Psalm 115:1-9
Okay, the word “addiction” is not found in the Bible, but there is a huge overlap with the word “sin.” There is, perhaps, another biblical word for addiction that is even more on target: “idolatry.” It was the #1 sin of Israel in the Old Testament and it is alive and well today. We live in a world of idols and we are all at risk.
Resources Recommended and Used by Pastor Mark:
- Addiction and Grace: Love and Spirituality in Healing Addictions, Gerald May … He sees all humans as struggling with addiction and all in need of grace.
- Addiction Nation: What the Opioid Crisis Reveals About Us, Timothy McMahan King… Goes deep into causes of opioid addiction and how addiction is part of everyone’s life.
- Breathing Underwater: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps, Richard Rohr … Brings the gospel to the 12-step program in a way that is applicable to everyone.
- The Recovering: Intoxication and It’s Aftermath, Leslie Jamison … Not a Christian, she is very raw about her struggle with alcohol as a writer, very insightful as to how alcohol functions as an addiction.
- A Prayer for Orion: A Son’s Addiction and a Mother’s Love, Katherine James … Very personal story about her son’s heroin addiction and how it affected her.
- Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary on Sin, Cornelius Plantinga … The whole book is very insightful on how sin works but chapter 8 explores the relationship between sin and addiction.
- Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, Tim Keller … Explores the biblical category of idolatry, the closest term in the bible for addiction.
- Addiction: The Invisible Dragon, Chip Dodd … A 5-page piece on addictions from a Christian perspective, very enlightening.