♦ Are Humans Good or Evil?—Richard T. Ritenbaugh

作者:

Are Humans Good or Evil?by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Forerunner, “Ready Answer,” April 14, 2016

“They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.” —Romans 3:12

  1. 就如經上所記：沒有義人，連一個也沒有。
  2. 沒有明白的；沒有尋求神的；
  1. 都是偏離正路，一同變為無用。沒有行善的，連一個也沒有。

English writer G.K. Chesterton, known for his wit as well as his insight, once wrote, “The word ‘good’ has many meanings. For example, if a man were to shoot his grandmother at a range of five hundred yards, I should call him a good shot, but not necessarily a good man.”

His words strike at the heart of a question theologians, philosophers, artists, and many others have debated for millennia: Are people good or evil? Is man’s nature on the side of the angels or the demons? Are we beings of light or darkness? Why do otherwise good people do evil things?

People are split on the subject. A few years ago, Debate.org, a website devoted to arguing such questions and polling the public on them, asked, “Is human nature good or evil?” Their results, which are not scientific, show 49% of respondents answering that it is good and 51% saying that it is evil.

Some Christian churches teach a doctrine of total depravity. Theopedia defines this doctrine in this way: “. . . as a consequence of the Fall of man, every person born into the world is morally corrupt, enslaved to sin and is, apart from the grace of God, utterly unable to choose to follow God or choose to turn to Christ in faith for salvation.”

This belief does not mean that humankind is utterly evil, that is, that people are totally incapable of good. It means that, while not all of human nature is depraved, all human nature is totally affected by depravity. Even the goodness that we do, then, is tainted by our sinful nature. This agrees with God’s description of the tree from which Adam and Eve partook in Genesis 3: It was a tree that allowed them to know good and evil (Genesis 2:17; 3:22). Human goodness is insufficient to satisfy the righteous requirements of God.

It is somewhat surprising that more people, especially Christians, do not know the basic nature of mankind. It should be evident from the lives of men and women throughout history. For Christians, who should know their Bibles, a cursory survey of Scripture brings out many plain statements that show what God thinks of human nature. No philosophizing or critical thinking, even by the greatest of human minds, will change God’s view into something else.

God Sets the Record Straight

In Genesis 6:5, God describes the state of humankind in stark terms: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” His response was to send the Flood to wipe mankind almost completely from the planet. He would start again with Noah’s family, his sons and their wives.

Immediately after the waters receded and the ark was emptied, Noah makes a sacrifice to God for their deliverance. “And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth’” (Genesis 8:21).

  1. 耶和華見人在地上罪惡很大，終日所思想的盡都是惡，

Did the Flood change anything? Millions of people died, billions of animals died, uncounted trees and other plants died. But the human heart did not change; it remains “evil from his youth.”

It did not change after God gave His people the covenant and His commandments. While they were still in the wilderness, He commanded them to wear tassels with a blue thread on their garments. The tassels were to hang down below any other garment so they would always be in sight. Why did He require this? He explains in Numbers 15:39:

And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined.

  1. 你們佩帶這繸子，好叫你們看見就記念遵行耶和華一切的命令，不隨從自己的心意、眼目行邪淫，像你們素常一樣；

“Harlotry” here is a metaphor for idolatry. Their hearts and their eyes were inclined to worship something other than God, just as every other human being has tended to do.

The Psalms contain direct and unambiguous statements on what man’s nature is really like. The first one, from Psalm 14:1-3, Paul quotes in Romans 3:10-12:

  1. 愚頑人心裡說：沒有神。他們都是邪惡，行了可憎惡的事；沒有一個人行善。
  2. 耶和華從天上垂看世人，要看有明白的沒有，有尋求神的沒有。
  3. 他們都偏離正路，一同變為污穢；並沒有行善的，連一個也沒有。(詩14:1-3)

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one.

  1. 就如經上所記：沒有義人，連一個也沒有。
  2. 沒有明白的；沒有尋求神的；
  3. 都是偏離正路，一同變為無用。沒有行善的，連一個也沒有。(羅3:10-12)

We are all corrupt. No one—“not one”!—is good. The only thing that saves us is the blood of Christ. So Paul, in Romans 3:23, concludes: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This is just another way of saying that man’s nature is “only evil continually.”

