从《七宗罪》和《西游记》看基督教七宗罪和佛教人性本善思想 - 图文

present in the human body at the same time. Goodness and evil constitute the essence of the person. The person is both an angel and a beast. Therefore, the religious theory of human nature is not the same as Xuncius’ thought of human nature is evil. And it is not the same as the Mencius’ thought of human nature is good. The religious theory of human nature is one kind of duplicate human nature of good and evil. However, religion does not think that goodness and evil are the same important.

Fundamentally speaking, the religious theory of human nature is an abstract theory of human nature. It is not really scientific to reveal correctly the human nature and to solve the problem of the theory of human nature. Without the activities and sociality of human being, religions see the human being as something the god given. This method is not scientific and the conclusion is not correct. Religion attributed the social evils caused by unreasonable social system and the suffering to the human evil according to their theory of human nature. It covers up the real root causes that lead to social evils and misery. It does the reasonable defense for the unreasonable social system. It does a very negative effect.

In short, religion thought of human nature has some reasonable content, which is important and influenced for the development of the human culture. It is worth for us studying and learning.

2. Analysis of the Film Se7en and the Theory of Human Evil

In Western culture, the Bible has its own special status for such a long time. Most of literary works are deeply influenced by the Bible. Seven Deadly Sins is one of the most popular themes to the writers. It is a little mysterious to the readers. The film Se7en is a successful work with Seven Deadly Sins in it. And Seven Deadly Sins is used artfully in this work and the audiences appreciate it well.

2.1 Introduction to the Se7en

Se7en is directed by David Fincher who is a famous American director. It has become a successful film as it is put on the screen. This film has won a lot of award at Film Festivals. It has become one of the most classical films of studying the criminal psychology. This film has earned 230, 000, 000.00 dollars these years around the world.

In Se7en, the environment is a rainy city which is unnamed and gloomy. The story begins with a common killing on Monday. An obese man is found dead with his face in a plate of spaghetti. At first, the police thought this is a coronary. Later they found a word “Gluttony” behind the refrigerator written in grease Detective Somerset is an old detective with plenty of experiences and he has his last week on the job. He can face every problem coldly and list all the details to analyze the case. Detective Mills wants to take this case in order to identify his ability as a new comer. On Tuesday, a lawyer is found killed in his office with a word “Greed”. Detective Somerset realizes that these two killings are not common and the killer must choose the victims according to the Seven Deadly Sins which include Gluttony, Greed, Sloth,

Pride, Lust, Envy and Wrath. The police find some fingerprints in the lawyer’s office. Then the police find Victor at his house but he has been a “dead man” who is the third victim who is “Sloth”. Detective Somerset finds a suspicious man whose name is John Doe and goes to find him. A man comes back and shoots at the two detectives as soon as they knock at John Doe’s door. Detective Mills keeps running after John Doe but he fails. He is easy to be angry. On Saturday, the fourth victim is a prostitute and is found in a room with a word “Lust”. On Sunday, a beautiful model is found dead by eating sleeping pills with “Pride”. Later a man with blood on his hands comes to the police station to give himself up. Otherwise, the killer does not plead guilty unless Detective Somerset and Detective Mills go to find another two bodies with him. The police have to accept his requirement with no other choice. At 7:00 Detective Somerset, Detective Mills and John Doe arrive at the place where John Doe guides. At the same time, a packet is sent to Detective Mills. There is Tracy’s head in the packet. Detective Mills is so sad and angry to kill John Doe as he is “Wrath”. John Doe is dead as “Envy” because he is jealous of Mills who has such a good wife. Totally, seven victims have died followed by Seven Deadly Sins and John Doe has won at last. As a thriller film with horror and neo-noir elements film, Se7en has give people a surprising end.

2.2. Seven Deadly Sins in the Film

As seven is a number with special meanings in Christian, it has been reflected in this film, such as seven rains in seven days, seven victims and the final meeting is at seven o’clock at the seventh day. The room of John Doe is another important scene in this film. The room is decorated by three colors: black, red and golden. These three colors have great relations with Christianity. John Doe is a man with strong belief in God. He imagines himself as the envoy of God to punish the people who commit the Seven Deadly Sins. He has put himself into his plan as “Envy” and dies in the end with his belief.

Seven symbolizes the powerful God. God spends seven days creating the world and uses the seventh rib of Adam to give birth to Eve. The body of Satan is a dragon with seven heads. The most popular for people is the descriptions about the Seven Deadly Sins.

In the 4th century, an Egyptian monk defines the sins as “Eight Deadly Passions” in Greek. In the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas first came up with the performances of all kinds of deadly sins. Then Grecian theologian concludes these sins to eight sins. Then in the 16th century, eight sins were cut down to seven sins and translated into Latin. The order of the Seven Deadly Sins is based on the extent of going against love, namely Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony and Lust. Each sin has his own way to punish people.

