In 1 Cor 10:13, Paul writes that God provides Christians with a "way of escape" when they face temptations. In a recent article in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (JETS)(www.etsjets.org), Paul Himes, a Ph.D. student at Southern Seminary, argues that this text implies that Christians, when they face temptations to sin, have libertarian freedom (i.e., the ability to do otherwise). I have written a response to Himes that has just been published in the same journal. I argue that this text, understood in context and in light of other New Testament texts, does not teach a libertarian view of freedom but a compatibilist one (one consistent with determinism). I have posted a pdf of the article on my Wordpress site at this address:
http://stevenbcowan.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/1cor10-13-libertarianism.pdf
In fairness, I should mention that Himes makes a response to my critique in the same issue of JETS. In a future blog post, I plan to answer his response.
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