The second statement from Psalms, which appears in David’s prayer of repentance, is an interesting one: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5).我是在罪孽裡生的，在我母親懷胎的時候就有了罪。

 

Those who believe in original sin believe that David is saying that he was born a sinful person. However, that is a misinterpretation.

The truth is a bit simpler. He means that he was born into a sinful world, and even his mother, whom he probably loved more than anyone else other than God, was a sinner. Put in other words, his mother was a sinner when he was conceived, and when he was born, the world was full of sin. Sin and sinful people had surrounded him his whole life. A baby is born a fairly blank slate, certainly having done no sin, but the influence of sinners along with his fleshly nature invariably get the better of him, and before long, he sins. In his way, David is telling God, “With all the sin around me, it’s not surprising that I sinned too.”

In the next verse, he declares that God “desires truth in the inward parts” (Psalm 51:6).你所喜愛的是內裡誠實；你在我隱密處，必使我得智慧。

In other words, He wants people to change their natures, which only He can help us to do, as the last half of the verse explains: “And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.” David is essentially repeating what God said in Genesis 8:21, “. . . man’s heart is evil from his youth.” But he wanted his nature changed from evil to good, from dirty to clean, from lies to truth. Only repentance and a renewed relationship with God would enable that to occur. And, truth be told, it will never be completely changed until the resurrection from the dead.

More Old Testament Assertions

Other Old Testament wisdom and prophecy books concur with the earlier statements about human nature. In fact, the entire Bible speaks with a single voice on the matter. It is impossible to brush aside the reality of sin and the tendency of all people toward selfishness and self-interest.

Proverbs 14:12—“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death”有一條路，人以為正，至終成為死亡之路。—may at first not seem to be relevant. Solomon is telling us that even the deeds we think are right are sinful, for if they were not sinful, they would not end in death. Death is the result of sin (Romans 6:23).因為罪的工價乃是死；惟有神的恩賜，在我們的主基督耶穌裡，乃是永生。

So even the “good” things that we do without God are ultimately sinful because they arise from a corrupted nature.

In Ecclesiastes, Solomon makes another statement to back this up: “For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin” (Ecclesiastes 7:20).時常行善而不犯罪的義人，世上實在沒有。

Notice that he is speaking of “a just man,” not an evil man or a corrupt man. The best citizens among us, those we raise to judgeships and listen to in church, have their own sins, and even in their doing of good, they cannot keep out the taint of sin.

The Preacher doubles down in Ecclesiastes 9:3: “This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.”在日光之下所行的一切事上有一件禍患，就是眾人所遭遇的都是一樣，並且世人的心充滿了惡；活著的時候心裡狂妄，後來就歸死人那裡去了。

People’s entire lives are full of sin, evil, madness—and then they die. Not even good and just men, as others think of them, are truly good and just. Like all the other “sons of men,” their hearts are full of sin.

Isaiah 1:4-6 describes Israel at its most corrupt, but it is typical of all mankind:

Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward. Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there isno soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. . . .

  1. 嗐！犯罪的國民，擔著罪孽的百姓；行惡的種類，敗壞的兒女！他們離棄耶和華，藐視以色列的聖者，與他生疏，往後退步。
  2. 你們為什麼屢次悖逆，還要受責打嗎？你們已經滿頭疼痛，全心發昏。
  3. 從腳掌到頭頂，沒有一處完全的，盡是傷口、青腫，與新打的傷痕，都沒有收口，沒有纏裹，也沒有用膏滋潤。 

God describes Israel as totally cancerous with sin—and Israel had His revelation! If the Israelites, to whom God had revealed Himself (Amos 3:2)在地上萬族中，我只認識你們；因此，我必追討你們的一切罪孽。

, were this corrupt, how sinful is the rest of the world without God’s revelation?

Of course, we cannot exclude Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart isdeceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”人心比萬物都詭詐，壞到極處，誰能識透呢？

Our hearts are unfathomably corrupt and deceptive. Trying to feel good about ourselves, we lie to ourselves about how selfish and self-serving we are. So God asks, “Who can know it?” We do not recognize the depths of our own sinfulness.

