Rebecca Konyndyk DeYoung - Glittering Vices

This is a book about sin and self-examination, but sin should never be the first or last word about us.

The Christian life begins and ends with love. Ultimately, what draws us from brokenness and bondage is the power of loveGods love. Taking our inspiration from Henri Nouwen, we can say that our belovedness and blessedness form the essential context for confronting our brokenness.

Advertisers rarely give us a picture of what we should reject. They craft their messages based on a key insight into human nature. They know that what draws the human heart and fuels the human spirit is love of something good. We are moved, powered, captivated by a glimpse of something in front of us that we long for more and more wholeheartedly. The images they put before us promise a good and beautiful life (or at least a replica, or a convincing fantasy). In short, they start with a vision of what we desire. The reason this works so well is that it is an imitationand a cheap imitation at thatof what God does for us. He sets before us abundant life. Its the life we were made for. Dont let anything hold you back from it. God wills to draw you into his heart of love, like a magnet pulling an iron filing into a close bond of connection. Allow that image to fuel your spiritual journey through this book.

When I wrote the first edition of Glittering Vices , I was coming straight from a philosophical study of Aquinass Summa theologiae and the vices tradition. I found the primary source material conceptually rich but alsosurprisinglypersonal. I confess I did not expect to find these texts speaking to my own deep spiritual longings. I was not alone in this reaction, though. My students encouraged me to condense the course material into a book, because they found it was the most practical thing theyd studied yet in college.

They wanted to know: How should I live? What sorts of goods and what types of relationships should I commit to and center my life on? What patterns of thought and rhythms of desire have I fallen into that are thwarting that good life? How do I discern that? What would restoration and freedom feel like? How do I move forward into new practices and a new way of life?

My best description of this book is that it is a translation, colored by my own experience, of ancient ideas from disciples and saints who have walked in wisdom before me. Glittering Vices is my attempt to make this material understandable and accessible to contemporary Christians and other students of the vices.

The implicit frame of the book is sanctificationthat is, the ways the Holy Spirit operates in our lives to conform us more and more to the character of Jesus Christ. God is working for us, and with us, and in us. When vices prompt self-examination and reflection, this is neither a guilt trip nor a recipe for despair. Rather, anything convicting that you find in these pages is an invitation to be set free.