More Old Posts: Problem of Evil? Part 1

 Consider the following scenario:

Two men are serving time in prison. Both of these men are dying of a treatable cancer. Does the state have an ethical obligation to provide medical care to them? My first answer would be an absolute "Yes!" However, to be thorough the situation should be analyzed more closely. One of the men (prisoner Selfish) is serving a short sentence for some white-collar crime (For ease I will say he is doing 10 years for identity theft). The other (prisoner Depraved) is on death row for a heinous rape and murder. Now the situation is a little more interesting.
I would still be inclined to say that Selfish deserves medical attention from the State. That is to say, the State has an ethical obligation to provide medical care to Selfish. However, does the State have an ethical obligation to provide medical care to Depraved, having already been condemned to die? That seems a little silly to me. If the State has any ethical obligation whatsoever to Depraved (though I am not sure that it does) that obligation would be to ease the suffering of Depraved by moving him to the front of the line at death row.

Now consider humanity. The Bible specifically says that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23a). Therefore, anyone judged guilty by God is on the proverbial death row, simply awaiting the end due him. Moreover, the Bible says that all humanity is condemned of sin before God (Romans 3:23), so every human being is on the divine death row. Every human being is living out his/her days anticipating the inevitable punishment. To make matters worse, not only does sin condemn humans before God, it also acts like a cancer on the individual and society. Sin is a deadly cancer.
Basically, humans are in a situation very similar to that of Depraved. Does God have an ethical obligation to cure humans of their cancer? I don't think so.
If humans were basically good, only Selfish, then God might have an obligation to save us. However, the God of the Bible is under no ethical obligation to save humans from their cancer.

Resurrecting Old Posts: Concerning the Nature of the Unbeliever

The following is an essay I wrote for seminary on the scope of human depravity.

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            It has been said that it is impossible to profane human nature because it is worse than words can paint it.  Indeed, it seems that the more desperately errant the portrayal of human nature, the more accurate the picture.  It is with this in mind that the question “What is the nature of the unbeliever?” must be considered.  This study will involve two aspects of that nature: the substance of existence and the spiritual comprehension that accompanies that existence.

            The first aspect of consideration concerns the form of existence experienced by the unbeliever.  What substances make up the existence of the unbeliever?  What role do the substances play in the life of the unbeliever?  Traditionally, conservative evangelical Christianity has held a basically dualistic view on the substance of existence.  Basically, it has commonly been believed that humans have both a material and a spiritual substance to existence.   However, Scripture commonly references the unbeliever as being a “servant of sin” (literally, enslaved to sin) with freedom from slavery contingent upon acceptance of Jesus Christ for salvation (Rom. 6:17-18).  Moreover, unbelievers are also portrayed as hopelessly unrighteous and under the power of sin, as in Romans 3:9-10.  The seat of this unrighteous sinfulness is the flesh – the material substance of humanity.  Therefore, whatever, if any, spiritual substance is included in the existence of an unbeliever, it must be totally subservient to the material substance that houses the sinfulness and enslaves the self.  In other words, the unbeliever must be considered spiritually impotent – ruled by the flesh that dominates his existence.

            Having demonstrated the spiritual impotence of the unbeliever, it now becomes necessary to question whether the spiritually impotent can even perceive spiritual things. 1 Corinthians 2:14 speaks directly to this issue: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned.”  Context tells us that the “things of the Spirit of God” refer to the depths of the nature of God, His thoughts, and His actions.  Thus, the “natural man,” the unbeliever, cannot understand the spiritual ideas and concepts that the believer can.  Literally, these things are perceived, examined, and judged spiritually.  The implication of the passage is that the natural man has no use of this faculty of spiritual discernment.  The Bible gives the analogy of the unbeliever being in darkness, while the believer walks in the light (1 John 2:8-11).  The eyes of the unbeliever are blind, thus he walks in darkness.  The blind person still has eyes, but they are dead members of the body, just as an unbeliever still has a spirit, but it is a dead part of the self. Likewise, just as those born with dead eyes cannot comprehend color, because it is visually discerned, those born with a dead spirit cannot comprehend spiritual things because they are “spiritually discerned.”  Therefore, not only are unbelievers spiritually impotent, but they are also spiritually incompetent.

