Reviewed Book: Peters, Ted. Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; London: Fowler Wright Bks, 1994

Trudeau, Juliette

English

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 22Issue 1 Canadian Lutherans and Social Justice:Sampling of a HeritageArticle 185-1-1996Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and SocietyJuliette TrudeauFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationTrudeau, Juliette (1996) "Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society," Consensus: Vol. 22 : Iss. 1 , Article 18.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol22/iss1/18Book Reviews 125theology in the institution’s behalf: those who articulate public policy,Church and Society committee and board members, bishops, members ofNational and synodical church councils.Ronald B. MayanCanadian Lutheran Bible InstituteCamrose, AlbertaSin: Radical Evil in Soul and SocietyTed PetersGrand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 1994327 pp. $21.25 softcoverTed Peters is a systematic theologian who writes of sin as a move-ment towards radical evil. His book leans heavily upon social psychologists,largely Freudian; the early church fathers, primarily Augustine of Hippo;and “the earlier generation of neo-orthodox theologians”, primarily PaulTillich, Reinhold Niebuhr, and “secondarily” Karl Barth and Emil Brun-ner (p. 6). Sin, Peters writes, is unable to give good reason for what itis or does and is therefore not “subject to rational explanation” (p. 10).Yet, attempt to explain it he does by seven steps, calling these “parsingthe phenomenon of sin” (p. 10). As he discusses these we are shown howit is that humans move towards radical sin through anxiety, the first step,which predisposes humankind to act out of a fear of loss, “t/ie sting of deathwithin’^ rooted in original sin, peccatum originate. This, Peters defines as“corporate sin as well as the propensity to commit sins that arise from thecondition of human anxiety” (p. 26). As discussed elsewhere, within thiswork corporate sin is not so alien from the idea of hereditary sin, which Pe-ters seems to reject but which is raised elsewhere in the text as a questionof sociobiology “Genes and Sin” (ch. 10).Anxiety as rooted in our psyche is both a call of God and the breedingground for sin (p. 62, 63). Our anxious selves must from our beginningsmeet with love and nurturing if we are to learn trust and to grow in faithand believing. Peters writes that those who image God for us will influenceus for good and God and away from being controlled by anxiety. Love atour beginning, and a pattern of faithfulness in our lives, predispose us tograce, and make it possible to live our own lives with faith (p. 80).Anxiety as a thesis for the roots of sin is well argued using both the-ological and psychological constructs. Anxiety is explained as the fear ofnon-being and the crisis point for individuals and nations. It lurks in the“preconscious fear of death” and can drive us to a state of despair fromwhich we may rise up in rage (p. 38) to move through the stages of un-faith, pride, concupiscence, self-justification, cruelty and blasphemy. Thislast is redefined as the “misuse of divine symbols so as to prevent the com-munication of God’s grace” (p. 16) and takes two forms: covert and overt126 Consensusblasphemy. This last is “radical evil”, the final stage in the journey fromanxiety to the “destruction of the inner soul” (p. 217). It is at this stage,when all of God is negated, that one is open to the powers of evil as theseare focused on Satan and satanic cults.Throughout this work the reader is made conscious of the melding ofthe social sciences and theology. If one is not adept at these some of thearguments may be lost. There are aspects of this book which are troublingfor me, among these the writer’s venture into including women’s experi-ence, which is not helpful and comes across as paternalistic, the argumentagainst homophobia, and a number of recreated terminologies which arechallenging, to say the least. Even so, the book is well worth reading asit challenges our own understandings of sin, faith and grace and nudges ustowards new insights and new growth.Juliette J. TrudeauEdmonton, AlbertaI Am A Palestinian ChristianMitri RahebTranslated by Ruth C.L. GritschMinneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995xii + 164 pp. $14.95Most books—unless they are dictionaries, catalogues, encyclopedias, orholy scripture—are intended to be read from first page to last. Traditionalliterary structure and intention demand that reader and author, temporar-ily at least, share the same continuum of experience.But there are compelling exceptions to every rule. For anyone con-cerned about the Middle East in general, and the plight of Palestinians inparticular, the sheer volume and subjective diversity of current writings onthe subject can seem overwhelming. No wonder so many Western-worldobservers tend to recoil in confusion and despair, hoping that the ongoing“peace process” between the Israeli government and Palestinian LiberationOrganization will sort things out, someday.Instead of waiting for that hypothetical “someday” when the wholesituation will become crystal clear or puzzling briefly over the apparentoxymoron of Raheb’s title (aren’t all Palestinians Muslims?), try goingstraight to page 47, to a chapter called Daher’s Vineyard. The parallelswith an Old Testament man called Naboth (I Kings 21) are striking, butthere’s more.Suddenly, “someday” is right now. What looks at first to be a modernparable is the true-life story of what it’s like to be threatened with home-lessness and dispossession; what it’s like to be the underdog in a w'orld thatassociates Palestinians only with violent extremism; what it's like to be

Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society

Scholars Commons

Consensus
Volume 22
Issue 1 Canadian Lutherans and Social Justice:
Sampling of a Heritage
Article 18
5-1-1996
Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society
Juliette Trudeau
Follow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus
This Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by an
authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.
Recommended Citation
Trudeau, Juliette (1996) "Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society," Consensus: Vol. 22 : Iss. 1 , Article 18.
Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol22/iss1/18
Book Reviews 125
theology in the institution’s behalf: those who articulate public policy,
Church and Society committee and board members, bishops, members of
National and synodical church councils.
Ronald B. Mayan
Canadian Lutheran Bible Institute
Camrose, Alberta
Sin: Radical Evil in Soul and Society
Ted Peters
Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 1994
327 pp. $21.25 softcover
Ted Peters is a systematic theologian who writes of sin as a move-
ment towards radical evil. His book leans heavily upon social psychologists,
largely Freudian; the early church fathers, primarily Augustine of Hippo;
and “the earlier generation of neo-orthodox theologians”, primarily Paul
Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr, and “secondarily” Karl Barth and Emil Brun-
ner (p. 6). Sin, Peters writes, is unable to give good reason for what it
is or does and is therefore not “subject to rational explanation” (p. 10).
Yet, attempt to explain it he does by seven steps, calling these “parsing
the phenomenon of sin” (p. 10). As he discusses these we are shown how
it is that humans move towards radical sin through anxiety, the first step,
which predisposes humankind to act out of a fear of loss, “t/ie sting of death
within’^ rooted in original sin, peccatum originate. This, Peters defines as
“corporate sin as well as the propensity to commit sins that arise from the
condition of human anxiety” (p. 26). As discussed elsewhere, within this
work corporate sin is not so alien from the idea of hereditary sin, which Pe-
ters seems to reject but which is raised elsewhere in the text as a question
of sociobiology “Genes and Sin” (ch. 10).
Anxiety as rooted in our psyche is both a call of God and the breeding
ground for sin (p. 62, 63). Our anxious selves must from our beginnings
meet with love and nurturing if we are to learn trust and to grow in faith
and believing. Peters writes that those who image God for us will influence
us for good and God and away from being controlled by anxiety. Love at
our beginning, and a pattern of faithfulness in our lives, predispose us to
grace, and make it possible to live our own lives with faith (p. 80).
Anxiety as a thesis for the roots of sin is well argued using both the-
ological and psychological constructs. Anxiety is explained as the fear of
non-being and the crisis point for individuals and nations. It lurks in the
“preconscious fear of death” and can drive us to a state of despair from
which we may rise up in rage (p. 38) to move through the stages of un-
faith, pride, concupiscence, self-justification, cruelty and blasphemy. This
last is redefined as the “misuse of divine symbols so as to prevent the com-
munication of God’s grace” (p. 16) and takes two forms: covert and overt
126 Consensus
blasphemy. This last is “radical evil”, the final stage in the journey from
anxiety to the “destruction of the inner soul” (p. 217). It is at this stage,
when all of God is negated, that one is open to the powers of evil as these
are focused on Satan and satanic cults.
Throughout this work the reader is made conscious of the melding of
the social sciences and theology. If one is not adept at these some of the
arguments may be lost. There are aspects of this book which are troubling
for me, among these the writer’s venture into including women’s experi-
ence, which is not helpful and comes across as paternalistic, the argument
against homophobia, and a number of recreated terminologies which are
challenging, to say the least. Even so, the book is well worth reading as
it challenges our own understandings of sin, faith and grace and nudges us
towards new insights and new growth.
Juliette J. Trudeau
Edmonton, Alberta
I Am A Palestinian Christian
Mitri Raheb
Translated by Ruth C.L. Gritsch
Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995
xii + 164 pp. $14.95
Most books—unless they are dictionaries, catalogues, encyclopedias, or
holy scripture—are intended to be read from first page to last. Traditional
literary structure and intention demand that reader and author, temporar-
ily at least, share the same continuum of experience.
But there are compelling exceptions to every rule. For anyone con-
cerned about the Middle East in general, and the plight of Palestinians in
particular, the sheer volume and subjective diversity of current writings on
the subject can seem overwhelming. No wonder so many Western-world
observers tend to recoil in confusion and despair, hoping that the ongoing
“peace process” between the Israeli government and Palestinian Liberation
Organization will sort things out, someday.
Instead of waiting for that hypothetical “someday” when the whole
situation will become crystal clear or puzzling briefly over the apparent
oxymoron of Raheb’s title (aren’t all Palestinians Muslims?), try going
straight to page 47, to a chapter called Daher’s Vineyard. The parallels
with an Old Testament man called Naboth (I Kings 21) are striking, but
there’s more.
Suddenly, “someday” is right now. What looks at first to be a modern
parable is the true-life story of what it’s like to be threatened with home-
lessness and dispossession; what it’s like to be the underdog in a w'orld that
associates Palestinians only with violent extremism; what it's like to be


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