CAPTIVE OF OUR EMOTIONS?
Friday, June 28, 2019
John chapter 17
2Timothy 3:6; Titus 1:12
Baruch Spinoza
believed and taught “… that everything must necessarily happen the way that it
does. Therefore, humans have no free will, despite strongly believing that they
do. This illusionary perception of freedom stems from human consciousness,
experience, and indifference to prior natural causes. Humans think they are
free, but they ″dream with their eyes open″. For Spinoza, our actions are
guided entirely by natural impulses. In his letter to G. H. Schuller (Letter
58), he wrote: "men are conscious of their desire and unaware of the
causes by which [their desires] are determined.” (wikipedia) His belief being
taught in a number of philosophy classes, as some of you well remember or have
forgotten until this moment. Spinoza’s idea should be of no personal consequence
for those of us believing God’s Word is truth. (Jn.17:17) But can individuals
relinquish God’s gift of free will and give themselves over to emotional
impulses? They can, beginning with Adam and Eve and exemplified in individuals
and/or groups ever since.
EBB4
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