Sinning Like a Christian by William H. Willimon 4

 

"If I were making a list of Deadly Sins, Greed would be at the top of my list. Maybe this is just personal, or maybe it is the result of living in this society. We tell the world that we go to war in the Mideast to bring freedom and democracy, whereas much of the world is convinced it's all about oil. Greed has a way of turning everything that's gold into dross. As James Ogilvy says, 'Greed turns love into lust, leisure into sloth, hunger into gluttony, honor into pride, righteous indignation into anger, and admiration into envy. If it weren't for greed, we would suffer fewer of the other vices.'"

       -from Sinning Like a Christian

Our pastors chose this book to inspire a series of Lenten studies. Since I would not be attending the classes, I purchased the book and took my time reading it, maybe a chapter a week. I found it easy to read, very interesting, even enjoyable. My rating is 4. The author shows his considerable knowledge of the Bible, quoting scripture as well as a number of theologians and philosophers on the subject of sin. He presents his commentary in a non-preachy, unthreatening way, He frequently includes some humor, often self-deprecating.

The subtitle of the book is A New Look at the 7 Deadly Sins. I liked the quote above because it lists all the 7 Willimon covers and shows how Greed is often the root cause of the other 6. I regret I didn't get to attend the classes at church to see how it was presented.