Worldviews in Conflict

By Thomas M. Parsons

Part 6: The Nature of Man

To the Secular Humanist, human beings are the highest life form that has evolved over millions of years of evolutionary history. Mankind is the best evolution has formed, at least so far. But evolution is not finished; it continues unabated in its striving to produce ever more complicated and efficient life forms. Man is at the top of the chain today, but tomorrow, or many millions of tomorrows from now, something better is likely to evolve.

Because evolution is seen as a long, slow process that, generation by generation, makes improvements in its creatures, human beings are seen as neither "good" nor "bad", but progressing. Moral judgments based on religious or traditional values are irrelevant, because they are rooted in philosophies that the scientific mind has rejected as inadequate to meet the needs and challenges of modern man.

However, humanists believe that there is something in man that does strive for a better life for all who inhabit planet earth. This is the essential "goodness" of human beings, the desire to progress toward the goals of peace, health, and personal fulfillment for all. In this sense, humanists claim that human beings are essentially "good" since they seek this progress for themselves and others.

According to The Humanist Manifesto, humanism has as its principle goal "a free and universal society in which people voluntarily and intelligently cooperate for the common good." This, proclaims the humanist, must be the goal of every human institution and every human being.

Biblical Christianity sees human beings in a much different light, because it bases its statements solely on the Scriptures. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" proclaimed the Apostle Paul, rephrasing an Old Testament teaching. This teaching of sin and its consequences pervades both the Old and New Testament teachings. The essential nature of human beings is that they are sinners in rebellion against a holy God and thus doomed to failure and death.

The Bible also teaches that human beings are incapable of progressing toward higher goals because of the inhibiting factor of sin within them. A "free and universal society" to a Biblical Christian is an impossibility because it ignores the fundamental fact that every human being is inclined to serve himself, not others. "Voluntarily and intelligently cooperating for the common good" is a nice-sounding, lofty phrase, but Biblical Christians know instinctively that what actually happens is that every sinner thinks "What’s in it for me?"

Biblical Christians understand that no amount of education, political or social motivation, influence of the arts, or scientific knowledge can change the fundamental sinful nature of every human being. Biblical Christians understand that the source of all evil in the world – crime, wars, illness and even death itself – is the basic human sin nature. Sin motivates people to steal what belongs to someone else, to lie, to murder, to start wars, to promote all the negative and hurtful things that happen in this world. Disease is the result of sin, and death is the result of disease, crime and war.

There is no remedy for this sin nature, according to the Biblical Christian, except that which the Bible proclaims: personal faith in Jesus Christ and His work of redemption in paying for the sins of all human beings with His death on the cross.

When the question is Are human beings basically good or basically bad? the humanist answer is People are basically good, while the Christian who believes the Bible answers, people are basically bad because they are sinners.