...next verse contains two "for"s, only one of which is reproduced in the Revised Standard Version: "For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." By means of these "for"s Paul is tying in what follows with what he has said before. The rest of chapter...

...designs for peace and "sisterhood," we spoil it all with our slavery to evil. As Paul put it so long ago: I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ... I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do...

...relation of will to the prescriptions of law, Paul focuses on the gap between intention and action. "I do not understand my own actions .For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate" (Rom. 7:15). Carnal man, on Paul's view, is separated off from the spiritual, the ideal realm of "the...

...of sin is described in Romans 7: We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. . . . For I delight in the law of God,...

...its own countervolition), starting from the Apostle Paul's early discovery of the will's impotence— "I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate"18— and going on to examine the testimony left us by the Middle Ages, beginning with Augustine's...

...become sinful beyond measure. "We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. l6Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. "So then it is no longer I that do...

...tendencies." The apostle Paul illustrates the Christian view of the human condition when he states, "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate" (Rom 7:15). That is hardly a "strongly positive directional tendency." Thus, we are faced with a dilemma...

...least, several of Paul's formulations seem to be in accord with what we have been reading in Derrida: "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate" (15). "I can will what is right but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I...

...overcome in this area. Let's look now at some of the things Paul taught about overcoming the flesh. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do...

...fragmentation of human life behind. Paul speaks eloquently of this human fragmentation in Rom 7:7— 25:4' I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ... I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do...