“Counting the Stars” with Aristotle: Why do I do the wrong thing and feel so right?

I’ll never forget the first time I heard OnerePublic’s hit songs.Counting the stars. “I was 15 years old.

When “Counting Stars” came at my birthday party, I didn’t like catchy songs. It was a good song and everyone seemed to enjoy it. People were singing along and I listened in the hopes of participating.

Then we reached Pre-sing.

I feel it’s very right to do the wrong thing
I feel that I’m doing the right thing and doing so wrong
Everything that kills me makes me feel alive.

I was shocked. What a terrible message! In my opinion, this seemed like a classic example of the creepy, stupid kind that was far from pop music. Horrified by my friends singing along to such songs, I wrote Onerepublic down as another peddler of anti-Christian nonsense to brainwash the masses.

Years later, it was Aristotle who changed my mind. The famous Greek philosopher helped him to understand that Onerepublic was falling into a very Christian idea. After all, the song writer is Christian himself. Today, I use the “count star” to teach students about Aristotle’s ethics and Christian doctrine of sanctification. What changed my mind, and how did the 2013 pop song echo and show ancient wisdom and biblical theology?

Aristotle and the proof of conscience

It all starts with Aristotle’s understanding of virtue. In him Nikomatine EthicsGreek philosophers argue that we are not born with a natural tendency to do good and evil. Instead, they cultivate “moral virtues” in the same way they develop art such as painting, poetry, and ceramics. No one is born of musicians or mechanics. They develop those skills through training and practice. Aristotle believed That virtue worked in the same way. “No moral virtues arise in us essentially; rather, we adapt to nature to receive them, and become perfect by habits.” In other words, we can learn to be integral to nature, and grow in virtue by repeated habits, or virtues, of noble actions.

This virtue practice is what Aristotle calls “familiarity,” and it is a noble process. action Become positive character. “We become brave by doing just doing something, by doing something mild, by doing something mild, by doing something brave.”

When humans are truly “slates of blanks” in terms of virtue character and ability, the habits we form from an early age are very important. When we become accustomed to virtues and evil, we develop a sense of what we are Natureand as a result, it shapes our sense of joy and pain. Again, Aristotle I’ll make this Explicit: “We must take the joy and pain that follows the act as a sign of a state of character. Moral excellence is related to joy and pain, for the joy that we do bad things, and for the pain that we refrain from the nobles.”

In other words, we tend to do bad things. Does it sound familiar? Here in the middle of Aristotle ethicsThe lyrics to “Count Star” are almost verbatim. So many people really Please find it That “everything to kill” [them] make [them] I feel alive. “Aristotle would say that this is the result of avoiding this. Aristotle insists That we must educate young people in virtue from the beginning. “Therefore, we should have been raised in a certain way by our youth, and we should have grown up as both joyful and suffering in what we should have.”

I like to call this process “calibrating conscience.” We are taught the difference between good and evil and given the opportunity to exercise virtues and vices, so we adjust our conscience. If this process becomes inappropriate, we may discover that “it feels very right to do the wrong thing” and that “it feels very wrong to do the right thing.” According to Aristotle, this sentiment is a poor evidence of moral education. Once conscience is regulated, it is difficult to change your perception of what actions are good and natural – not impossible.

During my first reading of Aristotle, I realized that counting the stars actually explains a false conscience. But there is much more to the story, as Aristotle’s approach cannot explain the enrichment of the Bible picture of sin.

The gap between original sin and instinct

For everything he has rightly made about proofreading of conscience, Aristotle’s blank anthropology is at odds with the original biblical doctrine of sin and the fall humiliation of mankind. According to the Bible, we are not born in a state of moral neutrality, and are awaiting our habituation to virtues and evil. Instead, our nature has been hurt by sin from the beginning. As David lamented Poem sal51“Behold, I was unlawfully given up, and in sin my mother imagined me.” We are certainly confused by our desires and feelings of joy and pain, but this is a characteristic of our nature from the day we were born. Jeremiah points out that “the heart is deceived and desperately sick” above all else (El. 17:9). It does not take time or poor education to corrupt human conscience. On the contrary, a lifelong, intense virtue life, no matter how much we work to get used to ourselves, cannot overcome our longing for “everything to kill.”

