The Most Serious Problems Facing Humankind The world today suffers numerous woes, many of which have been present throughout human history. Human trafficking traps its victims in modern-day slavery. Countries declare war for political or ideological reasons, unleashing chaos and death upon the innocent. Starvation and disease run rampant while governments turn a blind eye. Terrorists commit hijackings and suicide bombings upon everyday civilians. Many more unmentioned obstacles exist throughout the world. Even more ominously is the fact that all of these problems are not confined to one culture or continent. It is clear that all of humanity shares similar problems with each other, despite the fact that our modern world should be more …show more content…
The theory of depravity is a more accurate understanding of our fallen world.
The Theory of Depravity as the Root Cause of Humanity’s Problems
The theory of depravity explains that the world’s problems are caused by the natural evil in every person, regardless of a lack of resources. Not only has every person sinned in their lives, but every person also has an inborn desire to sin. Even the most righteous people have evil desires. This plague was brought to the world after Adam and Eve sinned against God, which caused the biblical Fall of man. Their selfish desire to become their own gods was their own free choice, regardless of the fact that God’s garden satisfied their every need. As a result of man’s disobedience to God, he and his descendants constantly succumb to temptations and quarrel amongst each other for their own personal gain. Thus, the only way to defeat evil is for people to freely choose God instead of their own carnal pleasures. There is no man-made society that can cure evil through political restrictions, since the external world is not the cause of man’s internal rebelliousness.
According to Colson, the fall ruined the holiness of nature, brought death upon the world, and required Jesus Christ to die for every person’s sins. Those who humbly ask Christ for forgiveness will be saved, and can help restore the world to Christ one step at a time. In contrast, Colson explains that those
Living in a wetico infested culture and being brought up in our day in age is sickening because we teach our young from a young age that you must have money and power and be rich in the future in order to be successful in life, which is not true. In my opinion in order to be successful you must do what you love one life and be happy and live life to the fullest. Our own wars and personal suffering comes from our own wants instead of our needs and this is grown and festered within us from the time were born for wanting more and more and more and beeing greedy once people understand and know this it will be a relief and a blessing for them for they will live a better life. The next problem that people must know about is that in our human nature competition is not natural and in reality we are programmed to love one and other. Since our birth we are told that we must be the best the alpha the leader of the pack but all this is a lie because it will not give you true bliss and happiness. The mirror neurone in other animals is now found within us as when we are around people who are happy and loving it will make us happy and loving as well that is true human nature, that also goes for the opposite when you are around angry people you become stupid and blind. In the end people need to truly see and learn about these things so we can make the world clear and better and help them live better
1 Timothy 1:15 reads, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” Tom had acquired much of the abundance of the world and yet his heart remained empty. Nevertheless, due to God’s forgiveness and his sacrifice through his son, Colson, like any other human being, could be saved through Christ despite his sins.
Albert Wolters, in his article “Fall from Creation Regained: Biblical Basics for a Reformational Worldview,” describes the whole curse of sin in the human existence by the sequence creation-fall-redemption and argues that only God can redeem this currently “worldly” creation corrupted by evil as an external “parasite” in the God´s perfectly-created earth. In the first part, Wolters explains that the original plan of God was to make earth to be very good, but then the original sin corrupted this holy world affecting “creation as a whole.” (53) This was way, sin corrupted human behavior. However, the consequences of fall extend further human behavior because sin also corrupted the non-human things like the arts, science,
One of the main arguments used by non-believers against the existence of God is the presence of evil and suffering in the world. The term ‘evil’ is often used to describe something that is morally wrong. Philosophers make a distinction between moral evil and natural evil. Moral evil results from human actions that are morally reproachable, and Natural evil results from the malfunctioning of the natural world, which produces entities such as disease and famine.
There is nothing more revolting in the history of humanity, than the social atrocities committed towards one another. Despite this, even in the modern day these social issues continue tainting our lives and consuming our humanity one day at a time. The exile many face over race, religion, and sexuality is prominent all over the world and as a result wars have been fought and blood drawn. Nevertheless, it is imperative that the world gains social knowledge, or enlightenment, to prevent such moral atrocities from frequently occurring. Modern society, like the past has ignored strides towards enlightenment demonstrating there is still much to improve upon in the twenty-first century.
In Chapter Seven, The Problem of Evil from “The Sacred Quest: An Invitation to the Study of Religion” by Lawrence Cunningham and John Kelsay the authors examine various possible reasons for why evil exists. I will be examining further the information provided in this Chapter in order to attempt to answer the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” First, I will provide my point of view on what I consider to be evil and good. Next, I will explain why I believe in the appeal to sovereignty view and how it applies to the ultimate question. Finally, I will provide counterarguments to my explanation.
