About the Author

Benjamin Pratt

A word from the Author of Ian Fleming’s Seven Deadlier Sins

I grew up in a home with no books.

I marvel with gratitude over the professors at Grove City College who turned me lustily toward literature. At Wesley Theological Seminary I developed my deepest appreciation for literature by studying five of six semesters in a class on “Classical Literature and Preaching,” taught by Dr. Harry Taylor, to whom I dedicate this book. I learned theology and philosophy through literature in Harry’s course, and I also learned to look beneath the presenting story for the deeper story.

Thus, my reading of the James Bond tales, especially the discovery of accidie throughout the tales, led me to explore them in depth. I have personally faced accidie in my life, especially when I burned out as a parish pastor. I returned to Wesley to earn my doctorate with my thesis focusing on “The Noonday Devil: Managing Clergy Burnout and the Sin of Accidie.”

Personally, I am a Christian, an avid reader, a bicyclist, a suburban gardener, and a fine woodworker. My drinks: shaken not stirred. I have good friends, and we nurture each other well. I am a dedicated family man who takes great delight in his children and grandchildren. Judith and I have been married since August, 1963. 

Professionally, I am a United Methodist minister, retired after 30 years as a pastoral counselor where my ability to listen to the story beneath the presented problem was invaluable. I have published in professional journals as well as a chapter called “Burnout: A Spiritual Pilgrimage,” in Surviving in Ministry, Paulist Press, 1990. I was the chief editor/designer of “Yearning at the Well,” a CD/audio tape on shame and the healing of shame, 2001. I am licensed as a therapist and a Fellow of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, a member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists and a Certified Imago Relationship Therapist.

Welcome to this new adventure with James Bond that weaves together all these threads of scripture, literature and a long life helping people wrestle with the demands of daily living!