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THE MERCER CLUSTER-FEBRUARY 18. 1983-PAGE 3
COMMENTS
From My Open Window:
Commentary
Hunter Speaks Out
By Craig R. Higgins
The recent legislative discussion over
the legal drinking age has caused some
renewed interest among college students
on the subjects of freedom and
responsibility. While much of this
discussion - on both the collegiate and
legislative levels - has been a waste of
time. I am glad for the renewed thought.
"What does it mean to be free?” "Am 1
responsible for my decisions?” These
are important questions.
This is not a discussion on the Biblical
view of alcohol (although the Bible has a
definite view), but a look at the Biblical
view of freedom and responsibility.
Many have discussed these topics over
the years, and the theological buzzword
for them has been free will.
U should be obvious that Biblical
Christianity, with all its emphasis upon
man's sinful rebellion against God.
teaches that man is responsible for his
actions. Indeed, the Bible goes even
deeper, making man responsible for his
very thoughts and attitudes, and
allowing none of the excuses with which
modem psychology is so pre-occupied.
In tlie Biblical view, all of the horridness
of earth is man's responsibility.
So then in Christianity is man free to
do ad he pleases so long as he takes
responsibility? Yes. but there's one
problem: that phrase "as he pleases."
But as we look around we see that man
pleases to do what is evil. It is not simply
that man is ignorant of the good that the
inclination of his heart is to do that which
is selfish, cruel, and hateful. Of course.
within our own human *hatur$? the root
cause of these is always • at bottom • our
selfishness.
So. does .man have free will? Not
really, for while our decisions are
certainly our own. our decisions - our will
power - is inseparable from our nature.
A fish by nature cannot decide to breathe
air. Likewise, a sinful man cannot decide
to please God. He cannot because he will
not: he will not because he cannot. "Can
the Ethiopian change his skin or the
leopard change his spots?" And this
nature we have by our own Special
choice.
The Bible talks about freedom but
says that it only comes through Christ.
The man who is naturally inclined
against Christ is not free - but bound to
reject Him. To be freed of this bondage,
man must be given a new nature. As
Jesus said. "Unless a man is born from
above, he cunnot see the Kingdom of
God."
All of this is nice and theological, but
what does it mean to the collegian? Well,
you are indeed responsible for your
actions and the price for this
responsibility is higher than you can pay.
But while responsible, you are free to do
only what naturally pleases you. To do
anything higher - to have any faith
without which no one can please God -
you must have a new nature. Those who
would put off God until they are ready
for Him fail to realize this fact: that the
freedom to accept Christ is freedom
which He grants. "If any man be in
By Craig Hunter
It is often said, in personal gift giving,
it’s the thought that counts, and not the
nature of the package. This is often the
case, also, in giving contributions to a
favority charity or organization. It
doesn’t matter the amount given, rather,
what matters, is thinking enough of a
group to want to support it. These days,
it isn’t easy, though tax deductible, to
just give money away. The reward comes
in knowing you’ve helped someone get
ahead in life, and therefore, in the long
run, making a better life for yourself.
This is. in essence, what a close friend of
mine was trying to point out, when he
told me of a dilemma I never knew
existed.
A 1978 graduate of Mercer, my friend
has contribute!! regularly to the Black
Alumni Scholarship Fund. He frequently
receives notices in the mail, from Mercer
telling him of courses to be offered, and
various campus oriented events, which
he attends whenever he can. In view of
this, a comic and somewhat ironic fact
remains. I was surprised, greatly, to
hear my friend tell me he was refused
permission, by a library assistant, to
check out a book ffom the Stetson
Memorial Library. This, he said, really
upset him. "It makes no sense,” my
friend said, "to he an alumni of a school
where you can't even check-out a
got-dam book from its library, that's
crazy." And it is.
NO MATTER WHERE you put your
money in the alumni association, it all
goes to the same cause. Mercer
University. Therefore, no matter who
you are or how much you contribute to
the cause — all who give should be
treated on an equal basis. An alumni is
an alumni. It may seem like such a trivial
point to bring out. concerning my
friend's situation, but the overriding fact
is not the point itself, yet the principle
that surrounds it.
YOU WOULD THINK a prestigious
school like Mercer would take better care
of those who think enough of it to
contribute to it. Put yourself in my
friend’s place. How would you like to
contribute money to a school, any school,
for four years antf not be able to do a
simple thing like check a book out from
its library? Pretty bad. isn’t it. 1. myself,
would be highly heated. Think about it,
when you receive a letter in the mail,
after you graduate, asking for your
membership and a contribution to the....
Alumni Association.
i man is as evij^as he could be: Christ, he is free indeed.
r eryone does some good things, but That’s the view from my open window
One of the Greatest of Deteptions
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