Rick Lee James explores Kenneth Tanner's argument that humans aren't born sinful by nature, but rather wounded by sin. Tanner says Christ's sinless humanity is the measure for all people, and the divine image remains intact despite the fall.
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Welcome to Voices in My Head, the official podcast of me, Rick Lee James. I'm a recording artist, a singer, a songwriter, an author, a worship leader, and an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene. The Voices in My Head podcast is where I discuss music, movies, books, pop culture, theology, and more with friends, colleagues, and sometimes just by myself. Now make sure to let me know what you think of today's episode by leaving me a review on iTunes or by tweeting at me @RickLeeJames on Twitter. And please join my mailing list at RickLeeJames.com where you can receive an email every time a new episode is released. By the way, in case you're interested in a daily dose of kindness and encouragement beyond this podcast, I also run the Twitter account @MrRogersSay where I post daily quotes from Fred Rogers, one of the voices in my head. Well, I guess that's it for the intro, so sit back, relax, and listen to the latest episode of Voices in My Head.
Well, welcome back to Voices in My Head. As always, I'm your host, Rick Lee James, coming to you during the night again, about 3:30 in the morning, and seems to be sometimes the only time I have to record a podcast right now. So no guests this week, just me, and hope that's okay. It's going to be a little bit shorter episode, but I wanted to share something with you that I've been thinking about, and it's, uh, it's actually a short article by Kenneth Tanner of Holy Redeemer Church, which is a charismatic Episcopal Church in Michigan, and it's an idea that is very Orthodox. It's very early church. It's before the church had an understanding that we had a sin nature. Originally, the early church had this view, along with Judaism, that humanity has not a sinful nature. But a God nature. And Kenneth Tanner wrote an excellent piece on this that I wanted to share this week as the podcast. So giving full credit to Kenneth Tanner for this, you can find it online in some of his writings. But I just wanted to share it with you because it's something that keeps working on me. And I've read it a number of times, and I just thought it might be something interesting to you as well. It might stretch you a little bit, but it's very good. And that's going to be the podcast for this week. We do have guests coming up again in the future. We just don't— for this week, I haven't been able to work out guests this week. We've got them scheduled, but it's more down the road. And we do have some podcasts coming up on the other podcast, I hope, that I host, um, Welcome to the Neighborhood. But for now, it's just going to be me this week. So I hope you enjoy this article by Kenneth Tanner, which is called You Do Not Have a Sin Nature. You do not have a sin nature. You have a human nature that participates in sin contrary to your good creation in the divine image. Your participations in evil are not who you are, but tragic negations of your created human goodness, a deep-down formation in and by the love that is God, which all who share human nature have from the beginning. This is the divine image in humanity. This is the meaning of "God saw all that he had made and it was very good." And there's something else we confess. That God shares our common humanity in Jesus Christ. God is human. What it means to be human and what it means to be God is forever tied to one person, and this human is sinless. The sinlessness of Jesus Christ is greater than the collective sin of humanity. In his life story of perfect obedience is now the measure of every human. Sin is a denial of our true nature. We are made in the image of love, not hate; in the image of humility, not pride; in the image of generosity, not greed. While it's evident that the sin of our ancestor Adam has wide-reaching destructive consequences in everyone, everywhere. Christians are the ones who trust that the obedience of the human God is greater than Adam's transgression. The effects of his good humanity will override every evil in us and in creation. This is a basic Christian trust, and this changes the way we look at everyone. Jesus is the lens through which we view every human. Sin does not belong to human nature. That human nature is not inherently evil, but rather participates in an original created goodness that is wounded by sin. This seems plain, but maybe that's why we miss it. God cannot become what is inherently evil. When God becomes human, he takes on human nature as he finds it, subject to the conditions of the fall, for what has not been assumed has not been redeemed. But our good creation remains, however, stained. God becomes what God makes, and what God makes is always good. We are sinners, as we confess every week in the liturgy. Sin is a power that afflicts us, but it's also important to understand that we are not our sins. They do not define the human person. The human God does. And that is, uh, "You Do Not Have a Sin Nature" by Kenneth Tanner. Something for you to dwell on this week and think about. Thank you for listening to this very short episode of Voices in My Head, and I'll be back with you soon.
Thank you for joining me here this week on Voices in My Head. I hope you'll visit me on my website at rickleejames.com where you can find out more about me Get my music on vinyl and CD, follow my blog, and even schedule me for a concert or speaking engagement. Better yet, even a book signing in your neighborhood. You can find all that and more at rickleejames.com. Also, it would mean a great deal to me if you could write a review of this podcast on iTunes. The more positive reviews that we receive, the more visible this podcast will be online. And now, For the benediction: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. God bless you, and thank you for listening to Voices in My Head.
