Seven in the Church
It's interesting that the Church considers Fingers Crossed to be superstitious nonsense (even though it has Christian origins), yet the number Seven plays an important part of the Christian religion (even though the number is associated with Pagan worship).
So why do Christians use the number seven so much?
Seven has been a significant part of the Church since its inception, and continues today, especially in Roman Catholicism and Orthodox Churches.
Seven Deadly Sins
In the 6th century Pope Gregory the Great defined a set of seven negative attributes that must be avoided:
- Pride- leading to a conceited opinion of one's self
- Envy- a desire for the status, abilities or possessions of others, leading to resentment of others
- Gluttony- a desire to eat or consume more than is needed, thereby wasting food or drink, ergo denying sustenance to others
- Lust- a craving for sex, power or riches
- Anger- a loss of rational self-control, leading to hatred and a desire to harm others
- Greed- a desire for material wealth or gain
- Sloth- a laziness and the avoidance of work
Seven Heavenly Virtues
The pope instructed the best way to avoid these sins was to adopt seven positive attributes to counter the seven negative attributes. The three Theological Virtues defined by St. Paul (faith, hope and love) added to the four Cardinal Virtues (prudence, temperance, courage and justice) give us the Seven Heavenly Virtues:
- Faith- a belief in the right things
- Hope- taking a positive view that good will prevail
- Charity- love and concern for others and actively helping others
- Fortitude- never giving up
- Justice- being fair and equitable with others
- Prudence- care of and moderation with money
- Temperance- moderation of things needed and abstinence from things not needed
For the Seven Deadly Sins, there are Seven Contrary Virtues:
- Pride ⇒ Humility
- Envy ⇒ Kindness
- Gluttony ⇒ Abstinence
- Lust ⇒ Chastity
- Anger ⇒ Patience
- Greed ⇒ Liberality
- Sloth ⇒ Diligence
The medieval instructions for helping others, give us the Seven Corporal Works of Mercy:
- Feed the hungry
- Give drink to the thirsty
- Give shelter to strangers
- Clothe the naked
- Visit the sick
- Minister to prisoners
- Bury the dead
Originally there were seven Stations of the Cross and there are Seven Sacraments:
- Baptism
- Confirmation
- Eucharist
- Penance
- Anointing the Sick
- Holy Orders
- Matrimony
Sometimes seven isn't specifically mentioned but there are seven events anyway. For example, many times people asked Jesus who He was, and in reply, Jesus compared Himself to different things to help us understand. The Gospel of John only records seven of these:
- I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry (John 6:35)
- I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness (John 8:12)
- I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved (John 10:9)
- I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10:10)
- I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies (John 11:25)
- I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6)
- I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener (John 15:1)
But why seven? Why not six? Or eight?
See our main seven page for the simple answer.
