Notre Dame theologian Gary Anderson examines sin | News | Notre Dame News | University of Notre Dame Skip To Content Skip To Navigation Skip To Search University of Notre Dame Notre Dame News Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Home Contact Search Menu Home › News › Notre Dame theologian Gary Anderson examines sin Notre Dame theologian Gary Anderson examines sin Published: November 25, 2009 Author: Michael O. Garvey G.K. Chesterton famously described original sin as “the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved.” Not everyone agrees with Chesterton, but the abundance of evidence in support of his assertion is certainly compelling. Familiarity with the effects of sin, overuse and abuse of the term and the exhaustion of religious vocabulary seem to have dulled the culture’s appreciation for this intrinsic element of human life and striving. Notre Dame theologian Gary Anderson’s book, “Sin: A History,” recently published by Yale University Press, examines how understandings and descriptions of sin have changed over two millennia of biblical tradition, from the metaphors of physical burden, such as a scapegoat might ritually carry away, to the incurrence of those grave debts which followers of Jesus ask his Father to forgive. Anderson, professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at Notre Dame, argues that such metaphors have more than mere literary significance. “When Jesus teaches his disciples to pray for the forgiveness of their debts,” Anderson says, “he gives witness to one of the most revolutionary moments in religious thought. For if sins are debts, then acts of virtue, like the giving of alms, are credits which fund a ‘treasury of merits in heaven.’ In the early church, the forgiveness of sin required some sign of personal amendment and pride of place went to acts of charity. For in serving the poor one was doing more than correcting social injustice, one was channeling the infinite merits won by Christ on the cross into a fallen world.” According to James Kugel, Starr Professor Emeritus of Classical and Modern Hebrew Literature at Harvard University, Anderson’s book is “an extraordinary piece of detective work” which “shows how the central way of representing — and conceiving of — sin changed dramatically within biblical times, and how this change in turn came to be elaborated in later Judaism and Christianity. This is an extremely important, indeed, mind-changing book for anyone interested in the history of these two religions.” Contact: Gary Anderson, 574-631-7582, anderson.194@nd.edu Posted In: Faith Home Experts ND in the News Subscribe About Us Related October 03, 2022 dCEC to Award 2023 ND Evangelium Vitae Medal to Robert P. George September 22, 2022 In memoriam: Rev. Richard Warner, C.S.C., longtime leader for Notre Dame, Congregation of Holy Cross September 15, 2022 In new book on global Catholicism, Provost John McGreevy explores modern history, current challenges of the Church September 15, 2022 Death penalty abolitionist Sister Helen Prejean to speak at Notre Dame September 14, 2022 Apostolic nuncio to Great Britain to deliver the 2022 Keeley Vatican Lecture For the Media Contact Office of Public Affairs and Communications Notre Dame News 500 Grace Hall Notre Dame, IN 46556 USA Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Pinterest © 2022 University of Notre Dame Search Mobile App News Events Visit Accessibility Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube LinkedIn