|
Books > Religion & Spirituality > General > General
People everywhere are facing difficult situations and they need to
know how to cope with the frustration and other overwhelming
emotions that accompany any uncertain situation. This book of hope
from Tammy interweaves third-person stories and letters of people
who needed-and found-encouragement. We're not alone in our fight .
. . in our struggles ... in our loneliness...or in our questions.
Other people are going through tough times too, and are pressing on
through the storms. It's usually easier for us to press on when we
see that others have gone before us and have found joy again. We
often need others to stand in the gap for us, when we cannot stand
on our own during those difficult times. If we look-if we watch,
we'll see and notice that we are never alone. When it's more then
we can bear-Jesus stands in those gaps for us. He is able. Give it
to God and let Him put your life back together again!
Essayist and biographer Alan Jacobs introduces us to the world
of original sin, which he describes as not only a profound idea but
a necessary one. As G. K. Chesterton explains, "Only with original
sin can we at once pity the beggar and distrust the king."
Do we arrive in this world predisposed to evil? St. Augustine
passionately argued that we do; his opponents thought the notion
was an insult to a good God. Ever since Augustine, the church has
taught the doctrine of original sin, which is the idea that we are
not born innocent, but as babes we are corrupt, guilty, and worthy
of condemnation. Thus started a debate that has raged for centuries
and done much to shape Western civilization.
Perhaps no Christian doctrine is more controversial; perhaps
none is more consequential. Blaise Pascal claimed that "but for
this mystery, the most incomprehensible of all, we remain
incomprehensible to ourselves." Chesterton affirmed it as the only
provable Christian doctrine. Modern scholars assail the idea as
baleful and pernicious. But whether or not we believe in original
sin, the idea has shaped our most fundamental institutions--our
political structures, how we teach and raise our young, and,
perhaps most pervasively of all, how we understand ourselves. In
Original Sin, Alan Jacobs takes readers on a sweeping tour of the
idea of original sin, its origins, its history, and its proponents
and opponents. And he leaves us better prepared to answer one of
the most important questions of all: Are we really, all of us, bad
to the bone?
|
|