            Insofar as the unbeliever is enslaved to the sinfulness that is housed in the flesh of the self and the faculty of spiritual comprehension is dead, the unbeliever must be considered totally depraved.  That is to say, the unbeliever is impotent to enact spiritual change, and oblivious even to the need for it.  This leaves the unbeliever seeking Truth without the capacity to perceive it, like a blind person seeking the end of a rainbow.  The condition of the unbeliever is one of absolute hopelessness apart from the cross of Christ.  He is doomed for “everlasting destruction” in hell (2 Thessalonians 1:9).  Otherwise spiritually impotent and incompetent, the acceptance of the cross of Christ reinvigorates the spirit of a person with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and grants that person the freedom and capacity to comprehend spiritual things. Through the supernatural power of Christ, the failure of the natural man can be overcome, the faculty of spiritual comprehension can be revived, and the person can dive into the depths of the unsearchable, unfathomable God.

           Thus the unbeliever, like the blind man, will likely fall back on other faculties in an effort to make up for the deprivation of the spiritual faculty.  The primary faculty that many unbelievers appeal to is reason, the intellectual capacity of humans.  Indeed, reason is a useful tool when it comes to the analysis of thoughts and observations.  Unfortunately, insofar as humans are finite and fallible beings, reason too is finite and fallible.  Despite this fact, many philosophers have attempted to search out and understand the infinite expanse of Truth with this finite faculty.  This is to no avail.  Human reason does not have the means to comprehend infinity.  Moreover, Scripture states in 1 Corinthians 1:17-25 that God Himself will “destroy the wisdom of the wise” and render reason unable to find Him.  Likewise, Solomon, whose faculty of reason was more keen than any other man, expresses his frustration at understanding the world when he expresses in Ecclesiastes, “Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”  One commentator has suggested that this phase be translated “frustratingly enigmatic.”  That is to say, with reason alone everything is utterly confusing and unknowable.  The intellectual capacities of unbeliever and believer alike fail to comprehend infinite Truth. In this sense the unbeliever is also spiritually inept - fumbling about with spiritual notions, but incapable of any real spiritual aptitude.

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Spiritually impotent, incompetent, and inept = utterly hopeless and totally depraved

My Slave Journal for Jesus

Doulos is the Greek word for slave. Slavery certainly has negative connotations for pretty much everybody these days, obviously because of the racism and inhuman treatment so often associated with it. However, what if I chose to be a slave? Would it still be so nasty a word?

Everyday doulos is a personal challenge for me. I want to choose every day to be a slave for my Lord, Jesus Christ. I am still not very good at it. I am as selfish as they come, but I have a goal to work toward.

This journey started for me when I was 6 years old. I don't remember many details, and those that I do remember are probably only ingrained in my memory based on my mom's retelling of the story. But that summer I came to an awareness of my own sin and my need for a savior. I'm sure I wouldn't have said it quite like that - probably more likely that I was simply aware that I did stuff wrong and I wanted to be sure I was going to end up in heaven. (That and I think I remember my brother saying that he "got saved" and I wanted to do whatever he did...) Whatever the case may be, I was sitting at the kitchen table and I asked my mom what I have to do to be saved. My mom, the ever-considerate human being that she is, didn't want me to get saved yet! Okay, that probably sounds meaner than it should. She actually was being considerate - she wanted to wait to lead me in the sinner's prayer until my dad got home so he could be there too. Unfortunately for my father, the Holy Spirit used my mom's matter-of-fact answer to guide me in saving faith. I did exactly what my mom said was necessary - I admitted my sinfulness, believed that Jesus died and rose again for my sins, and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

That's it. That was the moment that Christ became my Lord and I dedicated myself to being His slave. Even after 18 years of servitude I am still a pretty terrible slave. I'm disobedient, I complain ALL THE TIME, I'm ungrateful and unloving, but most importantly I'm forgiven.