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Let's talk about Christianity's biggest hurdle... human nature.
"Sinning," as Christians tell us, is inescapable. "We are born into sin." OK, let's stipulate for this argument that that is absolutely true... it certainly seems to be. If that's the case, then "Forgiveness" doesn't sound like something an omniscient god would need to grant. Why do I need forgiveness for the effects of causes beyond my control?
The sinning/forgiveness dynamic would also require your capability to demonstrate "free will," which, of course, is an impossible conundrum. You have a singular nature. So does every one. Our natures are indelible... they are what they are from the bottom up, not the top down.
By bottom up, I mean from your collection of subatomic particles up through your whole atoms, up through your molecules, enzymes, proteins, continuing on up through your cells, organs, etc... till finally at the very top you have consciousness, or what we call--YOU! Your decision to sin, say to punch your spouse unexpectedly, would stem from a desire, which would have formed from faulty electrochemical reactions in your brain, which were dependent on unhealthy cells in your amygdala, or unbalanced glucose levels, or some radical spikes in your neurotransmitters (serotonin, melatonin, L-dopamine, etc.) When you are having some such abnormal condition, things are malfunctioning at a lower level.
On the other hand, when all the stuff at the lower level is within normal limits, you're having normal behavior. Easy to claim, how do you prove it?
Here's how: Ask yourself, why do you put on a sweater when its cold, or feed yourself when you're hungry, or run for the bathroom when pressure starts to build? Your lower-level circuitry is telling you what to do. Nerve endings in your arms are reporting to your brain that they are getting cold. You act. Hunger pangs, a sensation in your belly, prompts you to cook food or grab a snack. That internal intestinal pressure forces you to either find a lav or prepare for an embarrassing mess.
So, sin, greed, slothfulness, chemical addictions, sex addictions, etc. are just like hunger, thermal discomfort, bowel irritation, etc.--they are all happening at levels you can't control. The first chapter of the Gospel of John tells us that everything which was created was created by Jesus. Yet, Jesus seems to have no clue about how microscopic causes and effects induce our more gross motions and behaviors. He treats people like they have top-down control, "Go and sin no more." It's as if he's telling someone walking naked in a blizzard, "Go and be cold no more."
Sorry, Jesus, that's not how things work.
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