"Plantinga's treatment of sin is comprehensive, articulate, and well written. It confirms the orthodox and neo-orthodox doctrine of sin, lavishly illustrates it from contemporary events, and plumbs depths in understanding sin's complexities and banalities...
Not the Way It's Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Plantinga, a professor of systematic theology, calls this book a "breviary." Given the massive historical dimensions of its subject, 207 pages may legitimately be counted as brief; but it is less an account than an argument for a particular understanding of sin as it is intimately connected with a Christian appropriation of shalom. The book is almost always interesting, often provocative, and sometimes infuriating (as in cheap shots at political correctness and modernism, largely irrelevant crowd-pleasers for a generally conservative audience). Plantinga's insistence that sin is a theologically and philosophically relevant category deserves serious consideration. Associating sin with disturbing the peace highlights social processes that may indeed make peace. Discerning between shalom and complacency is a perennial problem. To the extent that Plantinga brings sin again to our attention, he renders an important service. Steve Schroeder
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful
By torowan
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Dr. Cornelius Plantinga provides a theology of sin that is insightful, delightful and provoking, at the same time. I think not many readers will be able to complete this book without awakening both a desire and a renewed acuteness in their conscience.
Plantinga starts off painting a (very attractive!) picture of what life might look like apart from sin; the point of the book is for us not to simply avoid sinning, but to move to positively create that life. He uses a couple vocabula with special significance, "shalom" to mean a general rightness in the world and society, and "spiritual hygiene" to a rightness in an individual. It may be distracting to get into Hebrew etymology and be concerned with that vocabulary itself -- it seems to have been adopted by the Christian community that specialises in such things, so I'll adapt.
The majority of the book addresses various dimensions in which this sinless state isn't what we observe in the current state of our universe. Representatives of the dimensions Plantinga addresses include:
* The traditional "deadly sins" -- things like envy and immorality -- and the modernly perceived absolute evils such as sexism, racism, and lack of tolerance. While I don't necessarily agree on all of the details of what's really wrong in the modern evils, the bigger point is that a right society would be free of contamination by both sorts of evil, the ones that "the good old days" would have objected to and the ones to which it would have been oblivious.
* Religiosity. He urges believers to make sure it's the God who is there that we worship when we're being religious, rather creating a different god the way we want him to be and then attacking anyone who questions our religiosity.
Generally, he looks at how we err or fail to take responsibility. It is written within the context of God's grace being the solution to this problem, but doesn't spend much space on grace; part of the reason the book was written to offset the imbalance of how much is being spoken and written on grace without materially addressing sin - why grace matters.
Some of the focus of this book fits especially well in a post-modern western context, but the work is clearly applicable to the whole of human experience. When appalled by some of the examples, those of us who don't belong in the setting whence they were drawn will do well to think of our own parallels rather than to set about casting stones at "the west" / neoliberals / the US / New Yorkers / etc. There is much in this work to remind each of us, to make each of us conscious, of our guilt and responsibility -- not only for things of which we have always felt secretly guilty, but for things that likely never crossed our minds. Certainly my conscience has been piqued!
Plantinga points out how we live in a world where the evil people do may be 'caused' be evil they have suffered. He lightly broaches the subject of non-exclusivity between being cause and result -- how sin can be a result of one's conditions, and how one's conditions can be a result of sin. To explore the theological and logical relationship between these two more fully, I recommend two books by D A Carson:
* An academic "Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility: Biblical Perspective in Tension" for an in-depth study of the relationship between the two, or
* The more popular "How Long O Lord" for a broader study on evil that includes the summary conclusions of that work, and complements Plantinga's study on sin.
Plantinga's book is a nice complement to a book like "The Ten Commandments: Manual for the Chrisitan Life" by J. Douma, who works out pragmatic implications of the positive side of Ten Commandments in modern life, answering the question of what we should be doing in a parallel dimension.
We can never agree on everything, of course. While I enthusiastically embrace most of the conclusions that Plantinga presents in this book, his underlying epistemology fails to qualitatively distinguish between the
* eternal truth of scripture -- open to fallible interpretation no doubt, but objective since it is given by Special Revelation
* the current "knowledge" of science which, since it is inductively learned, may reflect the objective truth of nature with increasing approximation but never with certainty and always subject to change; and
* the current mores posited by sociology, where something seems wrong because society rejects it rather than because it contradicts God's revealed objective demands.
Let us not blithely ignore what current society believes to be true and false, right and wrong, but let us not put those beliefs on the same footing as what God has objectively revealed. To (slightly mis)quote Professor Kirke in Plantinga's admired C.S.Lewis, "Don't they read Plato or Bishop Berkeley or Pierre Duhem anymore? I wonder what they do teach them at these schools."
Plantinga starts off painting a (very attractive!) picture of what life might look like apart from sin; the point of the book is for us not to simply avoid sinning, but to move to positively create that life. He uses a couple vocabula with special significance, "shalom" to mean a general rightness in the world and society, and "spiritual hygiene" to a rightness in an individual. It may be distracting to get into Hebrew etymology and be concerned with that vocabulary itself -- it seems to have been adopted by the Christian community that specialises in such things, so I'll adapt.
The majority of the book addresses various dimensions in which this sinless state isn't what we observe in the current state of our universe. Representatives of the dimensions Plantinga addresses include:
* The traditional "deadly sins" -- things like envy and immorality -- and the modernly perceived absolute evils such as sexism, racism, and lack of tolerance. While I don't necessarily agree on all of the details of what's really wrong in the modern evils, the bigger point is that a right society would be free of contamination by both sorts of evil, the ones that "the good old days" would have objected to and the ones to which it would have been oblivious.
