There seems to be an inherent tension in our understanding of the fallen state, which is reflected in the chapter on the fall of Cornelius Plantinga Jr.'s book, Engaging God's World. This tension can been seen in the contrasting doctrines of total depravity and common grace. Plantinga writes of “a pervasive depravity of human nature, a condition Calvinists have traditionally called 'total depravity.'” But, “It doesn't mean that, in a corrupted state, we always choose the worst alternative. Even in a fallen world, ordinary people practice ordinary kindness”. We are completely corrupted, yet we still occasionally do good. This conflict has been one that I have struggled with over the years, and I have still not found the proper balance between the two.
At the root of my problem is the fact that there seems to be two equally true visions of man that are opposites of each other. Total depravity tells me that man's will and desires are inherently evil, which would lead me to treat everyone the way you would treat a zombie, because their natural tendency would be to tear you apart if they thought it would at all be to their advantage. At the same time though, common grace has given men the ability to do good, so you see examples of men acting selflessly and doing good. Of course, at the root of almost all good actions, there are corrupted motivations. You can see man killing for pure sadistic enjoyment, and risking their lives to save animals.
Plantinga explains the ability for unregenerate man to do good by saying, “God checks the spread of corruption by preserving in humanity a sense of divinity and the voice of conscience. To bridle lawlessness, God uses shame, fear of discovery, fear of the law, even a desire for profit among those who believe that honesty is the best policy.” It seems that common grave is mostly about external restraints. But this cannot be the whole story, because no external restraint could explain acts where one gives one's life. This must be the voice of conscience. While I accept Plantinga's arguments, I still cannot conceive of how a totally depraved person could give their life to save another.
I believe that common grace is something a very part of our soul. This common grace can then combat the completely depraved lives that we have, allowing us the ability to do good, though more often we do not choose this option. It's an interesting discussion, but what I think matters is that EVERYONE has the ability to do good, and that gives me hope in the people of this world
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting because I don't find it difficult to imagine someone who is totally depraved being willing to sacrifice their life, at least that is if we're still using the calvinist definition of totally depraved, rather than people being as bad as they possibly can be. I think common grace is essentially the same concept as that of the moral law, every human being possesses a sense of it innately and so they are able to disobey it but they also feel the compulsion telling them that it is better to be unselfish than selfish and thus to save someone else better than to save themselves.
ReplyDeleteYou provide food for thought...I guess my answer (or changeable belief) is that the "inherent good" is instilled by God, just as the bad is instilled by God. Plantinga brought it up about God creating sin, but he pretty much hushed it within a paragraph. He did this because he knows the religious implication of giving too much to this argument. If you follow that line of thought far enough, you will reach a scary thing that is not talked about much. Ultimate Reconciliation. yeah...scary...
ReplyDeleteSomeone once explained to me the difference between total depravity and utter depravity. We are totally depraved in the sense that every area of our life is corrupted by sin, but we are not utterly depraved because we are not as bad as we could be due to common grace. This also presents a conflict in my mind, but it is one of those things that people wrestle with for years and don't find answers to. I have accepted that there are going to be issues such as this one that I think I will not be fully at peace with in this life.
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