Quote:
Originally Posted by KSA
Well, my objection to the term "sinful nature" is this. Nature is a substance. All substance is created by God. Therefore, substance cannot be sinful. Sin is not a substance, it is a perversion of substance. Sin does not have an ontological existence of its own. It is just the corruption of something created by God.
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KSA,
By extension, your argument would appear to confirm the idea of modern psychology that everything ultimately is just a chemical imbalance. If we could just fix that, then the schizophrenic would become whole (I'll buy that) ... and the demon-possessed would be free (not willing to buy that).
Flannery O'Connor, southern American Catholic writer, wrote a short story entitled, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" which promotes this view: that everything is out of balance. (The story, by the way, is a fascinating theological treatise hidden in the strangest of plots, a worthwhile read for sure).
Well, are things simply, like the true definition of a weed, simply out of place? Is that what Jesus's coming and second coming will restore: balance? Or is there actual evil out there which has no cure?
I have read quite a bit in recent years on new views on Hell. Tim Keller's view, in "The Reason For God" (a rebuttal of all the atheist treatises out ther) has an interesting take. He believes Hell is simply complete and total narcissism (John Edwards might agree with that these days). The annihilationists believe there is no eternal torment, just a "blip!" and disappearance of the unregenerated soul.
No matter what view you take, there's still that little fact that Satan gets tossed in to endure eternal torment. So maybe he is in fact more than just something out of balance. He was a substance made by God, but it seems he actually became evil.
To conclude, I'm with you to a point, KSA. But I still hold out some place for the idea that some things are just plain evil right to the core, no redemption is capable.
What say you?
SC