Augustine robs a pear tree, but not because he wants the pears. One may ask, and Augustine does ask, what's that about? Augustine robs the pear tree, not for the need nor the want of the material possession of the pears, but because of the pleasure which he finds in the sin. He says, "Our real pleasure consisted in doing something that was forbidden" (Augustine 47). From Augustine's writings, it appears that humans are naturally evil. Humans desire to sin. They possess a rebellious nature. On the other hand, Desmond Tutu, among others, would argue that humans are naturally good. However, I believe Augustine is right; humans are naturally evil, meaning they have a tendency to sin. In Romans 7:18 Paul writes, "For I know that nothing goods lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it." Even if man desires to do good, he tends to do evil; he has a tendency to sin. I see it this way, when man was created, sin had not yet entered the world. Man had the choice to either obey God or disobey God, but there was no tendency to do either. Man simply had free will. When sin entered the world, man began to exist in a fallen state, corrupted by sin. This is commonly referred to as depravity. However, Jesus came to reconcile and redemption us from that fallen state. Once one becomes a believer, once they believe the Jesus came to save and accept Him as their savior, they once again have full free will as they are given the power over sin which the Spirit gives.
When Augustine robs the pear tree, he is unsaved. He gives into his rebellious nature. His flesh is in control. He does not seek evil or the consequences which come from it, but he find joy in committing the evil, simply because it is evil. He struggles to resist the temptation to do this, even though he neither needs nor wants the pears. He has better ones at home. He is living in the fallen state. He does not have the power to overcome sin and temptation because he is without God.
P.S. I commented on Kaitlyn Terry's and Brooke's posts.
I think humans and Christians especially naturally tend to listen to their body because even though some Christians have grown up in church, we all have that inherent sin nature that we can never really kick. And even non-Christians sometimes have a sense of guilt after committing a sin. We’re all guilty of sometimes committing sin just because we can but we have been given the option should we so choose to ask God for help and His forgiveness.
ReplyDeleteI think this dilemma largely comes from us as humans being unable to resist temptation. Try as we might, we are all guilty of something, not the least of which is doing something to see if we can get away with it. I believe that largely comes as a consequence of the original sin
ReplyDelete