You were blameless from your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.-Ezekiel 28:15
Porcelain writes:
This is a philosopical question that may never be answered. Is man inherently good or inherently evil?
Some would say that we are a little of both. The Bible, however, says that human nature is imperfect. To be good is to be righteous. The Apostle Paul explained his nature like this:
NIV writes:
Rom 7:14-25= We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So for Christians, the answer is clear. We all sin and thus are not "good" in our natural mind, but we have a way out through our faith and our personal relationship with God through His son. What of the rest of you? You who do not have a Christian philosophy?
Mr.Bound writes:
I'm with Nietzsche on this one. Man has no Will to Good or Evil, just the Will to Power. It also fits in nicely with the ToE.
Charles Knight writes:
Good and evil are social constructs.
sidelined writes:
We are not inherently good or evil,we are inherently human. First off who determines what is inherently good or evil?
Darth Mal writes:
You tell me. During the Middle Ages, it was good to people to burn other people that didn't agree with their theology. Then the reformation came, and it was good for some people to establish new theologies where they could burn those that tried to burn them in the first place. Then came the New World and it was good for some people to own other people. Then came the 20th century and it was good for some people discriminate against others. Then came today when it is still good for some people to discriminate others and actually come up with constitutional amendments to show how good it is to discriminate certain people. So, you tell me what good or evil is.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." -Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I know that every good and excellent thing in the world stands moment by moment on the razor-edge of danger and must be fought for..." -Thornton Wilder
schrafinator wants a definition of what good and evil are.
1good \"gud\ adj better \"be-tr\; best \"best\ 1 : of a favorable character or tendency 2 : bountiful, fertile 3 : comely, attractive 4 : suitable, fit 5 : sound, whole 6 : agreeable, pleasant 7 : salutary, wholesome 8 : considerable, ample 9 : full 10 : well-founded 11 : true 12 : legally valid or effectual 13 : adequate, satisfactory 14 : conforming to a standard 15 : discriminating 16 : commendable, virtuous 17 : kind 18 : upper-class 19 : competent 20 : loyal, close good—hearted \-"hr-td\ adj goodish adj good—looking \-"lu-ki\ adj good—tempered \-"tem-prd\ adj
1evil \"-vl\ adj eviler or eviller; evilest or evillest 1 : wicked 2 : causing or threatening distress or harm : pernicious evilly adv
Wikipedia writes:
John Dewey (1859-1952) in his book Theory of Valuation saw goodness as the outcome of "valuation," a continuous balancing of "ends in view." An end in view was said to be an objective which we adopt or not, which we refine or reject based on its consistency with other objectives or means to objectives held by ourselves or others.
Going back to the Bible, Jesus asked the rich young ruler why he called Jesus "good" since none was good except God. In the original Greek, the word, good had a variety of explanation.
Thayers Greek Lexicon writes:
NT:18=agathos, agathee, agathon
In general it denotes excelling in any respect, distinguished, good.
It can be predicated of persons, things, conditions, qualities and affections of the soul, deeds, times and seasons. To this general significance can be traced back all those senses which the word gathers from the connection in which it stands;
1. of a good constitution or nature:
a. in a sense equivalent to "fertile soil," "a fruitful tree,"
b. In Luke 8:15 the figurative expression good ground, and denotes a soul inclined to goodness,
2. useful, salutary
a. a commandment profitable to those who keep it, Rom 7:12,
b. the question in Rom 7:13
c. the "good part," which insures salvation to him who chooses it, Luke 10:42
d. the saving work of God,
e. for good, to advantage, Rom 8:28
(from Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2000 by Biblesoft)
As a Christian, I like the definition
the saving work of God
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Evil is a term describing that which is morally bad, corrupt, wantonly destructive, selfish, and wicked. It is one half of the duality of good and evil expressed, in some form or another, by many cultures. It describes a hierarchy of moral standards with regard to human behaviour; evil being the least desired, while love is usually the most praised. In essence "evil" is a term for those things which (either directly or causally) bring about withering and death- the opposite of life. In casual or derogatory use, the word "evil" can characterize people and behaviours that are hurtful, ruinous, or disastrous.
A similar term, malice (from the Latin mal meaning "bad") describes the deliberate human intent to harm and be harmful. "Evil," by contrast, tends to represent a more elemental concept; a disembodied spirit that is natural and yet abominable. Wheras "malice" belongs to the specific, "evil" is the foundation for malice.
Another definition of evil describes it as death and suffering, whether it results from human or from other natural causes (e.g., earthquakes, famine). In other words, it is not merely the intention to do evil, but the end result, namely, harm to others, that is evil. And, as Plato observed, there are relatively few ways to do good, but there are countless ways to do evil, which can therefore have a much greater impact on our lives, and the lives of other beings capable of suffering. For this reason, some philosophers (e.g., Bernard Gert, Michael E. Berumen) maintain that not causing and preventing evil precede promoting good in importance in formulating moral rules and in conduct.
Again, the Greek Lexicon says this about evil:
Thayers writes:
NT:4190=poneeros
1. full of labors, annoyances, hardships
a. pressed and harassed by labors
b. bringing toils, annoyances, perils: Eph 5:16; 6:13
2. bad, of a bad nature or condition
a. in a physical sense: diseased or blind, Matt 6:23; Luke 11:34
b. in an ethical sense, evil, wicked, bad,
(from Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2000 by Biblesoft)
Now that we have the definitions, what can we conclude? Each of us observes human nature around us and within our own selves. Some of us think that humans are basically good, and others think that since humans sin by nature, they are NOT good. BTW Rrhain, find me the scriptures that Peter used...I'm too tired to look them up. Please?
This message has been edited by Phatboy, 09-14-2004 03:20 AM
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