Okay, so it’s a pretty popular saying that good actions/deeds don’t change a corrupt heart. Doing the right things and saying the right things means nothing if you yourself do not believe them. Lock supports this in parts 2 and 9 when he poked at the need to restrict certain behaviours by law, using the government as the authoritative stick in which to discipline not only those who practice what the church would teach, but also those who don’t even agree with Christian Doctrine.
By imposing laws that infringe upon the behaviours of the citizens the magistrate hopes to impress upon their hearts. If they could get them to steer clear of ungodly behaviours, and do more charitable things they could make them more acceptable to the public as well as acceptable in the eyes of God.
But the flaw with this is, outward actions don’t make a man a saint, his intentions do that. The matters of his heart distinguish him from the rest of the world. A soon to be mass murderer could’ve been plan daisies for his community before his heinous crimes. A cannibal could be working at a nursing home. The outward acts deceive you, and they can deceive you further if you can’t tell if someone is doing the right thing because “that’s what the law requires” or if “that’s what’s truly in his good Christian heart”.
And Locke also says that a person who wills for another’s salvation while recklessly abandoning his own is of no real liability. If you want someone to be saved in Christ, then truly save yourself first. A hypocrite can only raise up other hypocrites, an evil tree can on bring about bad fruit. We must lead by example, not by force. I’ll end on a quote that I absolutely adored, from the reading:
The only way to change men’s opinions is through light, and you can’t produce light ·in someone’s mind· by torturing him.
I commented on Josh’s and Logan’s posts.
By imposing laws that infringe upon the behaviours of the citizens the magistrate hopes to impress upon their hearts. If they could get them to steer clear of ungodly behaviours, and do more charitable things they could make them more acceptable to the public as well as acceptable in the eyes of God.
But the flaw with this is, outward actions don’t make a man a saint, his intentions do that. The matters of his heart distinguish him from the rest of the world. A soon to be mass murderer could’ve been plan daisies for his community before his heinous crimes. A cannibal could be working at a nursing home. The outward acts deceive you, and they can deceive you further if you can’t tell if someone is doing the right thing because “that’s what the law requires” or if “that’s what’s truly in his good Christian heart”.
And Locke also says that a person who wills for another’s salvation while recklessly abandoning his own is of no real liability. If you want someone to be saved in Christ, then truly save yourself first. A hypocrite can only raise up other hypocrites, an evil tree can on bring about bad fruit. We must lead by example, not by force. I’ll end on a quote that I absolutely adored, from the reading:
The only way to change men’s opinions is through light, and you can’t produce light ·in someone’s mind· by torturing him.
I commented on Josh’s and Logan’s posts.
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