God and my Neighbour Part 23

This is not only contrary to reason and to justice: it is also a very false sentiment.

DETERMINISM

CAN MAN SIN AGAINST G.o.d?

I have said several times that Man could not and cannot sin against G.o.d.

This is the theory of Determinism, and I will now explain it.

_If G.o.d is responsible for Man's existence, G.o.d is responsible for Man's acts._

The Christian says G.o.d is our Maker. G.o.d _made_ Man.

Who is responsible for the quality or powers of a thing that is made?

The thing that is made cannot be responsible, for it did not make itself. But the maker is responsible, for he _made_ it.

As Man did not make himself, and had neither act, nor voice, nor suggestion, nor choice in the creation of his own nature, Man cannot be held answerable for the qualities or powers of his nature, and therefore cannot be held responsible for his acts.

If G.o.d made Man, G.o.d is responsible for the qualities and powers of Man's nature, and therefore G.o.d is responsible for Man's acts.

Christian theology is built upon the sandy foundation of the doctrine of Free Will. The Christian theory may be thus expressed:

G.o.d gave Man a will to choose. Man chose evil, therefore Man is wicked, and deserves punishment.

The Christian says G.o.d _gave_ Man a will. The will, then, came from G.o.d, and was not made nor selected by Man.

And this Will, the Christian says, is the "power to choose."

Then, this "power to choose" is of G.o.d's making and of G.o.d's gift.

Man has only one will, therefore he has only one "power of choice."

Therefore he has no power of choice but the power G.o.d gave him. Then, Man can only choose by means of that power which G.o.d gave him, and he cannot choose by any other means.

Then, if Man chooses evil, he chooses evil by means of the power of choice G.o.d gave him.

Then, if that power of choice given to him by G.o.d makes for evil, it follows that Man must choose evil, since he has no other power of choice.

Then, the only power of choice G.o.d gave Man is a power that will choose evil.

Then, Man is unable to choose good because his only power of choice will choose evil.

Then, as Man did not make nor select his power of choice, Man cannot be blamed if that power chooses evil.

Then, the blame must be G.o.d's, who gave Man a power of choice that would choose evil.

Then, Man cannot sin against G.o.d, for Man can only use the power G.o.d gave him, and can only use that power in the way in which that power will work.

The word "will" is a misleading word. What is will? Will is not a faculty, like the faculty of speech or touch. The word will is a symbol, and means the balance between two motives or desires.

Will is like the action of balance in a pair of scales. It is the weights in the scales that decide the balance. So it is the motives in the mind that decide the will. When a man chooses between two acts we say that he "exercises his will"; but the fact is, that one motive weighs down the other, and causes the balance of the mind to lean to the weightier reason. There is no such thing as an exterior will outside the man's brain, to push one scale down with a finger. Will is abstract, not concrete.

A man always "wills" in favour of the weightier motive. If he loves the sense of intoxication more than he loves his self-respect, he will drink. If the reasons in favour of sobriety seem to him to outweigh the reasons in favour of drink, he will keep sober.

Will, then, is a symbol for the balance of motives. Motives are born of the brain. Therefore will depends upon the action of the brain.

G.o.d made the brain; therefore G.o.d is responsible for the action of the brain; therefore G.o.d is responsible for the action of the will.

Therefore Man is not responsible for the action of the will. Therefore Man cannot sin against G.o.d.

Christians speak of the will as if it were a kind of separate soul, a "little cherub who sits up aloft" and gives the man his course.

Let us accept this idea of the will. Let us suppose that a separate soul or faculty called the will governs the mind. That means that the "little cherub" governs the man.

Can the man be justly blamed for the acts of the cherub?

No. Man did not make the cherub, did not select the cherub, and is obliged to obey the cherub.

G.o.d made the cherub, and gave him command of the man. Therefore G.o.d alone is responsible for the acts the man performs in obedience to the cherub's orders.

If G.o.d put a beggar on horseback, would the horse be blamable for galloping to Monte Carlo? The horse must obey the rider. The rider was made by G.o.d. How, then, can G.o.d blame the horse?

If G.o.d put a "will" on Adam's back, and the will followed the beckoning finger of Eve, whose fault was that?

The old Christian doctrine was that Adam was made perfect, and that he fell. (How could the "perfect" fall?)

Why did Adam fall? He fell because the woman tempted him.

Then Adam was not strong enough to resist the woman. Then, the woman had power to overcome Adam's will. As the Christian would express it, "Eve had the stronger will."

Who made Adam? G.o.d made him. Who made Eve? G.o.d made her. Who made the Serpent? G.o.d made the Serpent.

Then, if G.o.d made Adam weak, and Eve seductive, and the Serpent subtle, was that Adam's fault or G.o.d's?

Did Adam choose that Eve should have a stronger will than he, or that the Serpent should have a stronger will than Eve? No. G.o.d fixed all those things.

G.o.d is all-powerful. He could have made Adam strong enough to resist Eve. He could have made Eve strong enough to resist the Serpent. He need not have made the Serpent at all.

G.o.d is all-knowing. Therefore, when He made Adam and Eve and the Serpent He knew that Adam and Eve _must_ fall. And if G.o.d knew they _must_ fall, how could Adam help falling, and how _could_ he justly be blamed for doing what he _must_ do?

G.o.d made a bridge--built it _Himself_, of His own materials, to His own design, and knew what the bearing strain of the bridge was.

If, then, G.o.d put upon the bridge a weight equal to double the bearing strain, how could G.o.d justly blame the bridge for falling?