The twelve stages of sin

According to St. Nicodemus of Mt. Athos, there are 12 stages of sin, as follow:

 

1st stage:  When someone does a good deed under a cunning thought i.e. to acquire money, glory, or honor.  When goodness is mixed with evil. 

 

2nd stage:  The half-completed implementation of a good deed.

 

3rd  stage:  Temptation or deceit.  i.e. the temptation that comes from the devil but which can also derive from the world or the human body and the soul is tempted through the five senses. 

 

4th stage: The union of the nous (mind) with the temptation.  

 

5th stage: The battle between the nous, the soul and the temptation. Up to this point sin is still not incubated.  However, from this stage and onwards, the nous is gradually captured by sin and this already brings down the wrath of God. 

 

6th stage: The consent of the nous to sin.  i.e. the pleasure of the nous that derives from the evil desire and the temptation.  At this specific stage, sin is born both in the mind and the heart and, according to the saying of the Apostle James, man deserves to be punished:  “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death”. (James 1,15)

7th stage: When sin is united with the nous and fantasy.  Since the human being had already consented to commit the sin, by the inducement of the devil, man is obliged to print sin into his mind, as if he had already put it into practice.  By the fantasy of the nous, sin starts to grow and is transplanted into the heart. 

 

8th stage:  The clear decision and willingness of the human being to materialize the sinful thought. 

 

9th stage:  When sins starts to become a habit.  i.e. the repetition of sin. 

 

10th stage:  This stage is the passion and the familiarity towards evil. i.e. the repetition of sin either through the willingness or unwillingness of the human being. 

 

11th stage:  This stage leads man to despair.  It is when he loses his hope of forgiveness through repentance by  the Grace and mercy of God. 

 

12th stage:  The last stage of sin is suicide.  i.e.  Assassination of the desperate man, which is commited by his own hands and by his own will.  This is done because of the full desperation brought by the many sins of the soul.  

 

 

Written by Fr. Ioannis Kyprianou