Changes

The sins the vices lead to are ''not'' characterized by gravity of sin; the word deadly seems to result from a confusion of the meaning of the word "capital".  A capital crime is a way of describing the worst kinds of crime, with capital meaning "top".  But a capital vice (or bad habit) uses the word capital with the meaning "head" or "leader", that is, giving rise to other sins, regardless of severity.<ref name=specialsins/>

The sins the vices lead to are ''not'' characterized by gravity of sin; the word deadly seems to result from a confusion of the meaning of the word "capital".  A capital crime is a way of describing the worst kinds of crime, with capital meaning "top".  But a capital vice (or bad habit) uses the word capital with the meaning "head" or "leader", that is, giving rise to other sins, regardless of severity.<ref name=specialsins/>

Although a sin that leads to a flood of other sins can be "deadly" to a necessary task one is attempting to perform or even tragically "deadly" to the soul living according to sins not deadly in themselves, like the way an onrushing new disease can kill an already sickly patient.  

Although a sin that leads to a flood of other sins can be "deadly" to a necessary spiritual task one is attempting to perform or even tragically "deadly" to the soul living according to sins not deadly in themselves, like the way an onrushing new disease can kill an already sickly patient.  

Pope [[Gregory the Great]] (c. 540-604) elaborated this hierarchy of sins drawn from an [[allegory|allegorical]] meaning he found in the [[Bible]] in the book of Job (ch. 39) in his work ''The Books of the Morals or An Exposition on the Book of Blessed Job''.  They are commonly found in Medieval and [[Renaissance]] thought. Personifications or depictions of the seven sins (and their punishments in [[Hell]]) are also common in the art and literature of these periods, sometimes contrasted with the four cardinal moral virtues plus three theological [[virtue]]s, although the virtues are not specifically opposed to a corresponding vice.

Pope [[Gregory the Great]] (c. 540-604) elaborated this hierarchy of sins drawn from an [[allegory|allegorical]] meaning he found in the [[Bible]] in the book of Job (ch. 39) in his work ''The Books of the Morals or An Exposition on the Book of Blessed Job''.  They are commonly found in Medieval and [[Renaissance]] thought. Personifications or depictions of the seven sins (and their punishments in [[Hell]]) are also common in the art and literature of these periods, sometimes contrasted with the four cardinal moral virtues plus three theological [[virtue]]s, although the virtues are not specifically opposed to a corresponding vice.