Freedom from Sinful Thoughts
J. Heinrich Arnold
We don’t talk about them, but all of us have them – private jealousies, resentments, fantasies, and temptations. For over two decades, Arnold’s sensitive wisdom has helped thousands of readers battle these unwanted thoughts. Now his quiet but steady-selling little classic is available to a new generation in an expanded and revised new edition. Arnold assures us that tempting thoughts are not sinful in and of themselves. It’s what we do with them that matters. He offers concrete steps we can take to turn away from them and toward God. Drawing on the words of Jesus, and on his own experience as a pastor, Arnold guides the reader from frustration, guilt and self-doubt to single-minded freedom and joy in Christ.
Freedom from Sinful Thoughts has proved itself invaluable for new believers, pastors, counselors, youth ministers, and anyone seeking a closer relationship with God.
Praise for Freedom from Sinful Thoughts
Publishers Weekly
Concise, straightforward…from the heart. Arnold sounds a warning to the self-oriented, therapeutic tendencies of our day: “The goal…should always be liberation…We want to find Jesus, not ourselves.”
Donald Bloesch
Univ. of Dubuque Theol. Seminary
A welcome discourse on the spiritual life…contains much biblical wisdom.
Richard Foster
Renovaré
Freedom from Sinful Thoughts…is an excellent little book.
E. Glen Hinson
Baptist Theological Seminary
Reminds me of Kierkegaard’s great classic, Purity of Heart. Both force you to look deep within your own life and to realize that only God’s love manifest in the Cross of Jesus Christ is sufficient. A caution: once you start this wonderful book, you may not be able to put it down until you finish it.
Thomas Howard
St. John’s Seminary
This is a book I can heartily recommend to friends and seminarians for their lectio divina—their daily spiritual reading. I’m amazed that no one (no one I know of, anyway) has addressed this topic before. After all, it is as close to us as any other issue in the universe.
Howard R. Macy
George Fox University
“Temptation itself is not sin.” This is part of the good news Arnold brings in this small volume. But he also warns that he is writing for those who want to be free…not for those who deliberately bring temptations on themselves or wallow in them when they come…Loving and sensitive, Arnold makes his readers feel encouraged rather than judged. Here are nuggets of practical wisdom which deserve to be read, pondered, and treasured.
Jay Rochelle
St. Timothy’s Lutheran Church (Allentown PA)
Arnold outlines aspects of an important topic from a psychological perspective, then calls us to a deep awareness of the power of faith in Christ to overcome the evil in us. His brevity makes this a book for your bedside table, where you can read it again and again.
J. C. Wenger
Assoc. Menn. Biblical Seminaries
The insights of this little book are excellent. Especially valuable is its emphasis upon daring in Christ to have the courage to believe that one can have victory when temptations come. Here Christ is fully human—not just fully divine.
Dallas Willard
Author, The Spirit of the Disciplines
With deep insight into the workings of the mind, Arnold brings us towards deliverance by union with Christ.