Not the Way It's Supposed to Be (Cornelius Plantinga Jr.)

In our present age, we tend to ignore, minimize, justify, or excuse our sin; it was not always so.  In Not the Way It's Supposed to Be, author Cornelius Plantinga Jr. unpacks this important topic.  His goal "is to renew the knowledge of a persistent reality . . . for slippage in our consciousness of sin, like most fashionable follies, may be pleasant, but it is also devastating."  Therefore he aims to "present the nature and dynamics of sin."  Paraphrasing his own words, in this book he defines sin, describes how sin corrupts what is good and how such corruption spreads, discusses the parasitic quality of sin, compares sin with folly and addiction, and concludes by describing two classic "postures" or movements of sin, attack and flight.

Why does understanding sin matter?

It's obvious to all (regardless of creed) that things aren't as they ought to be in this world.  Humans commit evils great and small against other humans and creation.  We "mysteriously live against the purpose of [our] existence."  We know what is good but we don't do it; we have the desire but not ability to do right (Romans 7:18).  So a study in sin is a study in reality.  Additionally, we need to understand sin to understand grace- "without full disclosure on sin, the gospel of grace becomes impertinent, unnecessary, and finally uninteresting."

So what is sin?
"Sin is culpable shalom-breaking."  Shalom means "universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight;"  it is "God's design for creation and redemption; sin is blamable human vandalism of these great realities and therefore an affront to their architect and builder."  "When we sin, we pervert, adulterate, and destroy good things."

"Sin is the smearing of a relationship." "In sin, people attack or evade or neglect their divine calling.  Sin is disruption of created harmony and then resistance to divine restoration of that harmony.  Above all, sin disrupts and resists the vital human relation to God . . ." so "a sin is any act- any thought, desire, emotion, word, or deed- or its particular absence, that displeases God and deserves blame."

Characteristics of Sin
Sin corrupts (wrecks "integrity or wholeness");
sin perverts (twists something to serve an unworthy or entirely wrong end);
sin pollutes (weakens "a particular whole entity" "by introducing into it a foreign element");
sin progresses or spreads; (it "despoils even its own agents" and yet is "remarkably generative" in that "sin yields more and more sin.");
sin is a parasite ("an uninvited guest that keeps tapping its host for sustenance.  Nothing about sin is its own; all its power, persistence, and plausibility are stolen goods.  Sin is not really an entity but a spoiler of entities.");
sin masquerades: ("To do its worst, evil needs to look its best."  We put on a happy face; a pretty picture to hide our darkness);
sin is folly ("because it is futile, because it is vain, because it is unrealistic, because it spoils good things.");
sin appears in "a pattern of alternating attack and flight.  Sinners assault other human beings or else they ignore them . . . by the sins of attack we vandalize shalom; by the sins of flight we abandon it."

Review
This is a great book, as [I hope] the above summary conveys.  I appreciate how the author explored and unpacked the depth, complexity, and consequence of sin.  For example, he looks at the relationship between sin and immorality (or addiction)- they're related but not identical- and concepts like "all sin is equally wrong, but not all sin is equally bad."  He recognizes that some aspects are a mystery (2 Thessalonians 2:7).  The book was too brief to analyze individual sins, but he does choose one (envy) to thoroughly examine; I especially appreciated that treatment.  In short, this is a good starting point to learn more about a fundamental reality that we tend to ignore.

Rating: A