The Biggest Reason for Trying to Follow Gods Word While on Earth - Research Proposal Example

& Number Due Conscience is Innate Nature versus nurture is a centuries old debate. People have long since questioned whether the good in us (or evil) was present at birth, or ingrained environmentally. The pages that follow will prove that man is born with his God-give conscience, and that while we don’t always choose to follow God’s word, it isn’t because he didn’t give us the necessary tools. In “Conscience and Truth,” Pope John Paul II writes, “According to the opinion of some theologians, the function of conscience had been reduced, at least at a certain point in the past, to a simple application of general moral norms to individual cases in the life of the person” (119). What he is saying is that many theologians believe that some people are born with the capacity to be good, and others aren’t. Paul doesn’t agree with this assessment. He believes that we all have the capacity to be good, because God gave it to us. While he also believes that “one must love to do good and avoid evil,” (120) the fact is that whether we choose the right road has nothing to do with the fact that God’s grace has given us all the possibility to always choose good. Paul added, “Conscience is not an infallible judge; it can make mistakes” (121). This is obviously true. The Bible teaches us that none are perfect, and that all fall short of God’s glory. Still, Paul maintains that the important thing is to know the difference in what we choose, and what we have the ability to choose. While it is clear to Paul that we have, innately, all we need to make good decisions, we still need to study the Bible, and attend, church as a compass to keep us headed in the right direction. In Lois Walker’s “Religion Gives Meaning to Life,” Walker writes about a similar belief. It is her opinion that who we are is determined at the time of our births. She writes, “We are not the products of chance” (626). Walker’s essay is in response to an atheist who claims that people only need to practice being responsible to know the right thing to do. According to Walker, the atheist proclaimed, “We don’t need a big Daddy in the sky. We need to grow up and become our own parents” (624). While we do need to know how to govern ourselves, we do, also, need our Father in heaven. Walker is states that she believes in the theistic philosophy that holds, “The universe is suffused in goodness and that good will win out over evil” (627). God’s purpose, according to Walker, is to give us a continuous reason to want to behave. If God can give his son for us, and his son dies for our sins, then surely we can “live deeply moral lives” (Walker, 627). We have gotten something from the sacrifices that our Fathers have made for us, so it is only fitting that we give something in return. God gave the life of his child. All we are generally asked to do is live ethical lives. Morality, according to Walker, is a wonderful thing. If we need the Bible and church to remind us of that, then so be it. The phrase, “You shall purge this evil from among you” comes up a lot in the Book of Deuteronomy. Church is also supposed to be a place to fellowship with like-minded Christians. Deuteronomy reminds Christians that it isn’t always enough to live right, but to surround ourselves with others who do the same. Our inbred moral code tells us that we shouldn’t go out and rob banks. Being a Christian means we don’t hang out with others who rob banks, either. Christians are expected to keep good company in an effort to eliminate some of the temptations we might otherwise face. Unfortunately, there are too many people who believe the same as Walker’s atheist. In P.S. Greenspan’s “Free Will and the Genome Project,” Greenspan writes that individual autonomy ought to govern us. Probably no one will go out on a limb as saying that Christians shouldn’t govern themselves. The fact is, though, that they don’t do so all the time. That is where Christianity comes in. Attending Sunday service, or mid-week Bible study, and volunteering in church keeps us grounded in the ways God wants us to live. Being part of a church community reminds us of the Ten Commandments: to be faithful to our spouses, not to steal, not to commit murder, obey the people who gave us life, etc. Greenspan worries that if we rely too heavily on religion, we stop relying on self-control. He doesn’t think the idea of an innate conscience gives enough credit to the theory that “control by external forces” (37) plays a bigger part of our lives than we’d like to admit if we believe in God-given morality. Greenspan also says that once there is a “fully formed self” (42), only then can that self “assume a picture of motivation that allows for self-control” (43). The problem with Greenspan’s argument is that his opinions are still similar to those of Paul and Walker. Neither of them is disagreeing that human beings have to exercise self-control. Paul and Walker think that we are born with it, versus Greenspan’s belief that it must be developed, but Paul and Walker never write that self-control doesn’t have to be exercised. Even those called to minister have to exercise good judgment. They don’t always get it right. A few years ago, Catholic priests riddled national news with scandals of rape and molestation. A lot of parishioners couldn’t believe it because for years, they’d confessed to some of these accused men. People couldn’t believe that men who were called to minister by God could do such things. The truth is, even God’s calling doesn’t make a person perfect. In fact, the extra pressure might make it harder to live by God’s will. Priests are not the only religious figures with which fault is found. Currently, the minister friend of Barack Obama is being taken to task about particular comments he made. Last year, a popular Gospel musician, Donnie McClurkin, was exposed in the news for previously living a gay lifestyle. Now, coincidentally, he