Abraham Lincoln once said “human action can be modified to some extent, but human nature cannot be changed”. Human nature has not changed since the beginning of time. Ever since the first caveman walked on this earth, humans have been extremely selfish and self-preserving, sometimes driving them to commit acts of great evil. However, this does not mean that the human race is doomed. Instead, it could actually allow for our survival, as demonstrated in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, Loudon Wainwright’s article “The Dying Girl that No One Helped”, and 60 Minutes’ “The Bad Samaritan”. In all three, people’s evil acts of self-preservation and refusal to help others has allowed them to stay safe. Humans may be evil, but they are
One of the immediate effects of the Fall was that mankind was separated from God. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had perfect communion and fellowship with God. When they rebelled against Him, that fellowship was broken. They became aware of their sin and were ashamed before Him. They hid from Him (Genesis 3:8-10), and man has been hiding from God ever since. Only through Christ can that fellowship be restored, because in Him we are made as righteous and sinless in God’s eyes as Adam and Eve were before they sinned. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
“The real evil with which we have to contend is not the physical evil of the Famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse and turbulent character of the people” - Charles Trevelyan. People in the world are here to make a purpose. It can always be for the betterment of earth, or even to cause havoc/destruction. But what if everyone was given the chance free-will? Sure, people make changes by their own will, but their will is based of what they can do with the perseverance of the good (meaning that it can be stopped by the good people, or supported by the good).. Free will means that there are no obstructions, and that anyone can do anything, whether it's evil or good. Because of this, by nature I believe that people OVERALL are naturally bad, unless there is something that can completely stop everyone from doing a dirty deed. Yes, some people are actually good and know that certain deeds are wrong to commit, but since others do not think this demolishing the image of humans. The are two powerful examples that proved this: the trilogy The Purge, and Adam and Eve.
Evil is in the eye of the beholder, sometimes a daily reality. To present the problem of evil you must first know that evil exists. Since God reveals himself as the all-powerful, all knowing and all good, how can the same God allow evil to exist and for bad things to happen to good people? Our suffering, as well as the suffering of others, vividly marks the presence of evil in our world. The majority of us struggle at one time or another in life with why evil happens to our family, friends, nation and ourselves. In recent news we also hear about particularly disturbing instances—a child raped, a school shooting, genocide in another country, a terrorist bombing. In this paper, I will review the literature from authors Robert M. Adams,
This is the problem of evil. Augustine summed it up most effectively when he said, “Either God cannot abolish evil or he will not. If he cannot then he is not all-powerful. If he will not then he is not all good.” Augustine viewed evil as merely the absence of good just as dark is the absence of light, a non-being “a name for nothing but the want of good”. He looked to the Bible for an explanation for the existence of God and believed that the fall of humanity from grace, as shown in Genesis, showed the origin of evil. He believed that evil came into the world because human beings had deliberately turned away from God and his goodness. This suggests that both moral and natural evil is a result of original human sin.
In the course of this essay I will argue that evil is not compatible with the existence of god. This means that evil and God cannot coexist because if god were present, the existence of evil would contradict all that god is believed to be. Abrahamic religions insist that God both created the world and that he preserves and maintains it. Christianity claims that God is all knowing and is boundless in his abilities. Religions claim that God is benevolent, and only wants the best for humanity and the universe, as his creations. If all of the above statements be true, then it is hard to understand why god would allow evil to thrive right from the beginning of time.
The belief that morality requires God remains a widely held moral maxim. In particular, it serves as the basic assumption of the Christian fundamentalist's social theory. Fundamentalists claim that all of society's troubles - everything from AIDS to out-of-wedlock pregnancies - are the result of a breakdown in morality and that this breakdown is due to a decline in the belief of God. This paper will look at different examples of how a god could be a bad thing and show that humans can create rules and morals all on their own. It will also touch upon the fact that doing good for the wrong reasons can also be a bad thing for the person.
The problem of evil is as ancient as humanity itself. Since the dawn of man, thinkers, philosophers, religionists and practically every human being who have suffered at the hands of evil have pondered this enigma, either as a logical-intellectual-philosophical or emotional-religious-existential problem. The preponderance of evil as a reality in human existence, and
What is the role of the individual in helping to solve some of the problems we face in our society today? What are some of the problems we face in our society today? In today’s society we are currently facing ten major issues according to toptenz.net and should these problems be considered as individual or social responsibilities? “Now that we are well into the new Millennium society has begun to recognize serious concerns with issues that kids have to deal with today. Some issues have always been there but are now coming to the eyes of the public to find solutions. Other issues are new trends as society begins to adapt to a faster pace of life (Standberry).” Here are some of the issues facing our youth today: single parent households, drug/alcohol abuse, growing up to fast, and violence in schools, materialism, obesity, education disparity, shifting economy, and loss of national pride. So how do we fix just one of these problems, do we come together for a common purpose or do we stand alone and try to make a difference.