Steering Through Chaos

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Steering Through Chaos

Vice and Virtue in an Age of Moral Confusion

By Edited by Os Guinness with Virginia Mooney
(1994)

Steering Through Chaos brings back the classical tradition of the virtues and vices to modern discussions of ethics. In an age that whitewashes evil and ridicules “sin,” this tradition suggests that before asking “What sort of action should I take?” the proper question is “What sort of person should I be?”

The readings in this curriculum reintroduce the seven deadly sins (pride, envy, anger, sloth, avarice, lust, and gluttony) and contrast them with their opposites, the beatitudes of Jesus. Using sources ranging from the Bible and Aristotle to the New York Times, the texts raise questions about the consequences of the deadly sins for a generation that has come to minimize any notion of sin. The vices and virtues, they suggest, offer us a true moral compass by which we can steer through the chaos of modern society.

The goal of the readings is to help us recover a more realistic view of the human inclination to evil—both as individuals and in societies—which is the urgent precursor to the necessity and wonder of redemption.

Available as a paperback or a binder.

Category: Curricula (No. 3)

Money is an excellent gift of God, answering the noblest ends. In the hands of his children, it is food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, raiment for the naked: It gives to the traveller and the stranger where to lay his head. By it we may supply the place of an husband to the widow, and of a father to the fatherless. We may be a defence for the oppressed, a means of health to the sick, of ease to them that are in pain; it may be as eyes to the blind, as feet to the lame; yea, a lifter up from the gates of death! It is therefore of the highest concern that all who fear God know how to employ this valuable talent; that they be instructed how it may answer these glorious ends, and in the highest degree.

John Wesley, “The Use of Money”

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