Jim Hills

The Cardinal Mind Jim Hills

In A. D. 590 Pope Gregory I issued a list of sins against which Christians should especially guard themselves. It was not the first such list. Proverbs, for example, names seven sins that God detests. But "the seven deadly sins" codified for the medieval church-and for our own-the nature of sinful thought, which will surely eventuate in sinful acts. There are no laws against the seven deadly sins themselves; the best our legal system can do is try to restrain the behavior that works out of these crimes of the heart. Greed itself is not illegal, for example, but the frauds, thefts and robberies that greed provokes bring serious prison time. But this is always after the fact. Jesus traces bad behavior back to a corrupt heart. He indicted the Pharisees for whitewashing a rotten interior, a tomb filled with "dead man's bones." "The Seven Deadly Sins" expose the bones. Part II offers seven additional articles on the sins' antithetical Christian virtues. The essays in both Part 1 and Part II are featured in the 435-page anthology, "Garage Sale of the Mind and Other Opinions" by Jim Hills (2015). By popular request, this provocative slimmer volume has been produced. Enjoy!