The Deadly Sins and Saving Virtues: How They Are Viewed Today by Clergy

In 1992 the results of a survey on clergy attitudes toward the traditional deadly sins and the schedule of virtues formulated by Erik H. Erikson were published in Pastoral Psychology (D. Capps, 1992). This study reports the results of a similar survey conducted a decade later. It also compares the results of this clergy survey with the findings of our laity survey published in 2000 in Pastoral Psychology (D. Capps & A. H. Cole, 2000). Clergy were asked to rank order the sins (from most to least destructive), to identify one sin with which they were personally struggling, and to indicate whether they consider a given sin to be more characteristic of men, of women, or of both genders equally. Similar questions were asked concerning the virtues, but from a positive rather than a negative perspective. While the results were generally similar to the earlier clergy survey, there were some modest changes in the way respondents ranked the sins and virtues, indicated their personal identification with them, and viewed their gender relatedness. While the number of women respondents to the 2002 survey was small, differences in the way that clergymen and clergywomen responded to the survey questions are noted. We particularly note that clergy view anger as a much more deadly sin than do laity, and also the consistent finding that respondents tend to struggle personally with sins they consider among the least destructive.

Donald CappsEmail: