Abstract
Noting that current psychological discussions of conversion give far less attention to the “sense of sin” than did William James and his contemporaries, this article argues for renewed attention to sin and its role in the conversion experience. Using data from a survey of Christian laity on their attitudes toward the traditional deadly sins, the author concludes that the sins that trouble men and women today involve their narcissistic needs. As many seek relief from the “tyranny” of their narcissistic needs, the author contends that what would constitute conversion for them is the “transformation” of narcissism. Typical candidates for such conversion are adults, not adolescents.
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References
James, W.,The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York, The New American Library, 1958, p. 157.
Ibid., p. 164.
Ibid., p. 167.
Ibid., p. 164.
Ibid., p. 165.
Ibid., p. 171.
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op. cit., pp. 207–208.
Capps, D.,Deadly Sins and Saving Virtues. Philadelphia, Fortress Press, 1987.
Ibid., p. 23.
SeeThe Ancrene Riwle, M. Salu, trans. Notre Dame, Indiana, University of Notre Dame, 1956, p. 90. This text, comprising the anchorite rule, portrays the deadly sins as animals and reptiles one encounters in the wilderness through which one passes to the promised land: Lion (pride), Serpent (envy), Unicorn (anger), Bear (sloth), Fox (greed), Sow (gluttony), and Scorpion (lust). Each, of course, has offspring, enabling the author to delineate sins related to the deadly sin, giving the deadly sin a multi-dimensional or systemic aura. I am indebted to Sarah Hamilton, a graduate student at Princeton Theological Seminary, for bringing this text to my attention.
A fuller account of the results of this study, with tables, is provided in my, “Deadly Sins and Saving Virtues: How They Are Viewed by Laity,”Pastoral Psychology, 1989, 37, 229–253.
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Capps, D. Sin, narcissism, and the changing face of conversion. J Relig Health 29, 233–251 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01000947
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01000947