The Fall (Part 2) or "Why It Is Not My Fault!"

Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12 The man said, "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate." [ Genesis 3: 11-13]

In the cross-examination of Adam and Eve by God after the Fall, we get a glimpse into the ailment of our society today. Adam's noble response is " The woman - that you gave me- made me do it! First, it was God's fault because, in Adam's world, Eve came from God. That was correct; but, Adam failed to grasp that he was a free moral agent who had the capacity to choose. He did choose, and he chose wrongly. His second excuse is that Eve made him do it! How many marriages today have been ripped apart by the accusation that "It is his (or her) fault!" Of course it is; but, we are still free moral agents with the capacity to choose. Eve's answer is the one that is still fashionably in play today - "The devil made me do it!" Eve's position is that she was tricked and had NO CHOICE!

Our society is plagued by the philosophy of determinism. Determinists will say that we have no free moral choice. We are just like animals who react out of instinct. For far too many, that is the way they live life. But somewhere between "respond" and "ability" is the moral free choice that each of us possesses to make a choice. We are not like animals who only react to pain and pleasure stimuli. Instead, man is made in the image of God. We have the ability to choose. What are your choices this day?