20100426 Question: Seven Deadly Sins

6: Why do many Catholics refer to the 7 deadly sins when they aren't mentioned in the Bible directly and were compiled by a man who had nothing to do with the Bible?

6. Yeah, one thing to get used to with Christianity: there are lots of things we do, talk about, etc. that are not expressly in the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us how to build a synagogue or a Christian church. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us how Christian ministers should dress. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us what books belong in the Bible! The comfort we have in Catholic Christianity is found in the fact that we grew organically from our Hebrew roots in the revelation of Jesus the Christ, through the ministry of the Apostles, and shepherded through history by their successors, the popes and bishops. Protestant communities are generally defined by what they deny of the Catholic Faith (though they would never admit it). Many of them are not even aware of this historically obvious distinction.
The "Seven Deadly Sins" are just one articulation of a common practice among Christian spiritual leaders of the early Middle Ages to identify the common causes of spiritual failing. Many other spiritual doctors refer to the "Eight Vices" including vainglory, pride that arises after having conquered other temptations (see Evagrius Ponticus and John Cassian). The effort was partially based on passages from Proverbs and Galatians that list offenses to God. Pope St. Gregory the Great really just made a very publicly published list to be of use to the people of God.