claims God took away his homosexual tendencies. The idea here is that no one is exempt from impure thoughts. Everyone is tempted. Living life according to the rules of our Lord and Savior is supposed to help make it easier to do the right thing. As well, the faith He has in us is also supposed to encourage us to get back on the right path in instances where we stray. A perfect example of a person being innately good, but using poor judgment, is the story of General George Sada. In his novel, “Saddam’s Secrets,” he writes about the terrible things he saw and heard while serving in the Iraqi military alongside Saddam Hussein. Sada admits that he committed acts that he knew he shouldn’t have, but felt like he was doing what he should as a military officer. He had his limits, however. He writes, “I had a strange relationship with Saddam. It was apparent that he respected me because I was a capable and efficient officer, just as he was in his own way. But I refused to lie for him, and I was honor-bound to speak the truth” (12). Erroneously, Sada believed that some of his immoral actions were for the good oh his country; however, he didn’t believe lying was one of his responsibilities, so he wouldn’t do it. Hussein’s reign of terror lasted about 35 years. The deaths he caused, or commissioned, are innumerable. Almost everybody was afraid of him. Still, Sada refused to lie because he knew that God would think it was wrong. Eventually, he realized that much of what he was doing was wrong. Once, he had four men assigned to him as security, he let the men go free if they promised they would go back to college. He knew that freeing the men would probably cost him his life, but it was worth it to see would-be doctors or engineers become educated, instead of killers. Sada writes, “I knew it was the right thing” (296). He added, “Somewhere deep inside of him” (297) Saddam also knew the right things to do, even if he didn’t do them. The point is that even Sada, a trained killer, believed that he was born with a code of honor. The code of honor began with him believing that lying was wrong. Eventually, he realized that he was doing other things wrong as well. Even though his Muslim surroundings dictated that he should serve the military, and not think of religious killings as murder, he knew that God was in his heart and He would disapprove. He didn’t do everything correctly initially, but he now claims to live a just, Christian life devoted to doing the right things. For some Christians, the afterlife is the biggest reason for trying to follow God’s word while on Earth. Walker writes, “We live deeply moral lives, not out of fear of hell, but out of deep gratitude to One who loves us and whom we love” (627). The truth is, though, that some people do fear going to hell. As mere children in Bible study, we are taught that to go to heaven, to be with God and the angels, we must be righteous. If we don’t live righteously, we will go to hell, with Satan, and burn in the eternal hell fires. While this is a profound belief of many Christians, it is doubtful that God intended to scare people to live right. In fact, Proverbs 24:16 reads, “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again.” This passage is no daunting. It is God’s way of letting us know that he doesn’t expect us to worry about being perfect. Adapted from his book, Chuck McGowan’s video, “Let’s Talk About Heaven: The Eternal Home of the Christian,” McGowan says that living a right life is simply payback. According to him, God is “love, grace, goodness, mercy, justice, immutability, ubiquity, and sovereignty.” If He is all of these things, we should strive to be, too. Genesis 1:27 reads, “So God created man in his own image.” If McGowan’s adjectives describe God, and we are to mirror God, then this Bible verse is extremely pertinent in the debate of whether or not God gave us all the tools we needed, at birth, to live justly. McGowan would agree that He did. He says, “God makes it perfectly clear that He is responsible for the universe.” This argument is not so specious. If God is responsible for everything in the universe, and man is part of the universe, then God assumes full responsibility for who, and what, we are. While it isn’t necessary to see hell as a threat, most Christians do look at heaven as a reward. Job 19:29 is clear that “there is a judgment,” but explains that we can absolutely expect to see God, if we’ve performed they way he wanted us to on earth. This, too, McGowan concedes. He says that there is no place for sinners in heaven. McGowan believes it should be a Christian duty to study heaven to alleviate our fears of dying, and so that Christians know what is in store for them. There is plenty of evidence that agrees with the statement that we are good – just as God made us, but Romans 9:11 states it best: “For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand.” Translation: even before birth, God chooses us to do his will. Works Cited Greenspan, P. S. “Free Will and the Genome Project.” Philosophy and Public Affairs 22.1 (Winter, 1993): 31-43. Holy Bible. King James Version. Weston: Paradise Press, 2001. McGowan, Chuck. “Let’s Talk About Heaven: The Eternal Home of the Christian.” Evergreen Communications. CD-ROM. 2007. Paul, Pope John II. “Conscience and Truth.” From Christ to the World, eds. Wayne G. Boultan, Allen Verhey, and Thomas P. Kennedy. St. Paul: Eerdman’s, 1994. Walker, Lois Hope. “Religion Gives Meaning to Life.” Sada, George. Saddam’s Secrets. Tennessee: Integrity Publishers, 2006. Outline Thesis: We are born with a conscience I. Introduction II. Agreement with my thesis A. Pope John Paul II essay B. Walker essay C. Try to find Bible verse(s) III. Refutation Paragraph A. Greenspan Free Will journal article IV. Personal Example A. Sada novel B. Bible verse(s) V. Other Information A. McGowan video B. Bible verse(s) VI. Conclusion A. Summarize and reiterate position B. Closing Bible verse Read More