Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society - Hardcover

Peters, Ted

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802837646 ISBN 13: 9780802837646

Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co, 1994

Synopsis

Sin. Many Christians today have lost the ability to talk about it in personal terms. For the last quarter century the theological establishment, like society, has consigned the human predicament to structures of political and economic oppression or to systemic evil such as race and gender discrimination. In the process, people have lost interest in the internal workings of the human soul, attributing the evils of our world to social forces beyond the scope of personal responsibility.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Using numerous illustrations from everyday life as well as the social sciences, Peter examines the kinds of evil--both personal and societal--that we all confront on a daily basis.

From Booklist:

After noting the increase in reports of satanic rituals, Peters began studying events leading to heinous acts of human brutality and sacrifice. In doing so, however, Peters found the need to look at the phenomenon of satanism within the broader context of sin and the workings of the soul. The result is a seven-step journey to what Peters calls radical evil. According to Peters, all humans are capable of extreme sin. Beginning with anxiety, which predisposes one to "unfaith" or a lack of trust in God, sin then progresses to pride, concupiscence, covetousness, self-justification, and cruelty. Cruelty cultivates the soul for the most radical of all evils, blasphemy, which Peters defines as employing divine symbols in order to dishonor God or to prevent others from benefiting from God's love and salvation. The remedy for sin, according to Peters, is to allow God's grace to transform anxiety into peace, unfaith into trust, pride into humility, and concupiscence into charity, thus leaving no doors open to cruelty and blasphemy. Although theologically profound, Peters' book is highly readable and a relevant contribution to religious studies. Patty O'Connell

About this edition

• Publisher: Eerdmans Pub Co
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0802837646
• ISBN 13: 9780802837646
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 338