Re: [asa] prisoner's dilemma

Happily we don't get saved by our own choice, but by God's grace. So whatever
our motive in accepting Christ (yes, we do accept Christ -- but only _after_
God takes the initiative and makes us ready to accept Him), God's motive (His
love for us) is what's important.

--- mrb22667@kansas.net wrote:

> In distinguishing "genuine altruism" from the "whitewashed" variety, how does
> one handle the offered benefit of eternal life beyond death? If I accept
> Christ and endeavor to respond to his call by living a life of love and
> service,
> but my initiating motivation was a desire to be saved/ a fear of hell, then
> do
> my actions qualify as altruistic? If (and this option sounds better) I am
> filled with love so that my desire is to live life for others regardless of
> consequences for myself -- if that is really the "Christian" altruism,
> potentially tainted by selfish motivations eternal though they be, then why
> did
> God see fit to provide those motivations? Shouldn't we want to live as
> disciples regardless? As a friend once mused to me: "Why the carrot and
> the
> stick?"
>
> --merv
>
> “Faith is not belief in spite of evidence but a life in scorn of the
> consequences.” – Clarence Jordan
>
>
> Quoting David Opderbeck <dopderbeck@gmail.com>:
>
> > *It seems to me that the labels assigned for "morality" bore little
> > resemblance to genuine altruism in the Christian sense of the word.*
> >
> > I think that's right. I'd suggest that the "morality" resulting from games
> > like the Prisoner's Dilemma is actually the sort of "whitewashed tomb"
> ethic
> > that Jesus condemned -- having some appearance of moral action, but
> > motivated only by self.
> >
> >
> >
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
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>

Bill Hamilton
William E. Hamilton, Jr., Ph.D.
248.652.4148 (home) 248.821.8156 (mobile)
"...If God is for us, who is against us?" Rom 8:31

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Received on Wed Aug 16 23:12:38 2006