Freedom from Sinful Thoughts

by J. Heinrich Arnold, John Michael Talbot (Foreword by)

Overview

It's one of those topics most of us would rather avoid in conversation — why would anyone want to reveal private jealousies, resentments, fantasies, temptations, or other weaknesses? Yet steady sales of this valuable little book attest that there are plenty of us who struggle with sinful thoughts — and desire help. For anyone who wavers at times between obeying the voice of the conscience and giving in to the lower nature, this book offers sage advice for coming through the struggle. Drawing on years of experience as a pastoral counselor, Arnold guides the reader from the throes of frustration and guilt to a life of freedom and joy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780874860948
Publisher:	Plough Publishing House, The
Publication date:	05/25/2014
Edition description:	2ND
Pages:	127
Sales rank:	1,109,843
Product dimensions:	4.38(w) x 7.00(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

J. Heinrich Arnold (1913-1982) is best known for his books Discipleship and Freedom from Sinful Thoughts, which have helped thousands to follow Christ in their daily lives, and for his pastoral care as elder of the Bruderhof communities. When Heinrich was seven, his parents Eberhard and Emmy Arnold and their five children left a bourgeois life in Berlin for a dilapidated villa in the German village of Sannerz, where they founded a Christian community based on Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. As a young man, Heinrich Arnold refused to serve in Hitler's armed forces and was forced to flee Germany. He studied agriculture in Zurich, Switzerland, and in 1936 married Annemarie Waechter, a kindergarten teacher. In 1938 they moved to England, where Heinrich managed the community’s farm. In 1941 the community was forced to emigrate to South America. In 1954, Heinrich Arnold and his family moved to the fledgling Woodcrest Bruderhof in Rifton, New York, where he served as pastor for the rest of his life. Those who knew him best remember Heinrich Arnold as a down-to-earth man who loved life and would warmly welcome any troubled person in for a cup of coffee and a chat.

Table of Contents

To the Reader Foreword 1. The Struggle 2. Temptation 3. Deliberate Sin 4. The Will 5. The Power of Suggestion 6. Autosuggestion 7. Fascination 8. Suppression 9. Faith 10. Self-Surrender 11. Confession 12. Prayer 13. Detachment 14. Repentance and Rebirth 15. Healing 16. Purification 17. The Cross 18. Living for the Kingdom About the Author

Editorial Reviews

Loving and sensitive, Arnold makes his readers feel encouraged rather than condemned.

Howard R. Macy

Reminds me of Kierkegaard's great classic, Purity of Heart. Both force you to look deep within your own life.

E. Glen Hinson

Arnold's writing is full of love. His deep-rootedness in Christ makes him a very wise, a very safe, and a very challenging guide.

Henri J. M. Nouwen

With deep insight into the workings of the mind, Arnold brings us towards deliverance by union with Christ.

Dallas Willard

This revised edition of a book originally published in 1973 is a concise, straightforward work written from a pastor's heart about the sinful thoughtssexual, blasphemous or otherwisethat plague the heart. Arnold (1913-1982), an elder in the Bruderhof community for some 40 years, offers spiritual steps to turn away from these recurring, destructive thoughts and "to win this fight [which] demands faith in Jesus, who promises us victory." Arnold contends that a rigorous program of confession of sins, repentance of sins and turning toward the Cross of Jesus leads away from these hidden sins of the heart. A discussion of Arnold's Bruderhof tradition, a Christian communal-lifestyle movement founded in 1920 in Germany by Arnold's parents, is reserved for an 11-page addendum. Finally, Arnold sounds a warning to the self-oriented, therapeutic tendencies of our day: "The goal of confession should always be liberation.... We want to find Jesus, not ourselves." (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly