nikolai_42
Well-known member
This may go nowhere as a thread. I'm not really posing a (single) question as pointing something out that I hadn't seen before. So all thoughts prompted by this are welcome.
The relevant verse is as follows :
I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
Jer 8:6
I can't say I remember ever reading repentance being worded this way in scripture (at least not remembering it). It seems to be a somewhat self-interpreting passage.
There is debate over the nature of repentance. Some say you have to change your ways wholesale before the Lord will even look at you. Others say it is merely a change of mind (perspective, outlook etc...). The scripture above looks like it tends to support the latter more than the former. It seems to imply a man realizing his own ways are sinful and that he needs to turn to God. Further, it would seem that this cannot be willed by an individual. If a man is sinning, it is typically not because of lack of information but rather because he is deceived or hardened in heart against God. In other words, it seems that if it were up to him to make that change of mind that he would have whereof to boast. Rather a ridiculous thought when you think that this would be required to come out of a rebellious heart...
The relevant verse is as follows :
I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
Jer 8:6
I can't say I remember ever reading repentance being worded this way in scripture (at least not remembering it). It seems to be a somewhat self-interpreting passage.
There is debate over the nature of repentance. Some say you have to change your ways wholesale before the Lord will even look at you. Others say it is merely a change of mind (perspective, outlook etc...). The scripture above looks like it tends to support the latter more than the former. It seems to imply a man realizing his own ways are sinful and that he needs to turn to God. Further, it would seem that this cannot be willed by an individual. If a man is sinning, it is typically not because of lack of information but rather because he is deceived or hardened in heart against God. In other words, it seems that if it were up to him to make that change of mind that he would have whereof to boast. Rather a ridiculous thought when you think that this would be required to come out of a rebellious heart...