Re: [asa] prisoner's dilemma

The point about election and grace in conversion is a good one. I'd add to
this that our motives for initial repentance can differ from our motives for
altruistic acts. In a balanced Christian ethic, there's nothing wrong with
having some level of self-interest (indeed, some level of self-interest is
appropriate and necessary), and the question of initial repentence and
conversion isn't presented in scripture as in itself an altruistic act. I'd
also add that since the process of sanctification is progressive, no one
attains a level in which every motive is always perfect in this life. But
if there is such a thing as the Holy Spirit working to perfect us (and, in
non-believers, such a thing as Common Grace), it seems to me we can't accept
the conclusion that altruism is always only an apparent phenomenon resulting
from evolutionary strategies.

On 8/16/06, Bill Hamilton <williamehamiltonjr@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> 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
> > "unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
> >
>
>
> 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 Sat Aug 19 10:22:49 2006