The Sin Complex

Drugs are Adam’s Sin is a contemporary interpretation of the sin committed by Adam, peace be upon him. The author believes that contrary to what many believe—that Adam’s sin was biting into an apple from a forbidden tree—his crime really was abusing drugs, resulting in the poisoning of his nervous system and unhappiness in paradise. The author contends that the tree in the Garden of Eden was not tall but rather short and charming—it was the poppy tree, which produces opium, morphine, and heroin. The toxins Adam ingested were genetically passed to his children, resulting in dreadful consequences that continue to this day and that have affected all of humanity. In examining Adam’s crime, the author seeks to answer questions such as: • How should we look at the criminal nature of man? • What can we do to correct our daily behaviors? • Why is understanding the true nature of Adam’s sin so important? Get a new perspective on events from the Bible, the nature of sin, and how humanity can solve what ails it in this groundbreaking book.

This open access book argues, from a detailed consideration of the Christian Scriptures, that God intends that sin occur. It swims against the tide of current thinking in philosophy of religion, arguing for an unfashionable conclusion. The book begins by considering the history of views on the question, paying particular attention to the Reformed or Calvinistic tradition. The heart of the book is a detailed examination of key passages from the Christian Scriptures that, it is argued, show that God does intend that sin occur. It also discusses in detail two alternative views that could be used to reinterpret these texts, one view that God intends only that the substratum of the sinful action occur, not the sin itself, and the other that God acts because a sin will occur but not intending that that sin occur. The book argues that these interpretative strategies, even when combined together, do not produce a plausible interpretation of the texts adduced.

Pride, lust, gluttony, greed, envy, sloth, and anger. They’re considered “deadly” because of their capacity to generate other evils. The truth is, we all sin and we do it all the time—in fact, usually several times over before breakfast! But human behavior, argues social psychologist Simon Laham, is more complex than “good” or “evil.” In psychology, these sins aren’t considered morally wrong or even uniformly bad, but are treated rather as complex and interesting psychological states that if, indulged wisely, can be functional, adaptive, and lead to a range of positive effects. The Science of Sin takes on these so-called sins one by one and through psychological research shows that being bad can be oh-so-good for you. Did you know that: · Being slow and lazy can help you win the race? · Anger makes you more open-minded? · Coveting what others have not only makes you more creative but bolsters self- esteem? So go ahead, eat that last cookie and kick back on the couch for a day of TV with your neighbor’s boyfriend—from gluttony to greed, envy to lust, Laham shows how even the deadliest, most decadent of vices can make you smart, successful, and happy.

Isolation of Sin breaks the vicious cycle of carnality shackling many believers to their past failures. God’s grace solution for the believer’s sin is rebound, privately confessing or naming your sins to God the Father. Rebound instantaneously accomplishes divine forgiveness, recovery of the Holy Spirit, and restoration to fellowship with God. Yet many believers immediately fall out of fellowship, caught in reaction, guilt, and a chain of mental, verbal, or overt sins. As their frustration mounts, carnality seems overwhelming. How do you break this cycle? Disengage yourself from forgiven sin! When God forgives a sin, it no longer belongs to you. Do not reclaim the burden! God has blotted out your sin! Feeling guilty, habitually looking backward, worrying, or chronic self-reproach only perpetuates your status in carnality. When you isolate your sins by “forgetting those things which are past,” you can “press on” to the high ground of spiritual maturity in your Christian life.

The T&T Clark Companion to the Doctrine of Sin provides a comprehensive treatment of the doctrine of sin. The Companion includes an examination of the biblical and rabbinic accounts of sin, and it provides accounts of sin and its effects offered by key theologians throughout Christian history. It also explores debates surrounding the implications of sin for various doctrines, including God, creation, anthropology, and salvation. The book is comprised of 30 major essays that provide an unparalleled examination of the key texts, figures, and debates relevant to the Christian tradition's discussion of the doctrine of sin. The Companion is unique in that every essay seeks to both appropriate and further stimulate the church's understanding of sin and its implications for the whole of the church's dogmatic tradition. The essays are divided into three sections: (1) Biblical Background; (2) Major Figures and Traditions; and (3) Dogmatic Concerns. The first set of essays explores the biblical and rabbinic accounts of sin to bring out the complexities of the biblical presentation and its implications. The second section discusses the role of the doctrine of sin in the theology of key theologians with a special attention to explaining how the doctrine contributes to an understanding of their overall theology. The final section explores key dogmatic questions and concerns related to the doctrine of sin (e.g. original sin, sin and the question of evil and providence, sin and the freedom of the will).

Godfrey Beddard is Professor of Chemical Physics in the School of Chemistry, University of Leeds, where his research interests encompass femtosecond spectroscopy, electron and energy transfer, and protein folding and unfolding. 1. Numbers, Basic Functions, and Algorithms 2. Complex Numbers 3. Differentiation 4. Integration 5. Vectors 6. Matrices and Determinants 7. Matrices in Quantum Mechanics 8. Summations, Series, and Expansion of Functions 9. Fourier Series and Transforms 10. Differential Equations 11. Numerical Methods 12. Monte-carlo Methods 13. Statistics and Data Analysis