Re: [asa] Random and design

People can be good, people can be bad, people can be capable of doing
good, people are capable of doing bad.

Perhaps we should be weary of these calvinistic interpretations. I
am certainly not impressed by Hamilton's claims especially since it
is based on exactly the philosophical interpretation to which I object.

And nothing addresses my statement that your position undermines your
own position. After all, if we have to distrust everyone then how can
we take the word of anyone seriously. What about a vision which
understands the good of the people and governments and is aware that
such powers can be easily abused (present day makes for a good
example of the abuse of presidential powers for instance). So
oversight is definitely needed but we cannot work from the assumption
that people in these positions are to be distrusted. A theology of
hope is what I read from the scriptures, not one of distrust based on
what I see as a potentially flawed philosophical position based on
the scriptures.

Remember what you wrote?

<quote>Yes, it was a bit critical, but I thought it was fair. Many
people, including professing Christians, "mean well", but I subscribe
to the axiom, "Caveat Emptor". Scriptures teach the total depravity
of man, therefore we can hope for the best -- but expect the worst
from each other and from the social institutions and "movements",
etc. humans devise. </quote>

Should we thus expect from most/all Christians that they mean well
but are so depraved that we should expect the worst from eachother?
That does not seem like a society of hope.

In fact, based on your philosophy I should be expecting the worst
from you which would force me to reject your arguments. In other
words, as I argued below, a position of distrust is ultimately very
self destructive.

On Nov 24, 2006, at 1:16 PM, Janice Matchett wrote:

> At 03:54 PM 11/24/2006, Pim van Meurs wrote:
>> If we should expect the worst from eachother, how can anyone
>> consequently take anyone seriously. Even your statement that many
>> people 'mean well' seem to end up undermine your own position. I
>> believe that the Bible offers much better philosophies than this.
>
> @ You haven't yet comprehended the depth of your own depravity.
>
> People are capable of doing good, but people aren't "basically" good.
>

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Fri Nov 24 16:55:38 2006