The Depleted Self: Sin in a Narcissistic Age

by Donald Capps

Overview

Donald Capps argues that traditional theologies of guilt are unable to address those gripped by shame and calls for a different pastoral approach in counseling and ministry. He makes the case that a reformulation of the theology of sin is needed, explaining that "the time has come for us to recognize that taking care of our selves—this once-in-a-lifetime gift—is emphatically not a self-indulgence, but a moral imperative."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781451416220
Publisher:	Augsburg Fortress, Publishers
Publication date:	01/28/1993
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	675 KB

About the Author

Donald Capps is William Harte Felmeth Professor of Pastoral Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Table of Contents

1. Whatever Became of Sin?

2. The Narcissistic Self

3. The Deadliest Sins of Our Narcissistic Age

4. Sin in a Shame-Based Theology

5. Expressive Individualism as Scapegoat

6. The Making of the Depleted Self

7. Countering the Jonah Complex

Editorial Reviews

This is an involved meditation on sin as it relates to the modern self, which Capps takes to be narcissistic. Since sin has traditionally been defined with reference to guilt, and a narcissist feels not guilt but shame, then sin must be redefined if it is to have any meaning in our brave new world. Capps manages that in scholarly fashion, by considering what happens to the modern self when it cannot see itself happily reflected in achievement or adulation--typically, at the onset of middle age. That's also when the self is most likely to become depleted, although the process starts in childhood, when the self begins to realize that it is not the center of the universe. Capps also has a popular touch, in his survey of how church workers and laypeople rate the seriousness of the seven deadly sins (actually, eight: pride, envy, apathy, gluttony, anger, greed, melancholy, lust). Men and women alike see melancholy--not just sadness, but a bitter, wounded attitude toward life--as the deadliest of sins, followed by lust and anger, with envy ranking last. The reader willing to give Capps close attention will emerge with a new perspective on what constitutes morality in the 1990s.

John Mort