The Joy of Being Wrong: Original Sin Through Easter Eyes

T.L. James Chair of Religion at Centenary College of Louisiana James Alison’s book can best be described in his own words as “an attempt to set out a doctrine of original sin in light of Girard’s mimetic theory” (pages 289-290). The book, which began as a doctoral dissertation, is filled with brilliant insights.Alison begins with definitions. Mimesis is the imitation of the desire of another. The doctrine of original sin is the doctrine of the un-necessity of death. Death itself is a reality of sin. Sin is the act of exclusion. Sinners are those who exclude; those who insist on being right.He then proceeds to build his book on what he calls the “fruits of the resurrection”. The fruits of the resurrection are two fold: (1) a new understanding of God as deathless, as loving his son Jesus, and as showing righteousness in the mutual self-giving of the Father and Son called love, (2) a new understanding of humankind as constituted in death, as killing the son Jesus, and as showing sinfulness within a context of forgiveness.Mimetic theory enters the picture with the commandment to imitate Jesus’ self-giving love toward death, which is creative of life. To use Alison’s words, “Every dimension of the human being . . . is radically distorted in all of us. . . . This ‘being run by’ the desires of this world is not a sin, but a condition, and one which we are called to collaborate in changing from within, so that we may ‘be run by’ the beneficent creative mimesis of God which brings the new creation into being through and with us” (page 222).He gives a clear example of how we change from within to “be run by” a desire for good: “The approach to Christian morality that I am attempting to set out might justly be called ‘infantile,’ for it suggests that, rather than the child being dissuaded from participating in a noisy gang of children by the threat that, if the child does not cease to participate in the noisy gang, then the ice cream that the parent was going to give the child back at home will not be given after all, the parent comes to the scene of the noisy gang and starts to unwrap the ice cream in sight of the child. The child sees the ice cream beginning to be unwrapped. Desire is awakened in the child by the parent’s suggestion. The desire for the ice cream recenters the child’s behavior, and the child is able to leave the gang pretty painlessly. Notice that what has happened, entirely in line with mimetic theory . . . is that an anterior desire, for the good of the child, has made use of an object, ice cream, to suggest into being a new desire in the child that effectively modifies its behavior” (page 227).For readers looking to see the Christian Scriptures with new eyes, this book is a must!

I would begin with a word of caution - this is extremely deep, intense reading, not a devotional book (as "Easter eyes" might be taken to imply.) It is a work where one must read each paragraph carefully, often more than once, to receive the full impact. In doing so, one may see its clear brilliance.Allison's exploration of original sin is especially striking because he re-interprets this doctrine as taking its meaning from the resurrection. He lays his groundwork by explaining concepts set forth by Rene Girard, then applies this to Christology and soteriology, moving on to explore much of human nature and how theologians of past eras have dealt with similar approaches. I do not wish to expound, not wanting to spoil the material for new readers, but his treatment of the topic had me nearly shouting "Eureka!" every ten pages or so. It is a highly useful work, not only for those specifically interested in theological anthropology, but to anyone wishing a clearer picture of the human condition and relation to God.This is not a book for a brief meditation or weekend retreat, but, for those interested in an enlightening, original, in depth study, it is quite amazing. The blend of scholarship and insight is a rare treat.

Easily the best theologian of our time, James Alison turns fundamentalism on its head to reveal the true radical character of life as revealed in the Incarnation, death & resurrection of Jesus. Totally spiritual, as all theology ought to be.

One of the best books I've every read! Life changing. I would recommend this book to anyone. Alison brings a whole new perspective that makes sense and opens new understanding.

Came when expected; I may have missed the warning in the description about damage to the cover but otherwise fine.

great book - James Alison's ideas are new to me so I needed to go slow to comprehend them

Super.

I have been trying to do a lot of reading on Mimetic theory, and this book came highly recommended. I found Part 1 to be extremely helpful in understanding some of the contours of mimetic theory, but the deeper I got into part 2 of the book, the less interested I became. I just didn't understand what Alison was trying to say or argue in the book. Or maybe it just took him too long to say it.Essentially, James Alison seemed to be arguing that original sin wasn't eating forbidden fruit, but in in the improper imitation of God, and (more importantly), trying to cover up what we have done by blaming others for our own actions. In other words, the original sin (and ongoing sin) consists in what Rene Girard calls mimetic rivalry and the scapegoat mechanism. If this is what Alison was arguing, I just didn't see how Part 2 added much to his argument. But maybe I missed something....Nevertheless, I am glad I read the book, simply due to the insights in Part 1.