Understanding how much of both our morality and our temptations are genetic is not irrelevant<\/a>. Nor is understanding the role of culture<\/a> and upbringing<\/a>. To the extent that Christians are dedicated to overcoming sin in their individual lives and standing against its systemic expressions, there is an urgent need for clarity on this topic.<\/p>\n I find particularly helpful the Rabbinic idea (which Paul may have presupposed) of humans having what they called a \u201cgood impulse\u201d and an \u201cevil impulse<\/a>\u201c. There most important insight was that the \u201cevil\u201d impulse was not inherently evil \u2013 indeed, the impulse that drives us to eat and to procreate is essential for our survival. What brings evil into the picture is when we do not allow our values and our reason to at times override these basic instincts. Such a viewpoint seems compatible with our current biological and psychological understanding of human beings.<\/p>\n The issues of \u201cnature<\/a>\u201d and \u201cnaturalness\u201d (both in their modern sense and as used in Paul\u2019s letters<\/a>) come up in discussions of homosexuality, and so the present topic should provide a fitting segue to a consideration of that specific concrete subject about which Christians disagree<\/a>. We\u2019ll begin with what the Bible<\/a> may have to say<\/a> on the subject, but here too there is a danger unless we are aware<\/a> of the many parts of the Bible<\/a> that we do not actually practice or believe ought to be put into practice today. It simply will not do to say \u201cthe Bible says\u201d about homosexuality while ignoring what it says about violence and vengeance, about possessions, not to mention about subjects like slavery, marriage and genocide<\/a>. Hopefully some of the discussions we\u2019ve had about the Bible thus far will have laid a helpful groundwork upon which we can build as our series continues.<\/p>\n The reading for this past week\u2019s Sunday school class was Romans 5, to provide an opportunity to bring our last two topics (Jesus\u2019 life and work, and evolution) together. We didn\u2019t actually discuss the evolutionary aspects to any great extent, but we did focus on the question of what is meant by the \u201csinful nature\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.tomandjerryonline.com\/images\/SmittenKitten4.jpg\")
<\/a>The image of an angel and a demon<\/a> sitting on one\u2019s shoulders making suggestions was mentioned, not as a literal explanation of what is going on, but as a traditional image of what we all experience, namely feeling torn at times between something we \u201cknow is right\u201d and another option that seems seductively appealing. Tom and Jerry<\/a> seem to have had the same experience<\/a> from time to time.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3266\/3204304705_b8c61ececd.jpg?v=0\")
<\/a>A couple of days ago I saw the movie<\/a> Changeling<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jamefmcgrshom-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001NFNFNU\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7622297540113836091-3319191729421371604?l=exploringourmatrix.blogspot.com\")