Theology | Literature homework help
- All humans are responsible for their actions, and liable for their consequences.
To deny the first statement undermines what it means to be human; as created, we are essentially ‘very good’. Some Christians so emphasize the truth of the second statement that the first is obscured, forgotten or denied, while others have held too optimistic a view of humanity as we know it. The third statement is rarely denied, but frequently overemphasized, especially when the idea of free will is discussed without reference to the reality of sin; sin does not remove our will, but renders it incapable of doing the will of God. As can readily be seen, it is no easy matter to hold all three statements together. The core of the problem is how humanity as God intends it relates to humanity as we know it; the way in which the corruption of sin is transmitted has been the issue around which the debate has formed and re-formed. p 235 The debates about the transmission of sin are complex. In particular, they affect the way in which the full humanity of Christ is understood. Though without sin, and so more truly human than any other, he took sin upon himself for the sake of those held captive to its power. The web of sin extends to every aspect of human life, and any who enter this world as we know it cannot avoid its entanglement Jesus was not exempt from this, but lived without being caught in its net until his ‘hour’ came, when he freely gave himself up to be ‘made … sin’, according to the will of God ( cf. Jn. 12:23–33; 2 Cor. 5:19–21). In so turning the other cheek to sin, taking on himself all its consequences, he absorbed all its poison and set humankind free from its power. In Jesus we see a truly and fully free will, continuing to pursue the will of God even when that meant coming under the curse of sin. How then are these statements to be held together? At least eight theories have been formulated;[footnoteRef:3] the two extremes are noted first. [3: Contemporary systematic theologies do not often discuss these theories in detail: an older but full discussion is Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. II (1871; Eerdmans, 1952), chapter VIII. A useful work which seeks to relate grace and sin to pastoral concerns such as self-esteem, and surveys carefully the historical debates, is Neil Ormerod (ed.), Grace and Disgrace (E. J. Dwyer, 1992). Ormerod teaches theology at St Paul’s Seminary, Sydney, and is known for clear thinking about Christian faith in its Australian contexts.]