Sinning Like a Christian: A New Look at the 7 Deadly Sins

by William H. Willimon

The seven deadly sins are a well-known topic, but, surprisingly, not much has been written about them in recent years from a serious theological viewpoint. Will Willimon's engaging book, which takes an unflinching look at the meaning and substance of sin, will be of great interest to Christians. Study questions by the author are included. The "felt need" is an increasing dissatisfaction with shallow, feel-good Christianity which does not attempt to grapple with our propensity, visible around us and in our own lives, to do evil. This edition includes a new introduction by the author. A recent study by the Pulpit and Pew Research Center found that Will Willimon is one of the most widely read authors among mainline Protestant pastors, and an international survey conducted by Baylor University named him one of the Twelve Most Effective Preachers in the English-speaking world. With over a million copies of more than sixty books sold, his popularity is undeniable.

Genres: Christianity, Nonfiction, Theology, Christian Living, Religion, Christian, Spirituality

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2005

About the author

The Reverend Dr. William H. Willimon is Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at the Divinity School, Duke University. He served eight years as Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church, where he led the 157,000 Methodists and 792 pastors in North Alabama. For twenty years prior to the episcopacy, he was Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.

Reviews

[Maggie Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

For many, this book will come as a surprise. The author does not use the typical tack of laying out a point by point argument but instead produces a text, sometimes humorous, sometimes satirical to prompt the reader to think about their sins. What I loved about it was that it reminded me both of the role sin plays in my life and the joyous, unexpected and undeserved delight of grace.

Here is a quote that touches on that: Every time we look at the cross of Christ, it is not only a mirror of us at our worst, our angry, murderous worst; the cross is also a window whereby we are able to peer into the deepest mystery at the heart of God. When God had a grand opportunity to strike out decisively in justified vengeance against us, God majestically forgave us. The cross is God’s great rebuke of us, that moment when God held up before us a mirror that reveals who we really are. And the cross is also when we got to see who God really is. God cares enough about us to get angry enough with us, and our sin, to forgive us. On Golgotha God is judging us. God is smoking us out of our safe sanctuaries of communal and personal self-delusion. With whip in hand, God holds a harsh mirror of utter truth before us. God is revealing our true selves in the mirror of the cross. Here, O church, is you at your very best. Look at yourselves. He said, “Come to me.” And we with one voice cried, “Crucify him!” But he refused to let our sin have the last word. To our “Crucify him!” he responded with, “Father forgive. . . .” Before Holy Week is done, there will be time for suffering with us and suffering for us, forgiveness of us and prayer for us, but along with this there is, as he drives us out of the Temple, Jesus’ Anger against us so that he might be decisively for us.

Another favorite: Fortunately, the gospel is not just a declaration that we are all sinners. The gospel is also a statement that Jesus Christ died for sinners. Only sinners. Our sin is what nailed him to the cross, our big and little slipups, screwups, even our doggy-like sins like Lust. Yet (now, the good news) as Paul put it: “Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20).

A great deal of the text emphasizes the work of sanctification. We are not just to be content in our grace but to as Paul reminded us And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

I should emphasize that unlike many, many books this is not about the sin of the unsaved. This isn't a treatise on judgment for those outside the church but a look at sin for those within the church. This is a tricky subject in this day and age, a dangerous one because much of American Christianity takes what little joy it has in its faith from judging the sins of the culture around them. This book is about, as it says in the title, Christian sins. It is about looking within yourself and taking to task that sinner. In short, like Jesus did in Luke 18:9-14 the author points out that it is the self-righteous church that needs to self-examine and remove the log that is in their eye before removing the splinter in that of those around us (Matthew 7:3)

If you are interested in a book which does your thinking for you, you won't find it here. If you are looking for a book which forces you into contemplation about your own sinful nature, pick this up.

