“I’m only human.” That’s what people say to excuse repeated bad behavior. Can Christians use this excuse? They shouldn’t. Paul used a very similar phrase to rebuke the Corinthian church over divisions among them. Here’s the section.
You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? (1 Corinthians 3:3-4 NIV)
Do you get the implication here? Implicit to an identification with Christ is the transcendence of cultural norms. We are no longer mere humans. We’re something more. What are we?
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:4 NIV)
We’re hybrids, implanted with divine DNA. We’re aliens. We’re morally supercharged creatures of God. Our nature has become intertwined with his. How could we ever claim to be ONLY human?
How could we use what to Paul would have been an insult as an excuse? Imagine a man who threw a tantrum excusing his behavior on the grounds that he is childish. Not only would he be rejecting personal responsibility for his behavior he would also be implicitly pledging to retain his faults. With Christians who hide behind their humanity, the error is even more serious because it is God who has declared us to be more, based on the work of Jesus Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. When we assert that we are only human we insult not only ourselves but God. Christians often behave like people of the world but when we appeal to our humanity to cover our culpability it’s not just a fallacy; it’s heresy.
An interesting post but I’m not sure you can say DNA is divine without any empirical evidence? What is the make scientific make up of such a property? DNA points to mankind originating in East Africa then migrating northwards, generally fanning out. Why? Because of DNA based evidence has been irrefutably linked to fossilised evidence to further support it. Archaeologists from Israel and Egypt plus others from all over the world have combed (repeatedly in Israel’s case) the Sinai region for remnants of thousands of people wandering there after escaping tyranny in Egypt then wandering for 40 years and have found nothing, not a shred of evidence. Egyptian chronicles mention nothing either. Simple conclusion, Moses, ten commandments et al, never happened.
Hey HH, sorry to take so long replying to this one. You make some good points. I’d like to see some of your source material if you don’t mind. I also have a couple of questions. First, where do you think life first came from? What theory do you propose? ID folks seem pretty confident that neo-darwinism has been debunked and I don’t hear a good refutation coming from the other side. Also, from your perspective, do you see any difference between the creation myth presented in the Bible and the ones from other societies? Okay, that’s it for now. Loving the dialogue!
Archeology info can be found here;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exodus#Archaeology
This next link briefly summarises things well with links to books at the bottom.
http://www.concentric.net/~worgar/exodus.htm
If you look at the sixth paragraph down Israeli archaeologists Finkelstein and Silberman have stated in their works that ‘there is still no evidence for the existence of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Lot, Moses, and Joshua’ but please read the whole paragraph or article or even Finkelstein’s own books and notes on not finding anything.
There’s also dozens more links I could post here. As for your other questions, I need a morning cup of tea first and then I’ll get back to you.
This is very similar to Christians choosing to “sin so that grace may about.” If I were still faithed, I’d totally understand. Believing ourselves to have been made in the image of God, with the capability of perfection, it does stand to reason that saying, “I’m only human” would be a good thing, minus the divine recognition.
Biblical men can, however, reach that state of perfection without the second birth. For instances include Elijah, and Enoch, and possibly Job. I would also include Moses as he once corrected his maker.
If a man can correct his maker once, then that higher standard of morality could be held throughout life by a man.
Hobbit, I find the DNA stuff fascinating to look at. I have since I read my first Dawkins. Unfortunately, I didn’t discover Hitchens until he had both feet planted horizontally.
Nathan, as I said before, your writing and arguments are some of the best I have seen. Thank you for being as understanding as you are. Also, should you care to post it, my last poem was written with multiple meanings in mind. “The Flight”
Zane, I always value your input – very well thought-out. I’m not sure we can necessarily conclude that Elijah (chickened out) or Enoch (we know almost nothing) were perfect. Moses was far from it. But, of course, it’s all moot if one does not believe any of it ever occurred.
I’ll give “The Flight” a look and possibly repost.