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Demon Sloth and the Christian Life
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ISBN13: 9798175227797
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Sep 22 2026
Pages: 122
Weight: 0.30
Height: 0.29 Width: 5.25 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Sep 22 2026
Pages: 122
Weight: 0.30
Height: 0.29 Width: 5.25 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
Sloth is more dangerous than laziness.
It can look like a packed calendar, a glowing screen, a restless mind, or a heart that has quietly stopped caring. It can make the day feel unbearably long, the life in front of us feel intolerable, other people feel like obstacles, and ordinary duties feel beneath us. The Christian tradition gave this condition a name: acedia-sorrow at spiritual good.
It can look like a packed calendar, a glowing screen, a restless mind, or a heart that has quietly stopped caring. It can make the day feel unbearably long, the life in front of us feel intolerable, other people feel like obstacles, and ordinary duties feel beneath us. The Christian tradition gave this condition a name: acedia-sorrow at spiritual good.
In Demon Sloth and the Christian Life, Alex J. Webster brings this neglected vice into clear view. Drawing on Scripture and the wisdom of Christian writers from the desert fathers to Aquinas, Augustine, Calvin, and beyond, Webster shows that sloth is not merely a problem of weak effort. It is a disorder of love: the heart recoiling from God and from the real people, duties, and places to which God has called us.
With candor, pastoral warmth, and occasional humor, this short book explores:
With candor, pastoral warmth, and occasional humor, this short book explores:
- Why acedia is more than ordinary laziness
- The noonday demon and its distortions of time, place, community, and work
- How capital vices give rise to daughter sins
- The modern allies of acedia: nostalgia, boredom, vocational discontent, busyness, fantasizing, isolation, and technology
- Why self-discipline alone cannot heal a soul whose desires have grown cold
- How union with Christ-the Bridegroom who loves His people and the Vine who gives life to His branches-supplies the true cure
- Ordinary, grace-filled remedies: Scripture, prayer, worship, the Lord's Supper, and fellowship with the saints
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