Plato describes the four cardinal virtues in 'Republic' (Book IV: 427d – 434c) and they entered into Christian teaching through Plato's disciple Aristotle and his work 'Nicomachean Ethics'. Contrary to the theological virtues, which are the gifts of God through grace, the four cardinal virtues can be practiced by everybody; thus, they embody the foundation of natural morality.

According to St. Augustine (founder of Christian teology), there were 3 big categories in which sins could be listed:carnal pleasure, pride and unnatural curiosity.

The monk Evagrius Ponticus listed eight evil thoughts in Greek as follows:1) gastrimargia, gluttony;2) porneia, prostitution, fornication;3) philargyria, avarice;4) hyperēphania, hubris;5) lypē, sadness – in the Philokalia, this term is rendered as envy, sadness at another’s good fortune;6) orgē, wrath; 7) kenodoxia, boasting; 8)akēdia, acedia – in the Philokalia, this term is rendered as dejection. Thanks to the writings of John Cassian, these terms were translated into the Latin of Western Christianity.

The Lateran IV council convoked by Pope Innocent III (c. 1160 – 1216) categorized them as “deadly sins”. Those who were found guilty of some sins as gluttony, lechery or blasfemy were punished with physical mutilation or dismemberment. Furtheremore, priests were required to sermonize about the vices and, as a consequence, many educational materials were produced.