But despite the bent conscience of human conscience, we are unable to convince ourselves that this evil is “natural.” We can’t escape the feeling that we are truly there teeth We cannot overtake the guilt that bothers us by things like “right” or “wrong.” Even the most vicious people must find ways to justify themselves to live with themselves. We are trapped: we appear vicious in nature, but we cannot stop believing in virtue. Our instincts are fundamental, but our ideals are noble. This is what I call an “instinctive gap.” The unforgettable feature of that human nature makes us deeply and desperately aware that we cannot save ourselves, but we need to be saved.

The famous French absurd Camus, although far from Christian himself, made this observation accurately in his novels autumn. Through the mouth of his hero – a man who spends his life doing good deeds just to one day realize how corrupt his motives are – Kamus Bemoan This inevitable trap. “Not enough irony or virtue is sufficient. We lack the energy of evil and the energy of good.” This position between the two poles looks like a camus, a kind of prison, similar to the frontiers of Dante’s neutral angels and noble pagans.

This is a true picture of the human condition, and once again, “counting the stars” reflects emotions. I do “Do what’s wrong and feel very right.” But I can say too You shouldn’t. I long for a re-adjusted conscience, but contrary to Aristotle’s advice, I cannot make it happen. No one can do it. All the virtuous education in the world cannot produce men or women with perfectly aligned instincts and ideals. A sufficient amount of noble action can’t produce a completely noble character.

Romans and the “Wretched Man”

The apostle Paul shares the lament of the prophet and the pop star. In his letter to the Romans, Paul also speaks of the role of conscience, pointing out that we feel trapped between knowledge of good and desire for evil. “Legal work is written [our] And yet, our “contradictory ideas condemn and even excuses”ROM. 2:15). It doesn’t seem to be a solution. We are trapped. In the Romans 7, Paul gives off an upset lament over this imprisonment. (ROM. 7:15-25))

Paul’s voice joins the voices of Aristotle, Camus and Onarépublic. We are trapped between virtue and evil, and we cannot resolve this tension. “Everything that kills me makes me feel alive.” In light of all these other voices, it is clear that “counting the stars” is a lament rather than a celebration of human descent.

Fortunately, the Bible doesn’t just diagnose our failure. Provide a solution. The entire Romans are dedicated to the good news of “the righteousness of God by faith.” The above petition of Paul – “Who will save me?” – is clearly answered in the following poem: “Thank you to God through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (ROM. 7:25))

This is the heart of the gospel. Although “everything has sinned and not reached the glory of God,” we can rejoice because it may be “justified by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”ROM. 3:23-24). You can find yourself that you cannot fully establish your own justice, and instead you can be enveloped in the righteousness of Christ. Shortly after his lament with the seven Romans, Paul delights in declaring: There is no criticism For those in Christ Jesus. For the laws of the spirit of life I’ll release you From the law of sin and death in Christ Jesus. ” (ROM. 8:1-2))

Hope for sanctification and renewal

The Bible teaches that Justification– God declares us innocent in His vision, and continues for the life that follows Sacredness. This is the path that leads us from instinctive gaps and to wholeness and justice. Sanctification, driven by the Holy Spirit, changes corrupt and divides minds and re-adjusses our conscience.

Paul speaks precisely to this hope when he urges Christians to “transform by renewing your mind” (by renewing your mind)ROM. 12:2). The power of the Holy Spirit can reverse the evil polarity of our bent conscience, and as we receive sanctification, the joy and pain of our hearts can be readjusted. Only in this way can we truly experience what Aristotle explained. A life where virtues really feel Nature And Vice really feels it It’s wrong. That’s how sanctification feels. Every day, instantly, the spirit “mays” us into the path of God’s kingdom. We may still spend a bit of time in this fallen frame, but we look forward to recreation of everything and we have the privilege of having a glimpse of that glorious day in our own community.

All this comes back to “Counting the Stars.” The song, which was correctly understood, joins the chorus of voices throughout history, lamenting the perplexed human condition. In case of i know That kills me, and why does it “feel like I’m alive”? Why do you feel that what’s wrong is right? This is a life within an instinctive gap and I feel unfair. Aristotle explained the problem well, but he couldn’t solve it. Kamus moaned at the trap, but he couldn’t get away from it. “He did not save us, not for the works we have right, but by the washing of rebirth and the renewal of the Holy Spirit, according to his own mercy” (according to his own mercy)”Titus 3:5).

Now I salute you, onerepublic. Thank you for turning to this pain and confusing issue. You are right to point out how it feels backwards. He thanks God that we will not leave us in this pit we have dug for ourselves.

It is a hopeful message of sanctification. Not by intentional reconsideration, but by God’s power, our hearts can be readjusted until they are truly pleased with good things.