Please click on the attachment to view Paul A. Himes, “WHEN A CHRISTIAN SINS: 1 CORINTHIANS 10:13 AND THE POWER OF CONTRARY CHOICE IN RELATION TO THE COMPATIBILIST-LIBERTARIAN DEBATE,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 54.2 (June 2011) 329–44.
Himes. 1 Cor 10.13 and Libertarian Free Will
The author’s conclusion:
If this article’s exegesis is correct, 1 Cor 10:13 implies libertarian will (the power of contrary choice) and thus presents a difficulty for compatibilism. If whether or not a Christian sins at a particular point in time is already predetermined by his or her value system, then 1 Cor 10:13 loses all of its homiletical force. The apostle Paul’s entire argument in both 1 Corinthians 9 and 10 seems to presuppose the ability of a believer not to sin at a particular situation.Yet compatibilism as a whole does much for theology. In particular, the emphasis of Ware and others on character change and the role of the Holy Spirit should be embraced by all theologians, regardless of their philosophical leanings. Furthermore, this writer believes that in many matters compatibilism provides an excellent, self-coherent, scriptural understanding of anthropology. In the matter of a Christian’s temptation to sin, however, a belief in the power of contrary choice should be retained.
