Is hardheartedness an acquired condition, or are you born with it?

Question

Or....

(wait for it)


did God do it like he did to the Pharaoh?

inspired by fireball226's answer to Jim's question here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Am6Va71qRSydwxkO3pzlI9Dd7BR.?qid=20070223142910AAR43VL

so, wait, once I start sinning God actively meddles with what remains of my purported free will to make me more likely to sin? That's messed up.

Answer 1

Hahah, great question.

It's like "And god sent them strong delusion, that they would believe a lie."

Thank hell Child Services would protect kids from humans who acted like that heavenly "father".

Answer 2

Babies certainly are not born with it! But by the time I was about 16, my new sister-in-law spent time with me then pronounced, "My word! You're hard-hearted!" I now know what she meant. She was observant and saw me with a fresh eye. My upbringing had turned me that way but I didn't know it. There can be a hereditary streak of hard-heartedness in some families, I suspect, but the good news is that God gives a new heart to those who sincerely ask him. He softens hard hearts when such persons repent. But woe betide the persons (like Pharaoh) who rebel against God! Their hard-heartedness gets worse, to the point where there is no remedy. It's not God's fault when, knowing the outcome, he works events out so that their hard-heartedness becomes obvious to all.

Answer 3

Gee, I'm sure you're born with compassion. I wasn't raised with a whole lot of it, and the whole world has acted like it hated me, and I still try to find compassion in all that goes on around me, for others.
Just not me, because that's not what the world taught me.
But if I can still be me, after all I've been through,
then I think the jerks of the world are just jerks,
adn that's that.
I believe a lot more in neurology than I do in magic.
But I think I was taught to do unto others, and turn the otehr cheek, and that most people are hardhearted, period.

Answer 4

There were many men mentioned in the Old Testament who had their hearts hardened by the Lord. It is my belief that all things happen according to God's will. He allows certain things to happen, even if it is evil, because nothing can happen that God does not want to happen. Satan has to ask permission from the Father before he has his evil way (remember Job), but sometimes God will allow this in order for Him to get the glory. Therefore, if the Lord wants to get someone's attention in a mighty way, He might harden his/her heart in order for that person to realize that He alone is in control, just like in the case of Pharaoh.

Answer 5

Both nature and nurture make ones heart hard. As for what God did to the Pharoh.....you're asking me to comment on something I don't believe can take place, so I can't help you there

Answer 6

God gets tired of begging people to repent, so he eventually gets fed up and lets the devil have his way with the guy's willpower.

An acquired condition.

Answer 7

It's aquired. The more you choose to sin, the more God hardens your heart. He's just giving you what you want.

Answer 8

I was born with it. Others are not so lucky - they have to work at it or have traumas and stuff.

I just read her answer. It's out of character - it was almost a conversation.

Answer 9

You are born with it and perfect it as you go. As you get older you learn new names to call people and as you get taller all the easier to look down on them.

Answer 10

God picks hearts at random and hardens them.

That, or you eat too much Mickey D's and end up hardening your heart by clogging it.