I tried to a few posts up -
Personally, I fall somewhere between groups 3 and 4. I am not opposed to the idea that people outside the Christian faith can be just as tied to God as those within it - before or after death - which is more "salvation by works", I guess. In my own life, though, I try to follow a behavior of faith + works.
- but I can see how that comes across muddied. Yes, currently my beliefs about what is "necessary" fall most in line with "salvation through works", though my choice of personal behavior falls most in line with "works and faith." It isn't, as you picked up on, a "set in stone forever" edict, because I generally believe in those less than anything else, but that's where I am right now. It being not a set-in-stone-forever thing doesn't make it logically inconsistent. ;-)
I can, of course, see your "checkmate", in that you already made a case for the "works" crowd having no free will. I can only dispute you by honestly saying that to my memory, I have never chosen to do the right thing "to avoid Hell," nor feared that my choices were risking such a fate.
I've based them on my own ethics, some of which are religious in origin, many of which are not. (Which is why I asked the "set of ethics" question a couple posts back.) That seems pretty "free" to me. |
