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How does belief in “naïve foolishness” (stage 1) contradict the idea of childhood innocence?
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I think as you observe young children, you see in them their sin nature. You don’t have to teach a child to grab a toy from another child, or for children to fight with each other for their own way, or for children to lie to their parents and teachers. They do these things without being taught to do them. That reveals their sin nature. Adults do these things too, we have just learned to be more clever at dressing up our sin and selfishness. Yes, outside influences do shape us, but to think that our outside influences are the only thing that shape our desires to lie, cheat, steal, and to be selfish etc. is in itself to be naive to the true nature within us. The belief in innocence is also anti-gospel because if we do not have a sin nature and we are only victims of our circumstances then we do not have a need for the Savior, Jesus Christ.
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Most psychologists believe that a child enters the world innocent and the events in his or her life shape who the child becomes as an adult. However, the biblical view is that a child enters the world as naively foolish. This means that the child from birth has an inborn course in life to willfully achieve what he of she desires. The image of God in the child is already corrupted. Psychologists believe that children’s maladapted lives are caused by trauma, but the biblical view is that this inborn foolishness is shaped by trauma.
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The naïve foolishness contradicts childhood innocence because it is stating that every human, no matter what age, has sin bound up in their hearts and minds. We are born separated from God in our very natures: seeking to satisfy our longings outside of His love.
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We have been told and led to believe that our precious little children are innocent little being who are shaped by their environment, be it good or bad. This totally contradict what the Word of God teaches. The Bible teaches that the corrupt sinful nature that resulted from the fall in the garden is present in each person born into this world.
Psalm 51:5 (NIV) Surely, I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. -
To be honest I believe there is both. Obviously he’s right and babies literally do nothing but demand their needs to be met. I completely understand that. And I get why he explains it as naïve foolish nesses because obviously they do not know that what they are doing is selfish. But I also think that there is some innocence in it because they don’t know what they are doing is wrong. we can not be held guilty (which is the opposite of innocent) If we do not know what we are doing is wrong. once we learn that it is wrong and continue doing it, then we are guilty of sin. But I do completely understand what he means, in making the point that we are born sinner and the great importance in the gospel. We do not become sinners, we are born sinners. Therefore everyone falls sort of the glory of God from birth. If we were born innocent then obviously in a worldly view we would try to figure out ways to keep our child innocent, therefore not needing forgiveness(the gospel).