"The Ancestral Sin"- John S. Romanides

Just finished it...it took a few tries but I finally finished it

It was an excellent book, a bit advanced (which is why I took three tries to read it), and it thoroughly covers all the background before reaching the conclusion. But more on that later...

Here's one of the finale quotes from St. Cyril of Alexandria:

"Our nature, then, became diseased by sin through the disobedience of one, that is, of Adam. Thus, all were made sinners, not by being co-transgressors with Adam, something which they never were, but by being of his nature and falling under the law of sin...Human nature fell ill in Adam and subject to corruptibility through disobedience, and, therefor, the passions entered in."
-St. Cyril, Commentary on Romans

Americans' Refusal to Deal with Suffering- American Thinker

"Even those arenas in which one would expect to find the greatest sense of spirituality and the deepest understanding of suffering it has been modernized and distorted. Of all the scriptures in the Bible, it seems that no matter what channel you turn to the message of the modern Evangelical movement is the same as corporate America: Ask and ye shall receive. It is the modern, media spin on the Doctrine of the Elect and Predestination: How do we know you have found God's favor? Because you're successful. How do you get to be successful? By God's favor. So, the goal is to be successful, to acquire wealth, prestige, and power. Somewhere along the line even the ministers have forgotten, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Where did we ever get the idea that we could petition God for happiness as if we were putting quarters into a candy-dispenser, that if you pray "just so" or tithe "just so" that God will reward you with a new job and a corner office? To my ears this sounds like a Christianity that has been co-opted by corporate interests or, worse, by Hollywood." - Jude Acosta, American Thinker

full article

Grappling with Free Will 2

Did God knowingly create a man he knew would bring suffering and death upon himself? Well, in a sense it seems the answer is yes. God knew exactly that man would sin and die while at the same moment knowing exactly how mankind would be redeemed and restored. When Genesis states that “In the beginning God created…” the book shows that time itself was created by God; God stands outside of time while simultaneously transcending through all of existence from within and without. The point is that suffering as it is now is a temporary state existing as part of God’s healing plan.

Free will was given to man as part of being “in God’s image,” and man freely chose to turn away from God. The first sin led to man turning his focus away from God and others, and onto himself. Because of this self-centeredness, the free choices to sin only could multiply. The end result is that the true free will, which is man’s rising toward God, became a distorted free will in which one must deliberate before possibly choosing the good. As this has brought suffering into the world, it is also important to note that God Himself suffered with man, in the state that man was in, and as man rehabilitated his free will.

Given an a priori knowledge of man’s fall, God created us nonetheless. While free choice has brought suffering upon us, it has also brought something greater, goodness. We know that which is good because we are not machines, we have the option of choosing evil and do not. We can not be good merely passively, instead, true virtue is active. If we actively submit our own will to the Divine will, we can become good-even Holy.

-Steve K.

Grappling with Free Will

I’ve been struggling with this topic for some time now…

God created Adam exactly as Adam was supposed to be in Eden. Adam (and Eve) transgressed and were sent out from Eden. God did not create Man as evil; Man had the free will to choose dependency on God or himself. Because Man freely chooses disobedience, God sends Man out of Eden for his own sake. Otherwise Man would have dwelt in wickedness eternally. Through free will man sinned, through free will, Man redeemed Himself in Christ, the eternal Son of God became Man.

That’s the economy sized rundown of a lot of deep Patristic thought…now for the struggling part (thanks to my Sunday School kids for picking my brain about it).

If God has Divine foreknowledge (He really wouldn’t be God if He didn’t), does He

1) “Predestine” people to do exactly what they do

2) Knowingly create Man in such a way that he sins and bring suffering into His world

Well the answer to the first question I learned back in my OCF at UF days. If Allen Iverson or Kobe Bryant are wide open behind the three point line, and someone passes the ball to them, we all know they’re going to make the three pointer. But, even if the crowd knows what is inevitable, knowledge itself does not and can not make it so.

God knew exactly what Adam would do, but did not make him do so. God does not violate free will. Far be it from me to say exactly what God does and does not do, however the most reasonable explanation given to me about man’s free will to sin has been that a coerced love is no true love at all. A real loving relationship is one in which the lovers can say no and do not.

I'll pick up on point 2 tomorrow!

-Steve K.