Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

I would say that the Bible indicates that certain aspects of personality are within an individual's control, and encompass a range of possible dispositions. With regard to a negative or anti-social (but not necessarily sinful) orientation, I am reminded of Abigail's husband Nabal (1 Samuel 25). Various translations of 1 Samuel 25:3 describe him as surly, mean, crude, harsh, badly-behaved, churlish, ill-natured, and hard.

Where such traits extend into the realm of the pathological, I would say that the Bible portrays this as one of the many negative effects of sin on the human race. The Bible tended to attribute such cases to demonic activity. While (from a theological perspective) this remains a possibility (even today), advances in medical knowledge have isolated the effects of changes in the body chemistry that may underlie such disorders, making it possible to treat them. However, even such knowledge is not (in my opinion) incompatible with a belief that the negative effects of a fallen world are their fundamental root cause. (That is, these afflictions would not be present if sin no longer existed.)

November 08 2017 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report