was given in the first place!
The Second Coming
Sometime during 2 CE a Phrygian Christian preacher named Montanus claimed to be the mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit and predicted the imminent descent of the New Jerusalem upon Earth. He was kind of an early version of an Uncle Charlie who went off the deep end proclaiming the Second Coming on the corner of Third and Main. He wasn't the only one, there have been many others who have cried wolf.
Joachim of Fiore: An Italian Cistercian abbot who developed an elaborate system of eschatology, predicting the Second Coming around 1260 AD.
Charles Taze Russell: The founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses, predicted the Second Coming to occur in 1914, marking the beginning of the "Kingdom of God" on Earth.
Herbert W. Armstrong: The founder of the Worldwide Church of God, who predicted the Second Coming to occur in 1975, but later revised his prediction to 1986. Here are a few more.
The Book of Revelation
Later, sometime around 95 CE, a fellow named John, purportedly the Apostle John, found himself exiled to the Roman penal colony of Patmos. During his time there, inspired by the word of God, John authored the Apocalypse (Revelation). It is known in the Christian Bible as the Book of Revelation.
The news, as reported by John, would lead to the second coming of Christ, and struggle as humanity might, it's a toss-up: ending well for some and badly for others. Put in a 21st-century context, one could argue that we are already well on our way to some not-so-pleasant ending if we don’t shape up.
Logismoi
We now fast-forward to the 4th Century and a monk named Evagrius Ponticus who is credited with identifying eight "logismoi" or thoughts that could lead one astray from Christ. His list included gluttony, lust, avarice, sadness, anger, acedia (sloth, apathy), vainglory (boastfulness, arrogance), and pride. Evagrius thought these logismoi could cause a person to rack up some really bad Second-Coming-mojo.
Seven Deadly Sins
Then during the 6th Century, enter Pope Gregory I. I’m not sure why Gregory decided to take Evagrius' logismoi and re-brand it. Maybe the Pope felt that 6th Century humans were getting a bit out of hand and needing yet another set of guideposts. Anyway, the logismoi became the Seven Deadly Sins of pride, envy, anger, sadness, avarice, gluttony, and lust.
According to Bard: "The word "sin" or its various forms appears in the Bible over 600 times. The exact number varies depending on the translation and the way the word is counted. For example, the King James Version contains 447 occurrences of the word "sin," while the New International Version contains 523 occurrences." However, the phrase "Seven Deadly Sins" ain't in the Bible.
None of this is exclusive to the Judeo-Christian tradition:
. Buddhism has the Five Poisons: greed, hatred, delusion, ignorance, and envy.
. Hindu's have the Six Passions: kama (lust), krodha (anger), lobh (greed), moha (attachment), mada or ahankar (pride) and matsarya (jealousy).
. The ancient Greeks had hubris, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth.
. African and South American cultures have their own set of guideposts.
Morals and Ethics
So, where are we? Do we behave any better than our ancestors? We now have concepts like Cultural Relativism and Moral Pluralism. I put the question to Bard and this is what I got:
Cultural relativism: Morality is relative to a particular culture or society. In some cultures, it is considered acceptable to eat dogs. In other cultures, this is considered to be morally wrong.
Moral pluralism: There may be multiple, equally valid moral systems. There is no single, correct answer to the question of whether abortion is morally right or wrong. There are strong arguments to be made on both sides of the issue.
Moral absolutism: There is a single, universal set of moral standards that apply to all people everywhere. Murder is always morally wrong, regardless of the circumstances.
Moral nihilism: There are no objective moral standards at all. Morality is subjective and relative, and there is no right or wrong way to act.
Applying all of the above to what we as a species do or don't do, I can only conclude that we are merely passengers on the 7 Deadly Sins Train seated in the 10 Commandments caboose. We didn't choose to get on and we apparently can't get off.
What say you?
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