[lit-ideas] Re: War, no sort of about it

  • From: "Phil Enns" <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 17 Aug 2005 14:28:59 -0400

John Wager, replying my comments, wrote:

"Unfortunately, I see two different views of Original Sin at work in
Christianity."


I am not sure why John thinks this is unfortunate since neither of these
views conflicts with what I wrote.  I had written:

[The doctrine of Original Sin] is the assertion that all that has been
created is good but that something has gone wrong.  It arises out of the
experience of knowing what we want to do but doing something else, something
that turns out badly for us.  Furthermore, this decision is not made in
ignorance but knowing the consequences.  It is a matter of the will and how
human willing has made the world less than it can be."

However various Christians have articulated what has gone wrong, what
virtually all theologians have agreed on is that the goodness of Creation,
including human beings, remains intact.

Here is Calvin, no optimist regarding what can be accomplished by human
beings, on Creation:

"In the whole architecture of his world God has given us clear evidence of
his eternal wisdom, goodness, and power, and though he is invisible in
himself he shows himself to us in some measure in his work.  The world is
therefore rightly called the mirror of his divinity"

This is a remarkably optimistic, as well as hopeful, view of Creation in
that the goodness of God can never be lost or hidden no matter how poorly we
act.  This goodness remains for those who have eyes to see.  So while
Christian theologians may differ regarding the significance of human effort,
there is virtually no disagreement when it comes to the belief that Creation
is good.  It was this question, whether Creation was good, that lay at the
heart of the Gnostic controversies and the Church came firmly down on the
side of affirming Creation's goodness.


Sincerely,

Phil Enns
Toronto, ON


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