here as well.
Asteriktos :
If someone believes that they will suffer eternally in hell if they
choose against God, are they really free to choose in favor of God?
Isn't there some degree of coercion involved in such a case? I realise
that one possible answer is that telling people about hell is merely
letting people know that there will be consequences for the choices
they make. However, I don't know that this changes things, for even if
the intention is not to use coercion, it still seems like there is a
problem if someone acts or believes based on fear or perceived threats
of torment and suffering. Am I just looking at this bass ackwards...?
[/quote]
Elijahmaria:
To me the question is much simpler: If God is freedom, and the good
of his creation is free, and sin is the antithesis of that freedom,
then how can I choose the slavery of sin and expect to be free?
Well that addresses the general question of freedom at its source.
But the question that we, as religious beings, ask more specifically
is: Can I choose freely or without coercion...external coercion? And
the answer comes back for us as children of God, "Yes!"
Now a more nuanced question and one that is addressed frequently by
the desert fathers is one that suggests that the deeper one advances
into sin, the more alienated he or she becomes from God, and thereby
more distanced from the good and freedom. So for me, one of the more
compelling questions is: Can the one whose soul is deadened and darkened by sin choose freely?
And again, I believe and my Church teaches, the answer is "Yes!"
because we are made in God's image and though we lose his likeness,
we, as creatures and children of God, never lose the image and it is
in the truth of this image that we always remain free.
Now: If we are in hell...done...no way out...does our image change?
I'm glad you are back to blogging- I come to look at that beautiful photo :)
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