[Jr · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a decent read...
It seemed to me that the author wrote more with a desire to promote 'social justice' than to promote holy living; not that the two are mutually exclusive. Holy living WILL produce justice, but justice does not produce holiness.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Willimon's book on the seven deadly sins is an odd thing. Jokey in tone at times, it also quotes relentlessly from church history. There are wonderful thoughts and quotations here, but the overall tone and organization is really uneven at the chapter level and even from paragraph to paragraph. It is serious about greed, but less so about gluttony. The chapter on lust turns more generally to sin by the end (it is a careful and thoughtful discussion). So, a good read, but far from comprehensive or even coverage of the seven.

[Drake Whaley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of an older resource, I read it to prepare and research for “Vice & Victory” — a biblical manhood resource that follows the 7 deadly sins that the Men’s Leadership Team is developing.

Willimon does a GREAT job of defining, tracing the roots, and recognizing the symptoms/implications of each of the deadly sins.

Where Willimon falls short, is that there is little to no Gospel application of what it looks like to fight these sins and surrender them to Jesus.

[Eric Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read along with Jeff Cook’s Seven: The Deadly Sins and the Beatitudes and Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung’s Glittering Vices in preparation for a series of sermons on the seven deadly sins. Glittering Vices is far and away the best of the three books. Willimon is too clever, and Cook stretches a bit too far to make the Beatitudes a corollary to the seven sins.

[Rebecca Hundley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good study. Worth the time. We think and talk a lot about being sinners but in these times we often ask for forgiveness, if we recognize our sinning, and don’t really confront the sin. This book points out how some behaviors that society has down played are more serious then we like to admit.

[Peter Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ok read. Very little new ground.

[Kate Davis · Rating 1 out of 5]

A poor thinker whose writing is emotion- and sacrasm-driven.

Take, for example, his chapter on pride. In a span of pages, his "argument" is as follows:
- Our culture loves pride (by which he really means gratification, which Ecclesiastes, for one, encourages): management guru states employees should have "pride in their products"
- Extreme examples of pride (the sin, this time): Nazis and a serial killer. No joke.
- Snark: "Yet really now, is Pride so serious as to be considered a sin?"
- A legitimate statement we know is true (thus lending felt credibility to the argument): "Pride can lead to spectacularly bad judgments"
- More snark: "Yet to tell the truth, I can't think of much that is wrong with a healthy sense of Pride except that Jesus was against it."
- Shift to Christianese and citing random phrases of scripture out of context, and then a retelling of scripture that has little to do with the original text.

The appeal to emotions, the rapidly-shifting definitions and careless use of words, the resort to Nazi examples (which often points to desperation in an argument) -- so many reasons to stop reading.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a thought provoking book full of stories, quotes and insight into the SEVEN deadly sins. I continue to be stirred to think and consider my life in the light of this book. Not full of Bible (the seven deadly sins are never listed as such in the Bible), but worthy of deeper thought as many of these sins are at the root of many others. Very stimulating book, and I am just starting reading Willimon.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a provocative book, isn't it? If you are interested in this subject, I highly recommend it. I found the chapters on envy, sloth, and wrath to be rather disturbing. The author is very good in those chapters of bringing these spiritual sins to their natural conclusions, in ways that I had not really thought about before. He is also very good at presenting why these vices are so detrimental to our relationship with God. I like books that make me think and this one does that.

[Carla H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used this book as a study with a Wednesday night group. Some found it difficult to read, but overall it was very provocative. It certainly cause me to stop and consider the thing I forgive myself for because "it's only human."

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book for my church group. It lead to some interesting discussion, but I honestly don't remember much about it now.

[David Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was helpful in preparing for my sermon series on seven deadly sins for lent.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you know nothing about the 7 deadly sins as I was (raised Baptist), you will find this book informative and spiritually enlightening.

[Curtis Lillie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Willimon always has compelling ideas and great one-liners, but I could barely tell what his point was in each chapter. He meandered through each chapter without structure or an apparent thesis.

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book - he has such a great way of phrasing things that makes you think.