Recently, I have found James’ blog, and it has become a reward all of itself. In a post today, James discusses the issue which divides many – depravity of the human soul. In his post here, he concludes:
At the same time, there are plenty of people who believe that they can’t change–either because of their habits, or their pasts, or their temperaments, or their desires, etc. As Jeremiah 13:23 inquires, “Can Ethiopians change their skin or leopards their spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil” (NRSV). Somewhere within them, there are the affections that lead people to goodness, such as love or a conscience, but these things have been seared (I Timothy 4:2) or buried. Also, while believing the right things can be transformative in itself, how does one move from head-knowledge to heart-knowledge? I can understand the Gospel without it changing me! In light of these considerations, I choose to believe in a God who wants to change me, or, as Alcoholics Anonymous asserts, restore me to sanity and remove my defects of character.
Go read his post, if you have a minute.
Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).
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The Gospel, Depravity and Change | The Church of Jesus Christ: Recently, I have found James’ blog, and it ha.. http://tinyurl.com/lpbmzx