* Religiosity. He urges believers to make sure it's the God who is there that we worship when we're being religious, rather creating a different god the way we want him to be and then attacking anyone who questions our religiosity.
Generally, he looks at how we err or fail to take responsibility. It is written within the context of God's grace being the solution to this problem, but doesn't spend much space on grace; part of the reason the book was written to offset the imbalance of how much is being spoken and written on grace without materially addressing sin - why grace matters.
Some of the focus of this book fits especially well in a post-modern western context, but the work is clearly applicable to the whole of human experience. When appalled by some of the examples, those of us who don't belong in the setting whence they were drawn will do well to think of our own parallels rather than to set about casting stones at "the west" / neoliberals / the US / New Yorkers / etc. There is much in this work to remind each of us, to make each of us conscious, of our guilt and responsibility -- not only for things of which we have always felt secretly guilty, but for things that likely never crossed our minds. Certainly my conscience has been piqued!
Plantinga points out how we live in a world where the evil people do may be 'caused' be evil they have suffered. He lightly broaches the subject of non-exclusivity between being cause and result -- how sin can be a result of one's conditions, and how one's conditions can be a result of sin. To explore the theological and logical relationship between these two more fully, I recommend two books by D A Carson:
* An academic "Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility: Biblical Perspective in Tension" for an in-depth study of the relationship between the two, or
* The more popular "How Long O Lord" for a broader study on evil that includes the summary conclusions of that work, and complements Plantinga's study on sin.
Plantinga's book is a nice complement to a book like "The Ten Commandments: Manual for the Chrisitan Life" by J. Douma, who works out pragmatic implications of the positive side of Ten Commandments in modern life, answering the question of what we should be doing in a parallel dimension.
We can never agree on everything, of course. While I enthusiastically embrace most of the conclusions that Plantinga presents in this book, his underlying epistemology fails to qualitatively distinguish between the
* eternal truth of scripture -- open to fallible interpretation no doubt, but objective since it is given by Special Revelation
* the current "knowledge" of science which, since it is inductively learned, may reflect the objective truth of nature with increasing approximation but never with certainty and always subject to change; and
* the current mores posited by sociology, where something seems wrong because society rejects it rather than because it contradicts God's revealed objective demands.
Let us not blithely ignore what current society believes to be true and false, right and wrong, but let us not put those beliefs on the same footing as what God has objectively revealed. To (slightly mis)quote Professor Kirke in Plantinga's admired C.S.Lewis, "Don't they read Plato or Bishop Berkeley or Pierre Duhem anymore? I wonder what they do teach them at these schools."
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
By A H
Format:Paperback
This book was ranked as Christianity Today's Book of the Year for 1996, and it is well deserving of the honor. Plantinga has done a remarkable job of describing sin in all its various forms as well as its myriad of subtle dynamics and seductions.
His general thesis is that sin is a disruption of the shalom of God - anything that detracts from the way things are supposed to be. So the Christian task in counteracting the forces of sin in the world is to do whatever possible to restore shalom.
Sin may not seem like a cheery topic, but this book is truly edifying. Highly recommended.
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"Not the Way It's Supposed to Be" is an insightful, thoughtful, and engaging book. I, and no doubt millions of other Christians love Jesus because of his grace and never-ending love. How easy it would be to so focus on these aspects of God and to lose sight of why He is truly so great. Plantinga's book reminds us of the monumental problem that Jesus has saved us from--Sin. Sin is a loaded word. Many people have and still abuse it. Plantinga does not. Plantinga eloquently terms it "Vandalism of God's Shalom"--God's perfect created order. This metaphor shocked me at first, but then opened my eyes. This is a book that will challenge any reader. It is a classic.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitive Work on Sin
This is perhaps the definitive book on sin and how we should think about it (apart from John Owen, of course). Read more
Published 1 month ago by Jason Custer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful overview of sin
In our current time we have lost the words for why something is wrong - this book names sin clearly.
Published 1 month ago by K. C.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent read!
This book was so well written, brief, but thought-provoking. Plantinga uses analogies that stick with you and render heart responses; really makes you question what you believe and... Read more
Published 1 month ago by P. Neschke
5.0 out of 5 stars
I would buy a copy for all of you, if I could afford it.
I am currently involved with the Centurions Program, sponsored by the Colson Center. For the Program, one of our required readings is Not the Way It's Supposed to be: A Breviary... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jason Kanz
5.0 out of 5 stars
Plantinga is brilliant
There is a reason Christianity Today chose this as the book of the year in 1996. Plantinga is a bright and winsome wordsmith with piercing accuracy as he speaks to the condition... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Chase M. Bowers
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Interesting and engaging book! one of my favorite all time books
I write this because I was mad at the guy comments that gave this book one star. He seemed to launch a personal attack on the author. Read more
Published 15 months ago by sorenlaw
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not the way it's supposed to be
All went well. Thanks. I appreciate the fast service and the great condition of the book. I'll order from you again.
Published 18 months ago by Sooz
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Needed and Relevant Understanding of Sin
Cornelius Plantinga has given us such an important understanding of sin for the 21st century. Defining it as the "vandelism" of God's shalom communicates sin's pervasive... Read more
Published on May 16, 2011 by Gary V. Ventimiglia
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clear and direct teaching on the doctrine of sin
I read this book every couple of years, and some particular, personally relevant chapters I read more often than that. Read more
Published on May 13, 2011 by Ken Garrett
4.0 out of 5 stars
This book is... "the way its supposed to be" when it comes to books.
A great overview of many topics related to sin. His introduction and his chapters on sin as attack and sin as flight are great. Read more
Published on November 25, 2010 by Chris Woznicki
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
