Rebecca McQueen's Archive

Carl Roger’s theory to avoid imposing conditions of worth on people has to do with unconditional positive regard. With unconditional positive regard, people are loved and respected for what they truly are – therefore there is no need for certain experiences to be denied or distorted (p.557). This reminds me much of redemption. When Jesus redeem came to redeem the world, he knew our experiences, our sin, and even our future failures, yet he still chose to die for us. He loves us for who we are, and therefore there is no need to deny certain experiences – we bring them to him, allow them to be exposed, and he washes them clean. It is one of my favorite parts of Christianity – there is no denying what has happened our lives, yet we acknowledge them and put them at the foot of the cross – and out of that place we receive an undeserved love. Jesus is the ultimate one who showed unconditional positive regard, and I think Carl Rogers was on to something when he stated that it is the only way to avoid labeling people and determining their worth. It is why without Jesus, it is so difficult to accept, love, and even see people for who they truly are. Through redemption, we first receive this unconditional love, and out of that place we are able to give it to other people.

Edwin Ray Guthrie developed several theories, including that of breaking habits. In Guthrie’s theory, he believed that a habit is an act that has become associated with a large number of stimuli. Therefore when there are more stimuli available when the act is present, the habit is stronger. The example he gave was smoking. Guthrie stated that this habit could be strong because of the amount of stimuli present. The way in which he proposed this habit should be broken is through performing another act rather than eliciting the desirable act. For Guthrie, he replaced smoking with eating an apple, and therefore the new, desirable act is elicited by the stimuli rather than the old, undesirable act.

            I believe that concepts of this theory can be similar to that of the redemption process. As one becomes a believer in Jesus Christ, their old self is in the process of being transformed. Often times, old habits or old ways of doing things must be broken. I believe that one of the primary ways of doing this is through prayer. Rather than acting on the “old habit,” one replaces that with prayer for strength or courage or whatever the need may be to get through the situation. While I believe that prayer is more than a means by which to break habits, it seems to make sense viewing this theory through a purely scientific approach.

The curious case of Phineas Gage serves as a metaphor for the fall. Working as a railroad construction supervisor, Phineas Gage was in an unfortunate accident when an explosion blew an iron tamping rod through his skull. The rod went from below his left eye to the top of his head. By some miracle Phineas Gage survived and recovered completely, physically speaking. While everything looked normal from the outside, however, Gage’s personality was what really changed. Dr. John Harlow quoted: “He is fitful, irreverent, indulging at times in the grossest profanity (which was not previously his custom)…” Things, internally, had changed for the worst.

            Just as Phineas Gage’s life was radically transformed because of a certain incident, I believe that is the same effect that the fall has on us. While things may look nice from the outside, the internal effects that the fall has on mankind has drastically transformed the way man thinks and acts. Mark 7:20-23 states, “And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” As we see here, the result of the fall begins inside man, and manifests itself in outward actions – just as Phineas Gage was changed internally.

I found it interesting to read more about Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s life. As he stated “Man is born free, and he is everywhere in chains” – I believe that this was largely based off of his experiences in life. As his mother died soon after giving birth to him, his father never forgave him and later abandoned him. He suffered from poor health, moved around to different relatives, going from job to job. As a young adult, he was filled with sexual desire, not knowing what to do about it. He stated, “My heated blood incessantly filled my brain with girls and women; but, ignorant of the relations of sex, I made use of them in my imagination in accordance with my distorted notion (1781/1996, p. 94). Because of these thoughts, he sought sexual satisfaction through exhibitionism – and one time when caught, he told the man who caught him that he was of good birth but suffered a brain affliction for which his family was about to confine him.

            It is because of these accounts that I believe Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s beliefs can be seen through the perspective of the fall. As a man who began life with unfortunate things happening to him – his father blaming him for the death of his mother, for example – he saw man as inherently good. Because of society, and the evil that occur in our world, Rousseau’s world was drastically changed. I believe that we see this through the fall. It’s the same question that so many people are asking, ‘why do bad things happen to good people?’ As we live in an evil world, where bad things do happen, it is because of the fall, man’s original choice to sin, that we are so deeply affected by other people (society’s) actions.

Averroes believed that all human experiences reflect God’s influence. I believe that looking through the theological perspective, this falls under the category of creation. While his writings were mainly commentaries on Aristotle’s philosophy, he said that only “the active intellect of the aspect of the soul survives death, and because the active intellect is the same for everyone, nothing personal survives death. This was contradictory to Christian thought, however, and Christian philosophers later attacked him. Despite all of this, I feel like his original thought, the idea that all human experiences reflect God’s influence is a result of creation.

As we know, in the beginning, God created the Heavens and the earth – and it was good. God created man in his own image – and it was very good. In this we see that throughout creation, God’s influence is in everything. That’s the way it was designed, for he is a God worthy of praise in everything. Everything Adam and Eve experienced in the garden was a result of the master.

I believe that this could also relate to restoration – as we live in a fallen world, it is being restored because of the redemption we have in Christ Jesus. The new heavens and the new earth will be a full reflection of the glory of God, and his influence will be shown through everything. It is because of this that I would also categorize Averroes beliefs into that of restoration.

I believe that Plato’s Allegory of the Cave could fit into the category of the fall.  Plato believed that the world we live in is like a cave, and therefore our view is distorted. It is not true reality. It is just a shadow. There is something more real than we know; yet it is outside of the cave. I believe the same is for the fall, or at least the reality that we now live in because of it. There is a reality far more true than anything we can physically see– the spiritual realm – and although we see effects from it, we cannot see it in its truest form.

Plato believed that in order to get out of the cave, one must use knowledge and rational thought. I believe the same is somewhat true in respect to the fall. One must first be aware, or have knowledge, that there is a truer reality beyond what he or she can see. However, I do not believe one needs to be a philosopher in order to “escape from the cave.” I believe that there is an enemy who uses a number of things, such as certain movies or music, as we live in a fallen world, to gain access into people’s lives. While the reality to us is the tangible movie we see – there is a deeper reality, a demonic spirit if I may, that infiltrates its way into the lives of people.

While this allegory could be argued in a number of different ways, and while there are many things that have gone unaddressed, I believe that with these concepts, this is just one way in which the Allegory of Cave can be seen through the perspective of the fall.