Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh, Revised Edition: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society

Description

Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh advances new insights on how to perceive good and evil by reminding the reader that sacredness is "wrapped up in the fleshy stuff of the universe," and pointing the way to a deeper, more compassionate way to live. With Columbine and its many copy cats, 9/11, the Iraq War and all it has unleashed including ISIS, with global warming, Citizens United, priestly and football coach pedophilia, with wars and the Holocaust it is evident that humans, for all of our power, can easily misuse it. What is Evil about? Can we tame it or steer its energies differently? In this book the author calls on the wisdom of East and West to transform evil. He examines the chakras of the East which, if off balance speak the "Seven Capital Sins" of the West. If a chakra is a naming of spiritual and physical and psychological power centers (otherwise known as love), if they are "off center" might that correspond to the "capital sins"? In Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh, Matthew Fox asks these questions and provides clues for transforming evil.

Matthew Fox (b. 1940) is an internationally acclaimed theologian who was a member of the Dominican Order for 34 years. He holds a doctorate, summa cum laude, in the History and Theology of Spirituality from the Institut Catholique de Paris. He has been working for forty years to recover the ancient and earth-centered creation spirituality tradition of Christianity. Fox has taught at Stanford University, Vancouver School of Theology, the Association for Transpersonal Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies among other places. He is currently visiting scholar with the Academy for the Love of Learning headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is author of 32 books which have sold more than 1.5 million copies in 56 languages. Fox is recipient of the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award of which other recipients have included the Dalai Lama, Mother Theresa, Rosa Parks and Maya Angelou. He is also a recipient of the Ghandi-King-Ikeda Award from Morehouse College International Chapel that is awarded for dedication to peace, unity, non-violence and justice.

"Fox's book faces the simple greatest obstacle of spirituality in the twenty-first century.... As millions walk away from organized religion, the satanic side of human nature seems more intractible than ever. Matthew Fox has the skills of an expert diagnostician and the acumen to offer the right treatment. Since the world is littered with the wreckage of anger, guilt, and self-judgment, there's no better time for such a physician. The only proper reception for his new book is gratitude." -Deepak Chopra "Matthew Fox writes boldly and brilliantly about the Seven Cardinal Sins of the spirit, and the compassionate blessings of the flesh, all in relation to the attributes of the seven chakras-those energies given to us by God which can be used to become Godly, or Godless. It is a fine blend of his great intellectual prowess, creativity, and love of humanity." -Clarissa Pinkola Estes, PhD., Author of Women Who Run with the Wolves "A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breathtaking analysis." -Diarmuid O'Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics, and Christianity's Dangerous Memory: A Rediscovery of the Revolutionary Jesus "A sweeping, enticing vision, pulsing with Fox's unrelenting passion." -San Francisco Chronicle "A Big step toward a new, promising experience of human scale and sacred context." -Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul "A fine, updated, multifaceted take on the concept of sin." -Vivencio in Goodreads "Read it three times, amazing!" -Christopher Collins in Goodreads "A new theology that re-evaluates fundamental Christian methods perceiving spirit and flesh by denying any hard-fast distinction between the two....A landmark of popular contemporary writing about Christian theology. It points the way to a time when we might learn to live out our confession that God's incarnation is the reason for our faith." -Michael Joseph Gross, author and journalist "Readers of Fox's earlier works will be waiting for this, and collectors staying current on comparative religions, how-to-guides, and general-interest titles in spirituality will find it essential." -Library Journal