pastoral care in historical perspective - Bishopdale Theological ...

56 T he Four Pas/orlll Function!
of Pride hath whelped, bllt of these. thinl: and gi,'c heed ,'cry greatly,
for I do but go over them lightly, ~nd but n3me thern. n
In art, through homilies, and by various teaching devices. the capital
or cardinal sins were embedded in the undentanding of western man
for well over a thousand year s, and they pro"ided him with a way by
which he could discuss h imself in his relationsh ip to others and to Cod
in a single unified system. An!' perSOn could begin with his own besetting
sin, and, by tracing its intcHcla tionship to other sins, he would
finally find himself at the core question of life-namely, his relation to
God. The system of capital sins :1110\\"00 one to speak of man's condition
coram deo while at the same time describing minutely a man's troubles
in relation-to himself and to othcrs.
Since the Reforma tion, and more pcr .. a s i~·cl ! · since the Enlightenment,
ho ..... tver, men and women ha\'e incTcasingly viewed personal
problems and decisions in ways whieh do not reAeet or derive from
traditional Christian notions of life and action. Increasingly the proximate
concerns of prudence rath~r than the ult imate