On the Seven Deadly Sins

The Seven Deadly Sins—Pride, Anger, Sloth, Envy, Avarice, Gluttony, and Lust—have shaped history from Greek and Roman times until today. In this highly illustrated book, Kenneth Baker offers readers a tour of the sins, their history, and their resonance in the present. From the medieval era, when sinners wholly believed Hell awaited them, to the present, when punishment for our transgressions comes (if it does) in this world rather than the next, Baker shows that the concept of these faults has always been potent. Addressing Pride, he shows its good side—movements like Black Pride and Gay Pride—but also the way its darker aspects lead to war and devastation. Anger, when righteous, can be a virtue, but how much more often is it a destructive failing? Envy and Avarice are at the heart of capitalism, for good and bad, but they also gnaw at us in secret and can together give rise to economic depredations and financial chicanery. Gluttony, meanwhile, has little to say in its defense, as we know more all the time about its cost to health. And then there’s Lust, whose immediate gratification can bring so much pleasure—and so much pain.​ Charming, insightful, and learned, On the Seven Deadly Sins is the perfect book with which to while away an evening—and wonder about your neighbors. In this fascinating book Kenneth Baker explores how the Seven Deadly Sins – Pride, Anger, Sloth, Envy, Avarice, Gluttony and Lust – have shaped history from the Greek and Roman Civilisations, through their heyday in the Middle Ages, when sinners really believed they could go to Hell for all eternity, to the secular world of today, where they are still an alluring and destructive force. Today most sinners are punished in this world not the next: • Black Pride and Gay Pride have made tens of millions more understood and more accepted, but the overweening pride of certain leaders – Hubris – has led to wars and devastation: Hitler in Russia; the Japanese at Pearl Harbour; Saddam Hussein in Kuwait; and Blair and Bush in Iraq. • Anger, when righteous, can be a virtue, which helped to end the slave trade in the 19th century and to expose child abuse today, but there is still personal anger in domestic violence and Daesh terrorism. • Sloth can be an amiable weakness as Tennyson said,'Ah why should life all labour be', but the rewards go to the energetic. • Envy is the mainstay of the global advertising industry encouraging everyone to improve their lives, but it is also a secret vice, a self-destroying morbid appetite. • Avarice, has led to better living conditions for many people but also to the Great Depression, the financial collapse of 2008, and to 1,800 billionaires with the combined wealth of US $6.48 trillion. • Gluttony is not a sin but a destructive ailment leading to obesity, bottle-noses, bleary eyes, grog-blossoms and breath like a blowlamp. • Lust that demands immediate gratification is clearly still a sin, whether Paris'abduction of Helen of Troy, or websites that encourage marital infidelity, or the fate of many politicians, as Kipling said,'For the sins they do by two and two, they must pay for one by one.'This book is lavishly illustrated from Medieval manuscripts to Picasso, and Kenneth Baker has drawn on his knowledge of cartoons down the ages to include a few by Gillray, Rowlandson, Bateman, Eric Gill and today Peter Brookes. "The Seven Deadly Sins--Pride, Anger, Sloth, Envy, Avarice, Gluttony, and Lust--have shaped history from Greek and Roman times until today. In this highly illustrated book, Kenneth Baker offers readers a tour of the sins, their history, and their resonance in the present. From the medieval era, when sinners wholly believed Hell awaited them, to the present, when punishment for our transgressions comes (if it does) in this world rather than the next, Baker shows that the concept of these faults has always been potent. Addressing Pride, he shows its good side--movements like Black Pride and Gay Pride--but also the way its darker aspects lead to war and devastation. Anger, when righteous, can be a virtue, but how much more often is it a destructive failing? Envy and Avarice are at the heart of capitalism, for good and bad, but they also gnaw at us in secret and can together give rise to economic depredations and financial chicanery. Gluttony, meanwhile, has little to say in its defense, as we know more all the time about its cost to health. And then there's Lust, whose immediate gratification can bring so much pleasure--and so much pain."--Publisher description Kenneth Baker. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.