How to Be a Sinner

Crisp, practical, and searching, this excellent book combines a solid theological perspective fully informed by the depths of the Christian spiritual tradition with a vigorous and contemporary insight into a culture that has largely forgotten what sin means. Treading the right line between guilt-inducing rhetoric and bland modern self-absolution, it offers an understanding of human sinfulness that is both demanding and hopeful, and helps us rediscover the tools of proper self-knowledge before God. 
— ROWAN WILLIAMS, former Archbishop of Canterbury

Written accessibly and sincerely, Peter Bouteneff’s little book offers the (post-)modern-day reader many helpful insights on—and practical nudges towards—embracing the Church’s oft-misunderstood language of “sin” and “repentance.”
— SR VASSA LARIN, host of “Coffee with Sister Vassa”

Sin is not guilt nor a mental condition. It is a deep wound in our very being. Peter Bouteneff offers some very straightforward and extremely helpful explanations that will take the reader into a place of self-awareness and honesty—making possible the beginning of repentance.
— FR STEPHEN FREEMAN, author of Everywhere Present: Christianity in a One-Storey Universe

Psychopathology and sinfulness have much in common. Bouteneff brings fresh air to the exploration of the ways of being embodied in both, finding a healthy place for the imperfect human within Church Tradition. A welcome, clear, beautifully written and timely work.
— Lila J. Kalinich, MD, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University