The concept of the Seven Deadly Sins has been around for centuries and shows up in literature, art, and the popular culture even today. These sins are considered to be the roots from which other sin springs. The sheer longevity and universality of the notion of fundamental or cardinal sins suggests that it describes a real phenomenon we experience as fallen human beings. Indeed, in the parable of the sower, Christ drew attention to particular temptations: "the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things." These seem to describe obstacles that are particularly harmful to faith.
In this small book, Professor James Stalker examines each of the traditional seven deadly sins: Pride, Avarice, Luxury, Envy, Appetite, Anger and Sloth. He introduces each sin and discusses its causes and varieties, gives concrete examples of its manifestations, and concludes with suggested remedies for dealing with it. Revealing a pastor's sensitivity, genuine empathy, and biblical wisdom, Stalker ministers to the heart.
Much like C. S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, Stalker's The Seven Deadly Sins makes an excellent devotional that is sure to produce conviction and motivation to weed out sin in your life.
by James Stalker | published 1901 | 143 pages
Preface from the Print Edition
As the subject of this book may, by its novelty in Protestant religious literature, attract the attention of preachers desirous of leading their flocks to fresh fields and pastures new, it may be mentioned that its history, as a theological topic, is given in Zöckler’s Das Lehrstuck von den Sieben Hauptsunden, and that each of the seven sins is discussed with great acuteness and comprehensiveness in Aquinas’ Summa (Secunda Secundae). The order varies in different writers; I have adopted that of the scholastic catchword SALIGIA, composed of the initial letters of the words Superbia, Avaritia, Luxuria, Invidia, Gula, Ira, Accidia.
JAMES STALKER
Glasgow, March 1901
Sample Page Scans from the Print Edition