CrabCake
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2014
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- Political Leaning
- Progressive
Magnificent words!
But I think that one can do good without the transformation, as I believe that humans are beings that tend towards the good. Sort of like Fr. Flanagan, the founder of Boys's Town, who reportedly said, "There's no such thing as a bad boy." Of course, Charles Manson went to Boy's Town, so I assume the good father might have acknowledged exceptions to his rule.
I think we would agree on the important functional aspects but disagree in the way we talk about it. I would not describe people as tending towards the good because I believe in the doctrines of original sin and total depravity. I would talk about it in terms of our response to the grace given to us by God on the cross that empowers us to act against our nature and choose good. So, although I could not agree with the statement that human beings tend towards the good, at least not naturally, I believe the grace of God empowers us and indeed encourages us, to overcome our evil nature. In that sense, as long as we do not resist that grace it will draw us towards good. Ultimately though, I think both of our views are functionally identical, they just differ in how we talk about what is happening because we acknowledge different sources for those good acts (human nature being good vs God empowering us to do good against our own nature).
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