Sinning Like a Christian: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins

Purchased this book to use to teach my adult Sunday school class. It was a wonderful book and brought a great message that can be applied to everyday living. Class enjoyed the lesson and I found it easy to follow and present. Great book!

I don't know what prompted me to pick up this book. Like many liberal Protestants, I prefer to focus in on God's grace and power to save everyone. But sin is not talked about enough in the circles I run around in, and, as this book suggests, maybe it needs to be talked about more. As Willimon stresses over and over, Jesus came to save SINNERS. Of course, we are all sinners, just as we also all are beloved children of God. Willimon gives an honest, updated look at the Seven Deadly Sins, including their origins, not just in the Bible, but in early church history. He explains why these sins are still sins, even the ones we like to say aren't so bad, like Pride and Lust. Interesting reading, and a lot of good irony. He does focus on these individual sins at the expense of more systemic sins, which is where I tend to focus my theology, but then it occurs to me that systemic sin is rooted in the Seven Deadly Sins as much as individual sins are. Anyway, it's hard reading for us liberal Protestants, but well worth it.

Bishop Willimon is not afraid to "swim" against society's view of what sin is - and isn't. This is not a book for the faint hearted. Willimon is opinionated and frank about sin - in our lives individually and our lives corporately. A great eight week Sunday school study or a study where one's goal is great dialogue - and an honest appraisal of sin's effect on one's life.