Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin by Cornelius Plantinga Jr., Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (January 1995), ISBN-10: 0802842186
Source: My friend Lynn recommended years ago
Rating: 5 of 5 STARS
How does a book about Sin/sin get a rating of 5 out of 5 STARS? Well - though sad and depressing in some ways, it was convicting and enlightening in others. It shone a spotlight on some areas of my life that I need to address. Ick. But it also gave me a bigger picture of God's grace and mercy, a better understanding of why exactly Christ had to die for us. Although written in 1995, the cultural examples were still fresh and caused me to question some of my behaviors and thought patterns that might be acceptable in our world today, but that are not compatible with God's holiness and His plan for us.
The best way I know to summarize this book is to give you a very short overview of each chapter:
1. Vandalism of Shalom - Plantinga shows us what exactly sin is against: "Shalom is the webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight." He also develops a working definition of sin: "a culpable and personal affront to a personal God."
2. Spiritual Hygiene and Corruption - Plantinga leads us in a discussion on what exactly is meant by the 'corruption' of sin ("an unhappy cluster of spiritual perversion, pollution, and disintegration"). He says that "all serious Christians subscribe to the generic doctrine of corruption, the centerpiece of which is the claim that even when they are good in important ways, human beings are not sound." The rest of the chapter explains what a spiritually sound person would look like (or a person with good spiritual 'hygiene.') Great, great chapter!
3. Perversion, Pollution, and Disintegration - Practical definitions of perversion and pollution due to sin are given and examples examined of both the public and private life. The last section looks at sin as disintegration, and specifically delves into our sexual misconduct and excesses.
4. The Progress of Corruption - This was a wonderfully insightful chapter, discussing the truth of how sin patterns tends to chase families from generation to generation. The last half discusses the 'Law of Returns', basically that we reap what we sow.
5. Parasite - This chapter outlines the fact that evil is a perversion of good and therefore cannot exist on its own. A detailed (and convicting) discussion of pride (hubris) follows.
6. Masquerade - Everything you wanted to know (and not) about hypocrisy can be found here. Discussion on racism and genocide, self-deception and corrupt religion make this an exceptional chapter in an exceptional book.
7. Sin and Folly - Plantinga explores what a lot of us already know: sin is just plain stupid. He has a great section on what wisdom really is and why sin is therefore, ultimately, foolish. ("What is it about sin that makes it so foolish? Sin is the wrong recipe for good health; sin is the wrong gasoline to put in the tank; sin is the wrong road to take in order to get home. In other words, sin is finally futile.")
8. The Tragedy of Addiction - Is a person who is addicted to something (alcohol, drugs, etc.) culpable for their behavior? Is it sin or a symptom?
9. Attack - "Sinners make moves or assume postures. In a classic pattern, human beings attack and then they flee." This chapter looks at the attack mode pulling out one specific sin of attacking others: envy. Plantinga goes deeply into this very ugly sin - its roots (pride, anger) and its results (death).
10. Flight - Finally, Plantinga looks at eight ways that we evade: conforming, conniving, leaving town, specializing, minimizing, going limp, cocooning, and amusing ourselves to death. Also, he talks about how we even flee from Shalom itself.
This isn't an easy beach read. I highly recommend it, but read it sometime when you have time to concentrate, time to look up scripture references, time to read a chapter and then go for a walk to ponder what you've just read.
It's well worth the mental and spiritual exercise and I'll mark this one as a book to read again.
Source: My friend Lynn recommended years ago
Rating: 5 of 5 STARS
How does a book about Sin/sin get a rating of 5 out of 5 STARS? Well - though sad and depressing in some ways, it was convicting and enlightening in others. It shone a spotlight on some areas of my life that I need to address. Ick. But it also gave me a bigger picture of God's grace and mercy, a better understanding of why exactly Christ had to die for us. Although written in 1995, the cultural examples were still fresh and caused me to question some of my behaviors and thought patterns that might be acceptable in our world today, but that are not compatible with God's holiness and His plan for us.
The best way I know to summarize this book is to give you a very short overview of each chapter:
1. Vandalism of Shalom - Plantinga shows us what exactly sin is against: "Shalom is the webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight." He also develops a working definition of sin: "a culpable and personal affront to a personal God."
2. Spiritual Hygiene and Corruption - Plantinga leads us in a discussion on what exactly is meant by the 'corruption' of sin ("an unhappy cluster of spiritual perversion, pollution, and disintegration"). He says that "all serious Christians subscribe to the generic doctrine of corruption, the centerpiece of which is the claim that even when they are good in important ways, human beings are not sound." The rest of the chapter explains what a spiritually sound person would look like (or a person with good spiritual 'hygiene.') Great, great chapter!
3. Perversion, Pollution, and Disintegration - Practical definitions of perversion and pollution due to sin are given and examples examined of both the public and private life. The last section looks at sin as disintegration, and specifically delves into our sexual misconduct and excesses.
4. The Progress of Corruption - This was a wonderfully insightful chapter, discussing the truth of how sin patterns tends to chase families from generation to generation. The last half discusses the 'Law of Returns', basically that we reap what we sow.
5. Parasite - This chapter outlines the fact that evil is a perversion of good and therefore cannot exist on its own. A detailed (and convicting) discussion of pride (hubris) follows.
6. Masquerade - Everything you wanted to know (and not) about hypocrisy can be found here. Discussion on racism and genocide, self-deception and corrupt religion make this an exceptional chapter in an exceptional book.
7. Sin and Folly - Plantinga explores what a lot of us already know: sin is just plain stupid. He has a great section on what wisdom really is and why sin is therefore, ultimately, foolish. ("What is it about sin that makes it so foolish? Sin is the wrong recipe for good health; sin is the wrong gasoline to put in the tank; sin is the wrong road to take in order to get home. In other words, sin is finally futile.")
8. The Tragedy of Addiction - Is a person who is addicted to something (alcohol, drugs, etc.) culpable for their behavior? Is it sin or a symptom?
9. Attack - "Sinners make moves or assume postures. In a classic pattern, human beings attack and then they flee." This chapter looks at the attack mode pulling out one specific sin of attacking others: envy. Plantinga goes deeply into this very ugly sin - its roots (pride, anger) and its results (death).
10. Flight - Finally, Plantinga looks at eight ways that we evade: conforming, conniving, leaving town, specializing, minimizing, going limp, cocooning, and amusing ourselves to death. Also, he talks about how we even flee from Shalom itself.
This isn't an easy beach read. I highly recommend it, but read it sometime when you have time to concentrate, time to look up scripture references, time to read a chapter and then go for a walk to ponder what you've just read.
It's well worth the mental and spiritual exercise and I'll mark this one as a book to read again.
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