Bound To Sin

Bound to Sin This book tests the explanatory and descriptive power of the doctrine of sin in relation to two concrete situations: sexual abuse of children and the holocaust. Taking seriously the explanatory power of secular discourses for analysing and regulating therapeutic action in relation to such situations, the book asks whether the theological language of sin can offer further illumination by speaking of God and the world together. Through its discussion of abuse and the holocaust, an engagement with Augustine, original sin and feminism, a fresh and sometimes surprising perspective is offered, both on the theology of sin and on the pathologies under consideration. The understanding of sin that emerges is centred on joyful worship of the trinitarian God. This essay is more systematic and more theological than most practical, pastoral or applied theology and more practical and concrete than most systematic or constructive theology. It is a genuinely concrete, systematic theology. A l i s t a i r M c F a d y e n is Senior Lecturer in Theology at the University of Leeds. Author of The Call to Personhood (Cambridge, 1990) and a number of journal articles, he is a former Samaritan counsellor and member of the Leeds Ritual Abuse Study Group. He is currently a member of the Church of England’s Doctrine Commission, and Secretary to the Society for the Study of Theology. Cambridge Studies in Christian Doctrine Edited by Professor C o l i n G u n t o n, King’s College London Professor D a n i e l W. H a r dy, University of Cambridge Cambridge Studies in Christian Doctrine is an important series which aims to engage critically with the traditional doctrines of Christianity, and at the same time to locate and make sense of them within a secular context. Without losing sight of the authority of scripture and the traditions of the Church, the books in this series will subject pertinent dogmas and credal statements to careful scrutiny, analysing them in light of the insights of both church and society, and will thereby practise theology in the fullest sense of the word. Titles published in the series 1. Self and Salvation: Being Transformed 1. D a v i d F. F o r d 2. Realist Christian Theology in a Postmodern Age 2. S u e P a t t e r s o n 3. Trinity and Truth 3. B r u c e D. M a r s h a l l 4. Theology, Music and Time 3. J e r e m y S. B e g b i e 5. The Bible, Theology, and Faith: A Study of Abraham and Jesus 4. R . W. L . M o b e r l y 6. Bound to Sin: Abuse, Holocaust and the Christian Doctrine of Sin 4. A l i s t a i r M c F a d y e n Forthcoming titles in the series Church, World and the Christian Life: Practical–Prophetic Ecclesiology N i c h o l a s M. He a l y Church, Narrativity and Transcendence Ro b e rt Je n s o n A Political Theology of Nature Pe t e r S c ott Remythologizing Theology: Divine Action and Authorship Ke v i n J. Va n h o o ze r Bound to Sin Abuse, Holocaust and the Christian Doctrine of Sin Alistair McFadyen University of Leeds published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom cambridge university press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA