This book, in light of recent feminist theology on the doctrine of sin, attempts to provide historical support for such feminist considerations. It examines fourth-century church fathers, John Wesley, and Phoebe Palmer as places where an alternative of traditional definitional definition, pride, can be found.

Diane Leclerc devotes this study to an important twofold question: "What is the most adequate Christian diagnosis of our fundamental human problem?" and the corollary, " How should we understand the wholeness/holiness that Christianity seeks to promote?". While this interrelated topic is challenging in its own right, she has also chosen to approach it by bringing into dialogue some diverse conversation partners. What makes Leclerc's study so instructive is that no partner in this conversation emerges without some challenge for revision, or without some affirmation of their central concerns.