The Fall and Sin: What We Have Become as Sinners

Front Cover
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2004 - Religion - 280 pages
The devastating evils of recent history have brought about renewed interest in the Christian doctrine of sin. This volume explores with fresh insight and great seriousness the contemporary plausibility, meaning, and relevance of the biblical understanding of the Fall and its effects.

Marguerite Shuster argues that certain aspects of the traditional doctrine of the Fall, including the belief that it took place in time and space, cannot simply be set aside without serious consequences for our doctrine of God and our understanding of human identity, dignity, and responsibility. She explores the nature and extent of sin and examines such problematic issues as "degrees" of sin and culpability. Despite the seriousness with which Shuster treats these topics, her discussion is not despairing but instead points to the redemption that God has accomplished in Christ.

Filled with contemporary allusions and completed with model sermons on the Fall and sin, this volume is one of the best available studies of this key Christian doctrine.

From inside the book

Contents

The Root of the Fall
37
The Nature of the Fall
49
Consequences of the Fall
62
The Divine Purpose and Moral Evil
84
THE DOCTRINE OF
97
37
104
The Fall and Human Freedom and Responsibility
115
The Nature of
121
Physical Death as Existential Reality
230
Death Shaping Life
238
Death the Funeral and the Grave
252
Biblical Vocabulary Relating to
263
84
269
Name Index
271
128
276
Copyright

Problems of Freedom
182

Common terms and phrases

Bibliographic information