My friend Joel Green recommended that I read Ted Peters’ Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society and I’m glad for Joel’s suggestion. This is a really fine theological and soul-ish analysis of sin. There is a pastoral element to the entire book, and it is loaded with story and excellent quotations. What do you think of his spiral into sin?
Let me just give one brief look into the overall structure of this book. Peters finds a spiraling descent into the ultimate evil by looking at an almost Dante-esque series of descents:
Step 1: anxiety — the fear of loss.
Step 2: unfaith — when trusting becomes difficult.
Step 3: pride — making myself number one.
Step 4: concupiscence — lusting after what they have.
Step 5: self-justification — looking good while scapegoating others.
Step 6: cruelty — enjoying my neighbor’s suffering.
Step 7: blasphemy — satanic rituals and the destruction of the inner soul.
Whether or not you agree with these specific sins, and whether or not you think there is such a descent, the book is worth the read if you have any plans to study sin seriously.