Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society

Rating:
Summary: Peters put a face on evil
Review: Using 7 classic categories of sin, Peters presents a riveting autopsy on the growing body of evidence that sin and evil are nothing to mess with. To the surprise of many "enlightened" modern people, sin is not dead. Left unconfessed and unforgiven, sin can grow cancerously until it destroys not only its own body, but others as well.

Peters' scholarship and theology is of the highest integrity. He also has the rare gift of putting flesh on his ideas--he speaks clearly, directly, and in language we can grasp.

The categories of evil may seem "outmoded", but Peters exegetes them in a way that seems alarmingly contemporary. In progression from least to greatest, Peters offers the following classic forms of sin leading to "radical evil":

1)Anxiety; 2) Unfaith; 3) Pride; 4) Concupiscence; 5)Self-justification; 6) Cruelty; 7) Blasphemy.

Number 7, "Blasphemy", may seem over-reactive, but Peters makes his case about the seriousness that blasphemy, finally, is the most treacherous of all evils. (His description of "concupiscence" is one that moderns should especially know!)

This book never got the attention it deserves. Peters has written a theological work that may well be unparalled in the field of books on "Sin and Evil."

Thanks, Ted.

Rating:
Summary: Peters put a face on evil
Review: Using 7 classic categories of sin, Peters presents a riveting autopsy on the growing body of evidence that sin and evil are nothing to mess with. To the surprise of many "enlightened" modern people, sin is not dead. Left unconfessed and unforgiven, sin can grow cancerously until it destroys not only its own body, but others as well.

Peters' scholarship and theology is of the highest integrity. He also has the rare gift of putting flesh on his ideas--he speaks clearly, directly, and in language we can grasp.

The categories of evil may seem "outmoded", but Peters exegetes them in a way that seems alarmingly contemporary. In progression from least to greatest, Peters offers the following classic forms of sin leading to "radical evil":

1)Anxiety; 2) Unfaith; 3) Pride; 4) Concupiscence; 5)Self-justification; 6) Cruelty; 7) Blasphemy.

Number 7, "Blasphemy", may seem over-reactive, but Peters makes his case about the seriousness that blasphemy, finally, is the most treacherous of all evils. (His description of "concupiscence" is one that moderns should especially know!)

This book never got the attention it deserves. Peters has written a theological work that may well be unparalled in the field of books on "Sin and Evil."

Thanks, Ted.