A Summer Study of Sinners

For my final writng project for my master's in professional writing, I wrote a paper describing how both Agustine (St. Augustine, according to Catholic tradition) and Petrarch (the humanist poet) revealed human vulnerability. I compared the opposite but complementary works of the saint and the sinner. In this paper, I utilized quotes from one of my favorite sinners - Oscar Wilde.  Perhpas I chose this topic because I had been reading Oscar Wilde's works.  

Nah. I have to say this topic of sinners versus saints is one that has interested me for years now. I love learning of and from imperfect people. I engage in studies not just of human behavior (why sinners behave as we do), but in studies that encourage empathy with others who are just as sinful as we are (maybe just in different ways) and that allow me to take up the cause for our fellow sinners. I often indulge in such studies through my love of social history and my love of literature. 

It is said reading fiction makes readers more empathetic of other people's struggles. Perhaps this is true. The novel that has meant the most to me since I first read it when I was a teenager is The Scarlet Letter. When I first read it, I could relate more to the Puritans. It was later, after more life lessons, that I could more identitfy with Hester Prynne and even Arthur Dimmesdale. It was my interest in sinners that prodded me to delve into the works of Edgar Allan Poe, not just because of his topics but because of his horribly sad life. It is the same interest that causes me to study historical oppression and to take up the cause of the oppressed.  Christ, Himself, not to mention the Old Testament prophets, took up the cause of the poor, the oppressed, and the sinners. He did not come to heal the well, but rather the sick.  

It is this interest that has pushed me into what I call my current summer study of sinners.  I have been reading the works of Oscar Wilde for a couple of months now.  It started with The Picture of Dorian Gray.  My love for this novel prompted me to purchase the anthology in which I found my first sinner quote for my Augustine and Petrarch paper. I have now read that 600-plus-page volume and am delving into another, longer anthology and into a study of Wilde's heart-wrenching life. I am also reading Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. Perhaps when I am finished with it, I will delve into Madame Bovary and, maybe, revisit Brennan Manning's The Ragamuffin Gospel. 

When I wrote my paper over Augustine and Petrarch, I found myself thinking Augustine tried to be perfect. At times, he became legalistic. I disliked this personality trait of his. However, by the time I had finished writing, I realized this was just another of his vulnerabilities. It was a temptation to which he yielded. I guess, saints and sinners are not so different after all. Of course, biblically speaking, I have always known this. Paul considered himself the chief of sinners.  It's one reason I love Paul and his epistles. I also can relate to Peter and David and Jeremiah. Paul and Jermiah composed my favorite books of the Bible. Peter and David are encouragements to me when I feel like I'm not quite good enough for God.  

I am enjoying my summer study of sinners. It's appropriate for me right now - at a time when I do not want to just hear of triumphs but to understand struggles as well. I'll keep you posted as to how this study progresses.