Knowing Sin

The first rule of combat is: know your enemy. We don’t talk a lot about sin these days. But maybe we should. The Puritans sure did—because they understood sin’s deceptive power and wanted to root it out of their lives. Shouldn’t we want the same? Though many books have been written on the “doctrine of sin,” few are as practical and applicable as this one. In Knowing Sin, Mark Jones puts his expertise in the Puritans to work by distilling the vast wisdom of our Christian forebears into a single volume that summarizes their thought on this vital subject. The result isn’t a theological tome to sit on your shelf and gather dust, but a surprisingly relevant book to keep by your bedside and refer to again and again. You’ll come to understand topics like: Sin’s Origin Sin’s Grief Sin’s Thoughts Sin’s Temptations Sin’s Misery Sin’s Secrecy and of course . . . Sin’s Defeat! None of us is free from the struggle with sin. The question isn’t whether we’re sinful, it’s what we’re doing about it. Thanks be to God, there is a path to overcoming sin. And the first step on that path to victory is knowing what we’re up against. Start Knowing Sin today!

A look at the science behind temptation - and how to overcome it. 'Entertaining and enlightening ... offers ways to temper our anti-social tendencies.' Dr Michael Mosley, science journalist and TV presenter It can often seem that we are utterly surrounded by temptation, from the ease of online shopping and the stream of targeted advertising encouraging us to greedily acquire yet more stuff, to the coffee, cake and fast-food shops that line our streets, beckoning us in to over-indulge in all the wrong things. It can feel like a constant battle to stay away from the temptations we know we shouldn't give in to. Where exactly do these urges come from? If we know we shouldn't do something, for the sake of our health, our pockets or our reputation, why is it often so very hard to do the right thing? Anyone who has ever wondered why they never seem to be able to stick to their diet, anyone to whom the world seems more vain and self-obsessed than ever, anyone who can't understand why love-cheats pursue their extra-marital affairs, anyone who struggles to resist the lure of the comfy sofa, or anyone who makes themselves bitter through endless comparison with other people, anyone who is addicted to their smartphone – this book is for you. The Science of Sin brings together the latest findings from neuroscience research to shed light on the universally fascinating subject of temptation – where it comes from, how to resist it and why we all succumb from time to time. With each chapter inspired by one of the seven deadly sins, neurobiologist Jack Lewis illuminates the neural battles between temptation and restraint that take place within our brains, suggesting strategies to help us better manage our most troublesome impulses with the explicit goal of improving our health, our happiness and our productivity – helping us to say 'no!' more often, especially when it really counts.

Discipleship book that enables a Christian to develop from believing, to knowing, to then becoming convinced; not only in their general faith, but also in the individual truths within God's Word.

It is an undeniable fact that the very concept of hell is shrouded in mystery. We know what books and movies tell us hell is like, but we’re left with so many questions. Is hell simply a place where sinners are sent to suffer for their sins, or is it much, much more than that? All You Want to Know About Hell breaks down the three most popular views on hell and tells us what the Bible really says about this terrifying and mystifying place. From the “traditional” view of hell as a place of eternal torment to the early Christian view that hell is a place of suffering intended to purge sin and to bring about repentance, no other book gives such in-depth biblical insight into the truths about hell that are hidden in all the hype. Features include: Complete coverage of the three most popular views on hell Clear explanation of what Scripture really says An easy and interesting read for laypeople, pastors, and scholars alike

“Any story sounds true until someone tells the other side and sets the record straight” (Proverbs 18:17, TLB).

Hyun Joo Kim claims that Bonhoeffer transforms and reconstructs the Augustinian doctrine of original sin by shifting the hamartiological premise from the doctrine of God to the doctrine of the church based on his Lutheran resources. In Bonhoeffer's view, Augustine's doctrine of original sin does not fully relate the doctrine of sin to the responsibility of the saints. In order to reform Augustinian hamartiology, Bonhoeffer appropriates Augustine's notion of the church as the whole Christ (totus Christus), which is located in Augustine's ecclesiology. Kim explicates how Augustine relates his epistemological premises in his Christianized Platonism to his formulation of the doctrine of original sin, and examines how Luther's Christocentric standpoint transforms Augustine's anthropology and ultimately leads Luther to his relational hamartiology. Kim contends that Bonhoeffer's later hamartiology and ethics contain the most distinctive characteristics of Bonhoeffer's doctrine of sin, in that he not only incorporates both the active and passive dimensions of sin, but also intensifies his continuing notion of “vicarious representative action” towards the church community.