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GLITTERING

VICES

A NEW LOOK AT THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS AND THEIR REMEDIES

Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung

BrazosPress

a division of Baker Publishing Group

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Published by Brazos Press

a division of Baker Publishing Group

P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.brazospress.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

DeYoung, Rebecca Konyndyk.

Glittering vices: a new look at the seven deadly sins and their remedies/ Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.

ISBN 978-1-58743-232-3 (pbk.)

1. Deadly sins. I. Title.

BV4626.D49 2009

241′.3—dc22

2009005330

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture is taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Gifts from the Desert: The Origins and History of the Vices Tradition

2. Envy: Feeling Bitter When Others Have It Better

3. Vainglory: Image Is Everything

4. Sloth: Resistance to the Demands of Love

5. Avarice: I Want It All

6. Anger: Holy Emotion or Hellish Passion?

7. Gluttony: Feeding Your Face and Starving Your Heart

8. Lust: Smoke, Fire, and Ashes

Epilogue

Index

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the generous support of Calvin College in granting me sabbatical leave in 2005 to work on this manuscript, as well as a grant from the Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship in the fall of 2007 to revise it. I am also grateful for a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to attend a summer seminar on the topic in 2006. Their research support has been invaluable. Thanks also to Rodney Clapp and Lisa Ann Cockrel for their help polishing the manuscript in its final stages, and to Mary VandenBerg for her prayers.

This book has its roots in my teaching. It is, in many significant respects, both for and by my students at Calvin College. The ideas contained here came to fruition in classes ...

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About Glittering Vices: A New Look at the Seven Deadly Sins and their Remedies

“Moral formation” and “character development” are popular buzzwords, but they are ineffective concepts without an understanding of what good character is and how to cultivate it. The traditional teachings on the “seven deadly sins,” or capital vices, compiled by saints such as Augustine, Pope Gregory I, and Aquinas, offer a strong foundation for recognizing virtues to cultivate and vices to avoid.

Unfortunately, contemporary culture trivializes, psychologizes, or even dismisses the seven vices as if they have no serious moral or spiritual implications. Glittering Vices clears that misconception with a brief history of the vices and an informative chapter on each “deadly sin.” Readers gain practical understanding of how the vices shape our culture and why gluttony, lust, sloth, and others are, in fact, incredibly destructive. Through this eye-opening book, readers will be able to correctly identify and eliminate the deeply rooted patterns of sin that are work in their lives.

Winsome and wise, Glittering Vices is intriguing for any reader interested in spiritual disciplines and character formation. Its rich content makes it useful in undergraduate and seminary ethics courses as well.

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