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Jeremiah's words have been proven true by secular science:
Jer 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
The prophet was saying that a sinner is incapable of changing his ways, and a recent study by Dartmouth College analysing the sins of gluttony and fornication confirms the veracity of God's Word. NBC reports:
There you have it. Unbelievers are hard-wired to sin -- exactly like the Bible says! They cannot resist temptation for they do not have the power of the Holy Spirit. God in His infinite wisdom issued commandments that He knew His creatures couldn't keep and will justly and righteously punish them for eternity for not keeping them.
But True Christians™ have a unique ability to resist temptation. For starters, God promises not to tempt us above what we can bear, so that gives us a distinct advantage over unbelievers.
1 Cor 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
We also have a High Priest who sympathises with us because He faced -- and overcame -- every temptation you can think of 2,000 years ago -- adultery, murder, heroin, computer fraud, etc.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
But of course, the secular scientists didn't test any True Christians™ for their unique ability to resist temptation. No surprises there.
Jer 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
The prophet was saying that a sinner is incapable of changing his ways, and a recent study by Dartmouth College analysing the sins of gluttony and fornication confirms the veracity of God's Word. NBC reports:
According to research out of Dartmouth College, in some people, hyperactivation of the nucleus accumbens, a key reward structure buried within the brain's striatum, predicted the eating and sexual behaviors of people (in this case, a group of freshmen women).
This suggests one’s ability to say “no” is not just a matter of willpower, but brain wiring.
The study, published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience, used fMRI brain imaging and pictures depicting food, erotica, landscapes, and people to gauge how the test subjects' accumbens reacted to each stimulus. (The 48 women who completed the study had no idea what it was actually about.)
Six months later, the women returned to the lab where they were weighed and asked to fill out a questionnaire. Those whose accumbens reacted especially strongly to food cues had gained more weight. And those who reacted to sexual cues most strongly were more likely to have had sex and report stronger sexual desire.
. . .
But are we born this way, or do we acquire stronger craving for specific rewards?
“That’s a great question,” said Kathryn Demos, who led the study and is now an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University.
Kelley thinks that since different women were tempted by different things, their brain wiring has developed through experience, aided by a genetic component.
This suggests one’s ability to say “no” is not just a matter of willpower, but brain wiring.
The study, published this week in the Journal of Neuroscience, used fMRI brain imaging and pictures depicting food, erotica, landscapes, and people to gauge how the test subjects' accumbens reacted to each stimulus. (The 48 women who completed the study had no idea what it was actually about.)
Six months later, the women returned to the lab where they were weighed and asked to fill out a questionnaire. Those whose accumbens reacted especially strongly to food cues had gained more weight. And those who reacted to sexual cues most strongly were more likely to have had sex and report stronger sexual desire.
. . .
But are we born this way, or do we acquire stronger craving for specific rewards?
“That’s a great question,” said Kathryn Demos, who led the study and is now an assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University.
Kelley thinks that since different women were tempted by different things, their brain wiring has developed through experience, aided by a genetic component.
There you have it. Unbelievers are hard-wired to sin -- exactly like the Bible says! They cannot resist temptation for they do not have the power of the Holy Spirit. God in His infinite wisdom issued commandments that He knew His creatures couldn't keep and will justly and righteously punish them for eternity for not keeping them.
But True Christians™ have a unique ability to resist temptation. For starters, God promises not to tempt us above what we can bear, so that gives us a distinct advantage over unbelievers.
1 Cor 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
We also have a High Priest who sympathises with us because He faced -- and overcame -- every temptation you can think of 2,000 years ago -- adultery, murder, heroin, computer fraud, etc.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
But of course, the secular scientists didn't test any True Christians™ for their unique ability to resist temptation. No surprises there.
) and we can safely hypothesize no change in temptation resistance.
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