Freedom from Sinful Thoughts

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Summary: Thoughts are amazing things
Review: Anything good or bad, large or small that has ever been accomplished in human history began with a thought. This is why our personal thought life is not only crucial to the health of our soul but can have a very wide impact for good or evil. When thoughts become a burden that drag us down and away from life's purpose the wisdom in this book can give help and healing.

Rating:
Summary: Fulget crucis mysterium -Now gleams the mystery of the cross
Review: This book is a profound book. Its piety is deep and true, centered on Jesus Christ crucified. I highly recommend it for Evangelicals and, despite a couple of minor theological difficulties, Catholics. Anyone interested in living within God's will should read this book.

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Summary: A Liberating Treatise on Renewing Our Minds
Review: This is a wise and encouraging little book on a very important topic. It is 103 pages of text with an additional 8-page biography of the author, J. Heinrich Arnold. The eighteen chapter titles are as follows: The Struggle, Temptation, Deliberate Sin, The Will, The Power of Suggestion, Autosuggestion, Fascination, Suppression, Faith, Self-Surrender, Confession, Prayer, Detachment, Repentance and Rebirth, Healing, Purification, The Cross, and Living for the Kingdom. Arnold perceptively sees the distinction between our sinful nature and our will, but is also aware of the latter's inability to overcome sin without God's grace. He writes: "It is impossible to defeat one's sinful nature by will power alone, because the will is never wholly free, but bent this way and that by conflicting emotions and other forces at work on it." Thomas Kelly, in his classic "A Testament of Devotion" says it this way: "'I will' spells not obedience." This is because obedience comes through submission of our will to God, not independent exertion of it. It is as we walk in submission to the Holy Spirit that we overcome the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16) and bear fruits of righteousness. Although some theologians or authors make distinctions or use terms differently than others, one can benefit from a comparative analysis of Arnold's book in relation to others on the same or similar topics. Although such comparative analysis isn't an emphasis in this work, Arnold does incorporate insights from other authors such as Bonhoeffer, Pascal, Eckhart, the Swiss-French psychiatrist Charles Baudouin, and his father.

Through my studies I've come to distinguish (contrary to some) between what I call unconscious, conscious, and willful sins. The first involves sins of character and attitude that we are not yet aware of in ourselves and include "sins of ignorance". The second, usually considered synonymous with the third by some, involves becoming conscious of what was previously unconscious for the purpose of repentance. It also includes our awareness of our sinful nature that produces internal temptations (via sinful desires) that we can overcome through our submission to the Holy Spirit. Arnold, in Chapter II, states that "temptation is not sin" (pg. 10). I would qualify this by saying that all temptation is sin, but not sin from the one being tempted. I believe this was Arnold's point since some Christians condemn themselves for being tempted. Our sinful nature "tempts" us internally and contributes to any external temptation, but we are not to deliberately fulfill its sinful desires. What I call "willful sin" equates, more or less, to what Arnold calls "deliberate" sin and involves our deliberate refusal to submit to God and the moral light he gives us both in our conscience and in His Word, the Bible. I personally think that willful sin should be distinguished from our sinful nature (ref. Romans 7:20 in context) and its lusts. To help others understand my distinction between conscious and willful sin, I point out that all willful sin is conscious (choosing sin knowing it is sin) but not all conscious sin is willful, but the definition of each category needs refinement. Other books discussing sin and holiness that warrant a comparative analysis with this one and, in some ways, complement and reinforce its points, include such classics as: "Sin and Temptation: The Challenge of Personal Godliness" by John Owen, edited by James Houston; "A Serious Call to a Devout & Holy Life" by William Law; "Introduction to the Devout Life" by Francis de Sales; "Purity of Heart" by Soren Kierkegaard; and "Holy Living and Holy Dying" by Jeremy Taylor. A more recent, but good, Protestant analysis of sin is "Offense to Reason: A Theology of Sin" by Bernard Ramm. See also "Five Views on Sanctification," from the Zondervan Counterpoint series, edited by Stanley Gundry.