The Pervasiveness of Sin

The power of sin shapes and colors everything. Author James B. Nelson links his alcoholism with the pervasiveness of sin. How he describes addiction and its total control is helpful: “Alcoholism is that way. It is a total phenomenon that affects the whole person: body, mind, and spirit, every relationship. Everything suffers distortion because of it. In the midst of active alcoholism my brain suffered organic changes. … My drinking increased my lactic acid, my uric acid, and the fat content of my liver. Though more measurable in some parts of my body than in others, alcohol affected every cell. …” (James B. Nelson, Thirst: God and the Alcoholic Experience [Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2004], 75)