Choices

I’ve been putting off this blog entry for a while because this topic opens up a philosophical can of worms. To avoid drowning in philosophy, I’ve decided to make the bulk of this post a series of questions. These questions get to the heart of why I believe Christianity is incompatible with life as a human.

On choices in general…

What causes us to make choices? Is it pure ‘rationality’, or are there other factors?

How important are those other factors?

If we always have full power over our choices, why does marketing work?

Why do people choose to do things that hurt themselves?

Why did I choose to snooze my alarm today? I wanted to get up early.

Is being tired a good excuse? Does it justify the choice?

Did I make that choice or was it my body? Am I my brain? Is the one who makes choices separate from my body altogether?

What if we extend this reasoning to other, more consequential, choices?

 

Photo by me.


In the Bible, ‘sinning’ is when one disobeys God’s commandments. The original sin was when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s only rule in the Garden of Eden: Do not eat the fruit from the tree of ‘the knowledge of good and evil’ (Genesis 2:17). One day, after a convincing conversation with a serpent, they both chose to eat the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:1-6). From that day onward, sin entered the world (Romans 5:12). There’s a lot to unpack about this story, but I’m just going to focus on Adam and Eve’s choice to disobey God. This choice resembles all the sinful choices we make in our lives, which all lead us to death (Romans…basically all of it).

And now, some more questions I have…

Given that the serpent wasn’t truthful about the consequences of eating the forbidden fruit, how much can Adam and Eve be blamed for eating it?

What about all other sinful choices?

What about people who have an impossible choice, for example if they are threatened with the choice between sinning or death or torture?

What about people who have a lack of information about what they’re choosing?

Or, people that aren’t thinking rationally?

Can anyone ever think completely rationally?

Aren’t we limited by our brains?

Can dogs make sinful choices?

Can dogs make choices at all?

Is anyone evil?

Are we all good?

 

 

In the world of Christianity, there is another kind of choice that leads to life:

9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. (Romans 10)

In his letter to the Romans, Paul says that everyone is born as a slave to sin – that is, they are unable to stop themselves from making sinful choices. The solution to this is ‘letting the Spirit (THE Holy Spirit) control your mind.’ (Romans 8:5-11)

What does that say about choices? Do we even have free will at all?

Can we choose to believe something ‘in our heart’?

Can we choose to doubt something?

If we are slaves to sin, then how can we be blamed for sinning?

Is it possible for someone to live their lives without knowing how to choose Jesus? If so, can they be saved?


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