Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!sun-barr!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: lang@rex.cs.tulane.edu (Raymond Lang) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Could Jesus have sinned? Message-ID: Date: 27 May 91 03:08:08 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: C.S. Dept, Tulane Univ., New Orleans, LA Lines: 31 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In bgsuvax!kutz@cis.ohio-state.edu (Kenneth J. Kutz) writes: >I agree that Jesus was tempted, and he felt what temptation was like. But >I don't believe he could have sinned. Certainly he _could_ have, he just didn't. > To conclude Jesus could have sinned >(such a conclusion is not in Scripture) is to conclude that God can violate ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >His nature which is inherently, perfectly holy. That depends on how you read it. Keep in mind that, while not born under original sin, Jesus was still a human being with a free will. His decision to carry out the Father's will was a free decision: Jesus had a choice. To say that he _couldn't_ have sinned implies, to me anyway, that he had no choice in the matter. Such a conclusion would make his ministry and death meaningless. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding what you mean by "could," but I think a more precise way of stating the situation is that Jesus could have sinned, but choose not to. Ray lang@rex.cs.tulane.edu [Right. This may largely have to do with what is meant by "could". Can God do evil? The usual answer is yes, in the sense that he is free to, but no, in the sense that it would contradict his goodness. --clh]