(February 14, 2010 at 6:32 am)Darwinian Wrote:This is actually a misquote you meant Ezekial Chapter 18 vs 20. It is a simple statment that you will not be punished because you have inherited any sin, only for your own willful sins shall you be punished. I think we can all agree to that interpretation.
In response to the OP:
1-Correct you are a sinner, based off the mainstream Christian belief, as is everyone currently on the planet.
2-Why? Ok here's my 2 cents. It is your fault first of all. Secondly, I don't personally feel it was predestined but a matter of choice.
A- Let's start by looking at Adam and Eve as infants prior to original sin.
B- I see them with an ability to define or name they're surroundings, trust in each other and God, and look forward to the future establishing hope.
C- Now let's add the knowledge of morality and that some things are wrong and some are right with the tree of knowledge metaphor.
D- This wasn't God's plan, but our choice to let our curisoity drive us to discontent.
E- We then start developing shame, and are foced out of God's perfect world, again metaphorically.
F- We are then forced to be self-sufficient rather than symbiotic with God, and the rest of the stages develop into modern cognitive evolution
G- The fact that we continue to, to this today, in adulthood, rather than return to a more simplistic relationship with the creator is a matter of choice
Once we have the ability, as children, to reason moral ambiguity we become sinners by seeking self-sufficiency. That's why Children in my church are usually refused baptism, without justifiable reasoning capacity, my son included. Living morally Just is, in itself alone, not enough to get into heaven in my book. We must accept that God provides all and that we are not self-sufficient, self-sustaining animal who evolved consciouness. Where we now seek to fufill those needs through others (family community, etc.) that was not teh intenct and sacrificing the self and being born again is freedom from that. Sorry if I got a little preachy on that one :S Just my opinion as a Christian, shared by many Christians.
"There ought to be a term that would designate those who actually follow the teachings of Jesus, since the word 'Christian' has been largely divorced from those teachings, and so polluted by fundamentalists that it has come to connote their polar opposite: intolerance, vindictive hatred, and bigotry." -- Philip Stater, Huffington Post
always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
always working on cleaning my windows- me regarding Johari
