Friday, March 05, 2004
Ought Implies Can
In philosophy the assertion "ought implies can," refers to ethical action. If one ought to do x, then one can do x. How does this pertain to Christian ethics, given the fall, all humans - according to traditional Christian doctrine - cannot refrain from sinning. Moreover, the doctrine of original sin states that humans are born with a sinful nature. If this is true, why then are humans punished for the way that they are created? This is where corporate personality comes into play, according to coroporate personality, all humans were 'in' Adam when he sinned in the Garden of Eden. In other words, all humans consciously made the decision to sin in the garden. Just as all humans who are 'in' Christ are redeemed for something that they have not done - but have done so coroporately because Jesus is the second Adam - humans are punished for a corporately committed sin. So humans did have a choice to sin - but the decision was corporately made. Now that the will has ben bent by sin, 'ought implies can' is not as significant to Christians as it was before the fall. Now, from a Christian perspective good can only be accomplished through the aid of God's grace.
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