Seven Deadly Sins are often mentioned in literature. The most famous work is The Divine Comedy which is written by Dante. This work is recognized as a masterpiece in literature and makes great advantages to Seven Deadly Sins. There are three parts, namely Hell, Purgatory and Paradise the souls of the dead might go. The

first, Hell is likely a funnel which is wide upside and narrow downside. Hell has nine floors in all. The first floor is shaped before Christ and another eight floors each of them represents a sin and believing evil cults. People who are not baptized when they are alive waiting God to bring the trials for their sins. The second, Purgatory is the temporary punishment where the souls of the dead make ready for Heaven. This idea often appeared in ancient literature. It is divided into the Ante-Purgatory, the Garden of Eden and the Mountain of Purgatory which has seven floors, corresponding to the Seven Deadly Sins. The third, Dante travels the nine celestial spheres of Heaven. The structure of the Heaven is based on seven virtues, namely Humility, Diligence, Chastity, Patience, Kindness, Temperance and Charity. Each of virtues has an opposite to one of the Seven Deadly Sins and we can see the relationships in the following form. Sin Latin Virtue Latin Pride Sloth Lust Wrath Envy Gluttony Greed Pride is the deadliest of all the sins. It means that someone loves himself too much than he should do. Consequently, he thinks he is more excellent than others and God. Pride is treated as the most deadly sin and Lucifer falls to become Satan just because of pride. Self-concent and self-love is originated from pride. The definition of Pride given by Dante is distorting the love of oneself to the contempt for one’s neighbours. The Evil of Pride is Lucifer who was the most beautiful angle before he fallen. The punishment of Pride is being forced to walk with stone bearing down on their backs to induce feelings of humility.

Envy is the same as pride which is hard to fulfill one’s desire. Pride is always associated with belongings and money but envy is something about other aspects, such as love, other’s success and other’s ability. He could stand by side and be happy when other people have troubles. In Dante’s opinion, Envy could distort the favorite of his own belongings to jealousy of others who have more fortune or more wonderful things. The evil of Envy is Leviathan who was a sea monster can swallow everything. The punishment of Envy is being soaked in icy water.

Wrath refers to a vicious feeling, revenge and denies other’s achievement because of hatred. It includes the desire to punish or hurt others and the unreasonable anger. Some other sins caused because of wrath are serious sins, such as killing, discrimination and massacre. Dante describes Wrath as that the persisting justice is distorted to revenge and hatred. The evil of Wrath is Samuel who is a devil in Bible. The punishment of Wrath is being mutilated people lively.

Superbia Socordia Luxuria Ira Invidia Gula Avaritia Humility Diligence Chastity Patience Kindness Temperance Charity Humilitas Industria Castitas Patientia Humantias Temperantia Caritas

Sloth does not simple mean wasting time and it also referred to the failure to utilize of one’s talent or gift. Nowadays, the meaning of Sloth has gone further, adding laziness and indifference to the sin. People should make themselves rich by working hard. It can be classified to cowardice, the lack of imagination, easy to be satisfy and no sense of responsibility. Sloth is considered less serious than other six deadly sins. Dante thinks that it also considered someone does not love God with your heart and soul. The evil of Sloth is Beelphegor who is a demon in the seven princes of the Hell. The punishment of Sloth is being the thrown into a pit full of snakes.

Greed also asks for more than they need or should have. It is a little same as Gluttony but Greed is mainly about the desire of money. Sins having relationships with greed include rebel, disloyalty, stealing and collecting fortune to satisfy private benefits, especially by the means of force and deceiving others. Dante thinks that Greed refers to seek superiority excessively on money and power. The evil of Greed is Mammon who is a deity of wealth and greed. The punishment of Greed is being thrown into oil which is boiling.

Gluttony is considered as wasting food, drinking too much or cornering food than someone could eat nowadays. In fact, the definition of “Gluttony” includes the meaning of enthrallment. So Gluttony can refer to the enthrallments in all kinds of things, for example, the enthrallment in sport. Dante thinks that Gluttony is the excessive sake of pleasure and comfort. The evil of Gluttony is Beelzebub who is Semitic deity and later becomes a demon in Christian, one of the seven princes of the Hell. The punishment of Gluttony is being forced to eat rats, toads and snakes.

Lust refers to not only illegal sexuality but also fallen behaviors, the pursuit of stimulus or being eager to be accepted by others. Violation, adultery and bestiality are the most extreme behaviors of Lust. Dante thinks that giving too much love to lover is one kind of Lust because it could belittle the love given by God to people. The evil of Lust is Asmodeus who is a king of demons of lust and passion. The punishment of Lust is being fumigated into sulfur gas and fire.

Seven Deadly Sins is a good topic which has rich content for literature. In fact, Seven Deadly Sins is quoted widely such as animation games and the design of dress. In this way, it is popular and has roots in the hearts of people. Each of Seven Deadly Sins is not independent but they are related to each other. For example, Pride has mixed with Gluttony. All sins have the same meaning with others in some aspect. Totally, Seven Deadly Sins are all caused by loving oneself than everything and not giving his full heart to God. Seven Deadly Sins are not mentioned in Bible clearly, but they run through the whole work, so it is mysterious to people. So it still has more things being discussed by English learners.

3. Analysis of Journey to the West and the Theory of Human Goodness

Journey to the West is one of the most important novels in China. And it has great influence in China. In this novel, we have too much to study. Here we will talk about the thoughts about human good nature in this work.