Erasmus's Views On The Nature Of Humanity

In this short essay, I will lay out my personal position with regard to spiritual discernment expressed in "Discerning Spiritual Discernment: Assessing Current Approaches for Understanding God's Will" by Dennis Horton. I will also consider other opinions in this appraisal.

A famous philosopher Socrates once said, 'the unexamined life is not worth living.' With that idea, the question 'Are Human Beings Intrinsically Evil?' has been asked by philosophers for many years. It is known as one of the unanswerable questions. Determinists have come to the conclusion that we are governed by the laws of science, that there is nothing we can do about ourselves being evil because we naturally are. Evil is simply the act of causing pain. In this essay I will argue that human beings are born with a natural reaction to 'fear and chaos' to be instinctively evil.

Humans are born with a heart that feels sensitivity and compassion towards individuals in suffering. Mencius believed that every human has a sense of goodness within them. He described human nature as an instinct you have towards others experiencing suffering. Mencius proved this theory through an example situation of a baby about to fall into a well, due to a human's natural instinct, you would naturally want to intervene to prevent such a tragic accident. This instinct comes from the compassion part of your heart, you would want to save this baby not because of the praise you would receive but because it is in our human nature to feel compassionate towards someone suffering. According to Mencius there are four roots of feeling in the heart,

In this paper, I will discuss how three influential scholars in this order: Augustine, Aquinas, Galileo, delimit science or the bible and the ways their beliefs overlapped or didn’t.

Then, the authority of scripture and its a priori usage is presented. Scripture provides a positive a priori, which is information that is useful when approaching new experiences (98) and negative a priori, which is that which provides boundaries to our understandings (102). Furthermore, our interpretation of scripture is monitored by reason. Reason (as logic) is necessary for a correct interpretation of scripture to Wesley (110). Without it, we would be unable to acquire tools for proper interpretation of scripture.

Faith operates in a unique way by providing the average, the noble, or the distasteful with a means to understand the world we inhabit. However, our worldly experiences also operate as a means to understanding the complexities of our faith. For St. Augustine, faith provides more questions than answers, but consequently leads to his life as a bishop and eventually sainthood. For some, however, the Bible provides the answers to all the questions that go unanswered by common sense. In St. Augustine’s Confessions, Augustine is able to further understand himself and his faith in Christ by reflecting on anecdotes of his past. Conversely, the Bible’s use of etiology provides spiritual justification for physical realities.

Heiko Oberman’s book, Luther: Man between God and the Devil, explores Martin Luther’s life, theology and legacy. Oberman does not simply focus on Luther’s actions and behaviors as a Reformer, nor does he evaluate Luther from a purely Protestant or Catholic point of view. Instead, the book examines Luther’s continual battle with the Devil. In order to truly understand Luther, it is important “to grasp the man in his totality-with head and heart” (Oberman, 1989, xix). Luther is not merely a monk, professor, heretic or a reformer, but he was a man who 's spiritual struggle with the Devil deeply affected his life, as well as the Church.

From Augustine of Hippo to Theodosius Dobzhansky, Christians have a strong intellectual heritage. At one point, we stood on ethical and intellectual high-ground. Unfortunately, throughout recents years, we have stripped the Gospel of much of its power, and without realizing, have fallen into the abyss of today’s naturalistic and empirically subjective society. As Moreland claimed, in this new age society, progress has replaced wisdom. Progress is not measured in a moral or purposeful sense, but in the increase of technology and freedom from natural restraints. It has become assumed that scientific knowledge is the only type of knowledge, or at least the most superior form. According to secular sources, the only knowledge we can have about reality is empirical knowledge gained by the hard sciences.

However, going back to prior studies of church history, it was the spirit of Franklin’s time, the Age of Reason (1648-1789) during the Great Awakening that led to questions of dogma that seemed unimportant, hardly worth fretting about. Nonetheless, what was immensely more important was behavior. Do our beliefs make us more tolerant, more respectful of those who differ with us, more responsive to the true spirit of Jesus? The attitudes of the Age of Reason are not a thing of the past. They live today, as well in the values of the Western world. In reality, the spirit of the Age of Reason was nothing less than an intellectual revolution; a whole new way of looking at God, the world and one’s self. It was the birth of secularism. Finally, the Age of Reason sprang from the soil of a new faith in law and order.

Edwards’ begins his writing by further commenting of Peter’s words on persecutions. Further explain how trials of one’s faith serve as opportunities for a Christian to achieve true virtue and to test whether one’s religion is true or false. If one’s has true religion successful response to trials further purifies, refines, and increases her religion. Edward remarks, “True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections.” (141). Edwards further defines affection as one’s ability to follow the inclination of one’s soul. The soul holds two faculties: the first facility holds the task of understanding. The second facility controls inclination. Edwards reveals the physiological connection of our body and affections stating: “from

We exercise our freedom not in complete isolation but in continuous interaction with others.” But this sort of identity is not individualistic in nature rather it exists in both equal and mutual forms between the two sexes of humanity. Barth here chooses to use the language of relationship rather than that of the material. For humans do not own this imago rather they reflect it and instead of the image of God being physically present within. “For it is not God in us but rather we are in relation to God through imago dei.”

In the early years of Karl Barth, he stressed the distance that had been created between the sinful humanity and the holy God. In addition, Barth advocated for the absolute opposition between God and humanity, saying “the most we can do is become an empty room, a

In the story “Praise of Folly” written by Erasmus, we the readers are presented with folly- who is portrayed as a woman as well as the one who narrates the story. She is very clear in presenting herself as something crucial in a person’s life- regarding marriage, the happiness of people and having/raising kids as well as many more. Folly is everything in people’s lives, without her, all would be chaotic-not going according to plan. Specifically marriage between two people, having it continue and be positive- is a product of Folly- she takes total credit. “ What frequent divorces, or worse mischief, would oft sadly happen, except man and wife, were so discreet as to pass off light occasions of quarrel with laughing, jesting, dissembling and

Saint Augustine is undoubtedly one, if not, the most important theologian in church history. His writings have greatly influenced Christian theology and understanding of God. Saint Augustine laid out some theological doctrine that has helped shaped Christian’s perceptions of sin, grace and salvation. Ironically, some of his theological postulation emerges from his controversies with different opposing camps on the aforementioned subjects. However, in this paper, the primary focus will be on his controversy with the Pelegians. The Pelagians taught that God’s given grace before the fall, combined with the willingness of man to choose good over evil, is enough to earn man salvation. The Pelagius position places emphasis on man’s ability to work out his own salvation,

Martin Luther, a professor of theology, priest, and an influential figure in the Protestant Reformation, once said “Every week I preach justification by faith to my people because every week they forget it” when talking about justification. For a long time now, most of society have forgotten about the true meaning of justification and must constantly be reminded about it in order not to derail. Justification is a method of moral law and motivation that which Christians use to be righteous through Christ again. This is explained through the historical origins, characteristic, process and finally an example of justification in the Bible.