Dangerous Virtues by John Koessler

Koessler, John. Dangerous Virtues: How to Follow Jesus When Evil Masquerades as Good. Chicago, Ill: Moody Publishers, 2020.

Isaiah 5:20 gives a stark warning against calling good bad and bad good. It says, "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." We think we understand this warning when the behavior shows itself in politics. But what about when it runs at full speed in the Church? Love, satisfaction, prosperity, leisure, justice, envy, and pride are all double-ended swords. (I say double-ended rather than double-edged because they seem to have a sharp, pointed end for a handle.) In his book, Dangerous Virtues: How to Follow Jesus When Evil Masquerades as Good, John Koessler explores the dangers when sinful things that appear virtues (even in the Church).  

Using the "seven deadly sins" as a roadmap, Koessler takes a severe but needed stab at a real problem. Our society has found these sins virtuous. Sure, it's subtle, but it is sin none-the-less. It would be an easy read with a lot of head nodding if he didn't also expose the same problem in the Church. While needed, it's a painful blow against the state of the Church in American today.  

The book opens with a clear, precise description of the problem--we no longer take sin seriously. And because we don't take sin seriously, we don't take the consequences seriously. Finally, when deadly sins have no consequences, virtue losses it's value. Eventually, the fruit of sinful behavior is highly valued and calling it out only gains jeers. The virtues we value are deadly snares, and the Church doesn't seem to care. 

"This is a book about sin," writes Koessler. "In particular, it is a book about those sins that the church has traditionally labelled the seven deadly sins. What I will be talking about in the following pages is much more than a list. It is a kind of Rosetta Stone. We are living in an age when the seven deadly sins have become the seven deadly virtues" (p. 26). 

In each subsequent chapter, Koessler addresses a specific sin, how society and the Church ended up so off-course, and the alternative to calling the sin good. I can say it's not as apparent as one might think. After seeing the problem, the reader will see it everywhere. Be warned, after you see it, it can't be unseen.   

I wasn't sure what I would find in the pages. Would this be a book about morals, works, and behavior-modification? No. In the end, it was a gospel-centred book about the problem of sin. Would it be some ethereal argument without practicality? Not at all. Koessler argues against keeping our theology of sin too abstract (p. 179). The solution, according to Koessler (and the Bible) is redemption and reconciliation with God. Citing Romans and Ephesians, Koessler demonstrates that the answer to this grave problem is the gospel of Jesus Christ.   

If I were to point out any shortcoming or problem, I struggle to find much. But I do believe a few more pages should have been given to the conclusion and the gospel. After reading page after page about the sinful disasters of our society and the Church, there was plenty of room for the good news and hope of Jesus.  

Dangerous Virtues is a needed book for our day, maybe more now than ever. I highly recommend it.  

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