Proof from the New Testament

In Matthew 7:11, Jesus does not mince words: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”你們雖然不好，尚且知道拿好東西給兒女，何況你們在天上的父，豈不更把好東西給求他的人嗎？

 

He calls the people in His audience—His own disciples (Matthew 5:1)—“evil.” It cannot be any plainer—and from the mouth of our Savior!

Mark 7:20-23 appears in a passage that many think He spoke only to dispose of the law against eating unclean meats, another misinterpretation. He was making a far larger point concerning the nature of humanity:

What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.

  1. 所以，憑著他們的果子就可以認出他們來。
  2. 凡稱呼我主啊，主啊的人不能都進天國；惟獨遵行我天父旨意的人才能進去。
  3. 當那日必有許多人對我說：主啊，主啊，我們不是奉你的名傳道，奉你的名趕鬼，奉你的名行許多異能嗎？
  4. 我就明明的告訴他們說：我從來不認識你們，你們這些作惡的人，離開我去吧！

So, in the Judgment, we cannot say, “The Devil made me do it” or “The world was so corrupt, I didn’t have a chance.” Despite outside influences, each of us makes the choice to sin or not. Our choices reveal what is in our hearts, and too often we choose these wicked activities and others beside. We cannot foist the blame onto others because our sins come from within.

The apostle Paul explains the state of individuals before conversion in Ephesians 2:1-3:

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

  1. 你們死在過犯罪惡之中，他叫你們活過來。
  2. 那時，你們在其中行事為人，隨從今世的風俗，順服空中掌權者的首領，就是現今在悖逆之子心中運行的邪靈。
  3. 我們從前也都在他們中間，放縱肉體的私慾，隨著肉體和心中所喜好的去行，本為可怒之子，和別人一樣。

We were always influenced by Satan, the prince of the power of the air. We all walked according to the sinful course of the world. We all fulfilled our lusts. All of us were children of wrath, that is, we were under judgment because of sin. Our nature is corrupt to the core.

Finally, Peter writes: “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in licentiousness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries” (I Peter 4:3). He could have named a hundred more sins, but the point remains: We were all like the unconverted people in the world. We were all cut off from God and living in sin, just like all the rest of humanity from the time of Adam and Eve. There have been no exceptions apart from Jesus Christ.

What Can Be Done?

It seems overwhelmingly clear that human nature, fashioned by the influence of Satan, this world, and our innate selfishness, is not good but evil. God lets us know many times and from many different angles that this is the reality of humanity. We are sinful creatures.

What can we do about this state of human nature? How should we conduct ourselves, knowing that we, though God has called us, still have this nature within us? Paul gives us some advice in Titus 3:1-7:

Remind [the brethren] to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

  1. 你要提醒眾人，叫他們順服作官的、掌權的，遵他的命，預備行各樣的善事。
  2. 不要毀謗，不要爭競，總要和平，向眾人大顯溫柔。
  3. 我們從前也是無知、悖逆、受迷惑、服事各樣私慾，和宴樂，常存惡毒（或作：陰毒）嫉妒的心，是可恨的，又是彼此相恨。
  4. 但到了神─我們救主的恩慈和他向人所施的慈愛顯明的時候，
  5. 他便救了我們；並不是因我們自己所行的義，乃是照他的憐憫，藉著重生的洗和聖靈的更新。
  6. 聖靈就是神藉著耶穌基督我們救主厚厚澆灌在我們身上的，
  7. 好叫我們因他的恩得稱為義，可以憑著永生的盼望成為後嗣（或作：可以憑著盼望承受永生）。

By the grace of God, we have been given a rare and wonderful opportunity to rise above the rest of humanity. We are now heirs of God, possessors of the hope of eternal life and of the knowledge of God’s purpose. We are, as Jesus said, to be lights shining in the darkness of this evil age. So, Paul says, it is our responsibility as God’s children in this world to fight the evil human nature within us and instead to display the nature of God in all of our actions—toward the world and toward one another—as we prepare for our ultimate work in His Kingdom.