The human condition is marred by sin, a recurring theme in Scripture and in these Pages. Believing that assertion a Christian designs a scenario to account for it, theorizes from it, and is encouraged to live an affirmative life because of it. Adaptation is not acceptance in personal life. That adaptation helps the Christian in the proper resistance to sin and sins. Sin is in our nature as human beings, and sins become the expression of that nature. Those who reject depravity will end up with a different scenario for life, even a different scenario for Christianity. The first scenario has God defining the matter in Scripture, and the second one has mankind defining the context that includes secular perceptions, perhaps dominating.
In the course of wholly human contexts, it is possible, in the way we think and reason, that presuppositions and ensuing assertions are wrong, but we may feel that some are true and some false. We feel driven by possibilities and impossibilities. Usually we can only come up with probabilities – which claim is to say we haven’t found our seat, but we feel we are in the same ballpark. If contenders are not in the same ballpark, they will not be working through the problem, even though they are yelling at each other about the issue from different ballparks. This is likely the situation for the theist and the humanist. The differences are so great that even the earth planet we share becomes different in the two perceptions.
At the same time the arguments/beliefs have an intriguing similarity. For example, the biblical Christian acknowledges the depravity of sin: the humanist acknowledges the flawed nature of mankind. The Christian argues for righteousness: the humanist feels there is a significant difference between right and wrong. Even the differences have reflections of mutual beliefs in them. For the humanist there is a feeling that if there were a god, he would be good: the Christian believes there is God and that he is good. The problem is mostly found in the main point – belief in God as real and caring about the human race. Scripture addresses the point quite straightforwardly and succinctly: Anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him – Hebrews 11:6 (NIV).
Numerous books have been written, sometimes by arrogant authors who disregard the evidence contrary to their points by attacking the persons holding contrary positions. This is known as the ad hominem argument which faults the contender holding the idea rather than the idea, the claim, the assertion, the action. In spite of rhetorical theory that has continued to us from ancient times, there continues the practice of ad hominem practice, especially among the general population, but is also found in the approaches of many who would be classified as intellectuals. Some of the anti-Catholic groups have used the ad hominem arguments to attack the Catholic Church, in that a number of priests have been found to be pedophiles. Neither church nor society approves pedophilia, and the authorities have been shown to have often treated the matter with poor judgment. This is not, for the objective person, an argument against the church, but an argument against sin in some persons connected to the church. Failure of leaders in a government does not provide argument against government but does point out that some persons have violated the approved system. Business is a right and necessary thing for the good life. At this writing, big business has limited reputation because of manipulators, cheats, and major violators who have hidden, or tried to hide, behind the walls of a needed institution. This story can well (unfortunately) be extended, and is even enlarged by the violations of the general public in this or that situation in society. The point is made that the problem is in the nature of persons, whether they are seen as depraved (sinful) or flawed (sinful). It would be one of the greatest achievements of humanity if someone could come up with a word for sin that meant what sin means as recognized in Scripture and practiced in society. The reputation of the word and the dislike for it in the general society is a major barrier to the acceptance of the reality of our condition without some address from God. God in Scripture offers Jesus Christ to meet the problem, and a pattern offered to minimize its extensive influence. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020