@divegeestersaid In church confession you are the same person, not a biologically regenerated “completely new person”.
Agree, it's not quite the same, but changing cells every seven years and expect to be forgiven every time you do it for things you did in the meantime as a totally different person - no, it's not right.
@torunnsaid Agree, it's not quite the same, but changing cells every seven years and expect to be forgiven every time you do it for things you did in the meantime as a totally different person - no, it's not right.
If you were a “completely new person” then you would no longer be the person you were in any way whatsoever and therefore you would not need to be forgiven as you would have never done the bad thing in question.
@divegeestersaid If you were a “completely new person” then you would no longer be the person you were in any way whatsoever and therefore you would not need to be forgiven as you would have never done the bad thing in question.
But the consequences of your previous actions would still be there. You killed somebody and that person is gone. You live as a new being with your new cells but what you did is still a fact. I say no to this.
@divegeestersaid In church confession you are the same person, not a biologically regenerated “completely new person”.
What if the criminal acts were committed by an atheist who subsequently found God and was 'born again.' Is being born again not analogous with becoming a completely new person?
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17).
@ghost-of-a-dukesaid What if the criminal acts were committed by an atheist who subsequently found God and was 'born again.' Is being born again not analogous with becoming a completely new person?
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17).
@torunnsaid Agree, it's not quite the same, but changing cells every seven years and expect to be forgiven every time you do it for things you did in the meantime as a totally different person - no, it's not right.
I think most people would agree with your position, but the premise is an interesting one.
As an aside, they say a dog's year is equivalent to 7 human years, so on that basis we would need to forgive our dogs on a yearly basis, even if they destroy our slippers.
@torunnsaid But the consequences of your previous actions would still be there. You killed somebody and that person is gone. You live as a new being with your new cells but what you did is still a fact. I say no to this.
But if you are a “completely different person” as stated in the OP, then the consequences would not be yours to bear.
@ghost-of-a-dukesaid Although not entirely true, let's assume you are a completely new person every 7 years (where all your cells have been replaced and regenerated). Would one therefore be able to claim that anything bad we did 7 years ago was not done by us?
Asking for a friend.
I remember watching a documentary about following the lives of people at 7 year intervals. Was it “7 Up”?
@torunnsaid But the consequences of your previous actions would still be there. You killed somebody and that person is gone. You live as a new being with your new cells but what you did is still a fact. I say no to this.
I think cells are relevant only to a body and its continuing functioning and existence.
Meanwhile, a "person" is a literally unique thought- and behaviour-forming narrative that can be accessed exclusively [and added to] as long as the body that enables that "person" to exist doesn't perish.
@ghost-of-a-dukesaid What if the criminal acts were committed by an atheist who subsequently found God and was 'born again.' Is being born again not analogous with becoming a completely new person?
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17).
Why not start a thread on this different scenario.
31 May '23 06:321 edit
An entirely new person
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