Total Depravity

I'm sorry for such the long delay. There are a number of reasons it has taken me so long - from priorities to laziness - lack of an argument, however, is not one of them. Along with the theological and philosophical problems with the doctrine of Total Depravity, is the overt absence of biblical precedence. The Bible certainly teaches that man is devastatingly wrought with sin. The Bible does NOT on the other hand, teach that man is incapable of accepting salvation. The Bible teaches that faith is man's gift to God. ============== Philosophical Argument: ============== The problem I have with total depravity is that it creates a scenario in which God seems to be a malevolent and unfair Father. Is there any present day father that we would call just and fair, if he put his daughter in a situation where she had absolutely no opportunity to succeed, absolutely no outcome other than failure—in addition, the father is aware of the outcome and has even created the scenario and deliberately puts his child into it—and when she fails, he holds her 100% accountable for that failure. I find this hard to reconcile with the God that IS love in 1 John 5. I find this hard to reconcile this with the God who wants all people to come to the understanding of Him in 1 Timothy 2:3-7. How do we reconcile this with a God who calls all people, everywhere to repent in Acts 17:30—has he not made it incapable for them repent? Total Depravity is marked by a total inability to come to God. Because, like my opponent affirms, we are dead in our sins. ============== Biblical Argument: ============== Romans 10:17: Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. James 1:21: Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Isaiah1:18: "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Deuteronomy 30:19: This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live Joshua 24:15: But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. Psalm 119:30, 173: For I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws..... May your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen your precepts. John 1:12: Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 2 Timothy 1:12: That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. These verses illustrate how man is both expected and does, in fact, choose the way of righteousness. ============== Response To My Opponent's Verses: ============== Genesis 6:5 Response: What do we find though? In Genesis 6:9 it says, "Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God." How is this possible given that Noah was dead in sin? Genesis 8:21 Response: Yes, man has evil proclivities, but can we not choose better for ourselves? This seems to be illustrating man's sinful nature and not man's total inability. If it were, what would be the point of Jesus saying, "Be perfect, therefore, Just like your father in heaven is perfect." 2 Chronicles 6:36 Response: Man sins, yes, but that does not mean he is totally unable to accept grace and forgiveness. Just look at Noah who was blameless or Moses who was guiltless or Lot who was righteous and without fault. Ecclesiastes 9:3 Response: This is poetry. Are you equally willing to say that everything is meaningless? Psalms 58:3 Response: Hyperbole common of poetry. Ezekiel 18:20 teaches that we do not bare the sins of our fathers. Moreover, why would Jesus say that anyone who enters the kingdom of heaven must do so like a child (this seems to connote that children are innocent and non-culpable creatures). Isaiah 53:6 Response: This is either hyperbole or false. What of Elijah who was taken up to heaven? What of Enoch who was also taken up to heaven because he lived righteously? 1 Corinthians 2:14 Response: This does not teach total depravity. Colossians 2:13 Response: This teaches that sin leads, and in fact is, spiritual death. The problem with comparing literal deadness with spiritual deadness is that it is a disanalogy. We remain conscious beings, beings capable of choice when we are in sin. Essentially, being dead in our sins means that we have yet to accept salvation and are consequently hellbound. As was illustrated above, Paul himself knew that his acceptance of Christ was based on his choice ("because I know whom I have believed").