Gluttony

Gluttony in a detail from The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things by Hieronymus Bosch

Gluttony, derived from the Latin gluttire meaning to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, or wealth items to the point of extravagance or waste. In some Christian denominations, it is considered one of the seven deadly sins—a misplaced desire of food or its withholding from the needy.

In Judaism

According to the list of 613 commandments that Jews must keep according to the Rambam, gluttony or excessive eating or drinking is prohibited. It is listed as #169. Not to eat or drink like glutton or a drunkard (not to rebel against father or mother)^{[Lev 19:26][Deut 21:20]} (CCN106).^[1]

In Catholicism

A woodcut representing Gluttony

Church leaders from the ascetic Middle Ages took a more expansive view of gluttony:

Pope Gregory I, a doctor of the Church, described the following ways by which one can commit sin of gluttony, and corresponding biblical examples for each of them:^[2]

1. Eating before the time of meals in order to satisfy the palate.

Biblical example: Jonathan eating a little honey, when his father Saul commanded no food to be taken before the evening.^{[1Sa 14:29]} (Note that this text is only approximately illustrative, as in this account, Jonathan did not know he was eating too

2. Seeking delicacies and better quality of food to gratify the "vile sense of taste."

Biblical example: When Israelites escaping from Egypt complained, "Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers and the melons, and the leeks and the onions and the garlic," God rained fowls for them to eat but punished them 500 years later.^{[Num 11:4]}

3. Seeking to stimulate the palate with sauces and seasonings.

Biblical example: Two sons of Eli the high priest made the sacrificial meat to be cooked in one manner rather than another. They were met with death.^{[1Sa 4:11]}

4. Exceeding the necessary quantity of food.

Biblical example: One of the sins of Sodom was "fullness of bread."^{[Eze 16:49]}

5. Taking food with too much eagerness, even when eating the proper amount, and even if the food is not luxurious.

Biblical example: Esau selling his birthright for ordinary food of bread and pottage of lentils. His punishment was that the "profane person . . . who, for a morsel of meat sold his birthright," we learn that "he found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully, with tears." ^{[Gen 25:30]}

The fifth way is worse than all others, said St. Gregory, because it shows attachment to pleasure most clearly. To recapitulate, St Gregory the Great said that one may succumb to the sin of gluttony by: 1. Time (when); 2. Quality; 3. Stimulants; 4. Quantity; 5. Eagerness

In his Summa Theologica (Part 2-2, Question 148, Article 4), St. Thomas Aquinas reiterated the list of five ways to commit gluttony:

• Laute - eating food that is too luxurious, exotic, or costly
• Nimis - eating food that is excessive in quantity
• Studiose - eating food that is too daintily or elaborately prepared
• Praepropere - eating too soon, or at an inappropriate time
• Ardenter - eating too eagerly.

Aquinas notes that the first three ways are related to the nature of the food itself, while the last two have to do with the time or manner in which it is consumed.

St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote the following when explaining gluttony:

"Pope Innocent XI has condemned the proposition which asserts that it is not a sin to eat or to drink from the sole motive of satisfying the palate. However, it is not a fault to feel pleasure in eating: for it is, generally speaking, impossible to eat without experiencing the delight which food naturally produces. But it is a defect to eat, like beasts, through the sole motive of sensual gratification, and without any reasonable object. Hence, the most delicious meats may be eaten without sin, if the motive be good and worthy of a rational creature; and, in taking the coarsest food through attachment to pleasure, there may be a fault."^[3]

Relevance to poverty

Callimachus the famous Greek poet states, "All that I have given to my stomach has disappeared, and I have retained all the fodder that I gave to my spirit." ^[4]

One question is, "How much worse is eating richly while others go without?"

This seems to be indicated by the prohibition of over-harvesting,^{[Deut 24:19][Deut 24:20]} and references like Job 31:16-17 and 1 Corinthians 11:21.

In the Bible (King James Version)

• Deuteronomy 21:20 - "And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
• Proverbs 23:20-21 - "Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags."
• Proverbs 23:2 - "When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee. And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite."
• Proverbs 25:16 - "Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it."
• Luke 7:33-35 (and parallel account in Matthew 11:18-19) - "For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! But wisdom is justified of all her children."

Word Study

In Deut 21:20 and Proverbs 23:21, it is זלל (Strong's H1251).^[5] The Gesenius Entry^[6] (lower left word) has indications of "squandering" and "profligacy" (waste).

In Matthew 11:19 and Luke 7:34, it is φαγος (Strong's G5314),^[7] The LSJ Entry^[8] is tiny, and only refers to one external source, Zenobius Paroemiographus 1.34. The word could mean merely "an eater", since φαγω means "eat".

See also

Look up gluttony in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Hunger (1974 film)
• The Seven Deadly Sins (1952 film)
• The Seven Deadly Sins (1919 film) (1919 film)
• Mr. Creosote
• Obesity

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gluttony.