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SeanF1989
Guest
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empther
Guest
No.
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Bezant
Guest
No, but we are capable of doing evil as we are doing good.
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triumphguy
Guest
We are intrinsically good, but warped by sin.
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Khalid
Guest
We were created in the image and likeness of God, in God’s image and likeness did he create us, male and female he created us, and pronounced us “very good”, along with the rest of creation.
And then we fell.
Were we created evil? God forbid! Are we inherently evil now? It is arguable; our nature, tainted by original sin, is most definitely inherently immoral or sinful (this inherent sin is washed away by the cleansing of baptism; but this inherent sinfulness is not; it remains and is called “concupiscence”), and what is evil, but great sin? We can do no good on our own; every good thing we can do is the product of the only one who can be called good, God who art in heaven, supporting the baptized members of the body of Christ with his grace (and actual graces) to enable them to do good and spiritually beneficial works: for the greatest apparent virtue in a man who is not in a state of grace is as ash.
And then we fell.
Were we created evil? God forbid! Are we inherently evil now? It is arguable; our nature, tainted by original sin, is most definitely inherently immoral or sinful (this inherent sin is washed away by the cleansing of baptism; but this inherent sinfulness is not; it remains and is called “concupiscence”), and what is evil, but great sin? We can do no good on our own; every good thing we can do is the product of the only one who can be called good, God who art in heaven, supporting the baptized members of the body of Christ with his grace (and actual graces) to enable them to do good and spiritually beneficial works: for the greatest apparent virtue in a man who is not in a state of grace is as ash.
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Elizium23
Guest
For a good answer, ask a Dominican.
meltzerboy
New member
Judaism teaches that we are born in the image and likeness of G-d and that we have the potential for goodness. No original sin, but capable of sinning due to our so-called evil inclination, which is also necessary for survival when not abused, and accompanies our good inclination.
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Anthony_V
Guest
No, we are not inherently evil. This topic is extremely expansive though, as it deals with theological notions like preternatural gifts, the state of Man before the fall, etc. So posters have already touched on this a little bit.
If you’re looking for a starter answer, I commend to you Catholic Encyclopedia on “Concupiscence”.
If you’re looking for an in depth answer, I commend to you Dr.Lawrence Feingold on Original Justice. He’s an associate professor at Ave Maria University in their pastoral theology dept.
If you’re looking for a starter answer, I commend to you Catholic Encyclopedia on “Concupiscence”.
If you’re looking for an in depth answer, I commend to you Dr.Lawrence Feingold on Original Justice. He’s an associate professor at Ave Maria University in their pastoral theology dept.
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Mintaka
Guest
Re: Khalid – Even if humans had never fallen, every good thing we do would still be from God. I mean, why do we exist from moment to moment? God.
But no, we’re not inherently evil. We inherit being affected by original sin (before Baptism) or affected by its original sin’s after-effect, concupiscence (after Baptism).
But no, we’re not inherently evil. We inherit being affected by original sin (before Baptism) or affected by its original sin’s after-effect, concupiscence (after Baptism).
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Hokomai
Guest
Christians are often surprised that as a non-believer I agree that things can be categorised as evil. Broadly I see evil as that which harms human society, or leads it towards a less fair, less healthy, less long-lived, less free, or more painful situation. There is always a balance between individuals’ experiences and that of society. By society I mean not only those of us alive today, but future generations. I also classify as evil everything that leads to suffering among non-human species, and believe we should intervene where possible to lessen this. The fact that all people, even those who do really evil things, also feel these things to some extent suggests we are not ‘intrinsically’ evil. However, I do think that in our evolution we acquired some instincts that contribute to evil, such as the ability to define people as ‘other’ and as being unworthy of the protection we offer those who are in our own group.
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SeanF1989
Guest
I always thought human nature was evil because of the result of Original Sin. Look at the enthusiasm with which perfectly ordinary, respectable people were willing to join in with the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. Look at Yugoslavia, an apparently quiet, peaceful country with everyone living in harmony with their neighbours and then suddenly all hell breaks loose.
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Anthony_V
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We are not evil-- rather, we have an inclination to evil things. Why? Because our passionate appetite is not obedient to our rational appetite. We want things we know we shouldn’t have and we know we should have things we don’t want-- our desires are often disordered.I always thought human nature was evil because of the result of Original Sin. Look at the enthusiasm with which perfectly ordinary, respectable people were willing to join in with the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. Look at Yugoslavia, an apparently quiet, peaceful country with everyone living in harmony with their neighbours and then suddenly all hell breaks loose.
If we were evil because of our fallen nature, then we would not be capable of doing good, and we would have no hope unless Christ gave us our preternatural gifts back. We know this to be untrue, because baptism does not give us our preternatural gifts back; yet we have hope because of sanctifying grace.
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Hokomai
Guest
In each of these cases there were very strong religious elements. Is it people, or religion that is the problem?I always thought human nature was evil because of the result of Original Sin. Look at the enthusiasm with which perfectly ordinary, respectable people were willing to join in with the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. Look at Yugoslavia, an apparently quiet, peaceful country with everyone living in harmony with their neighbours and then suddenly all hell breaks loose.
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adrift
Guest
What strong religious element was there in the Nazis?
It seems to me that in each case it there is lack of a religious element. Your question also divorces people from religion as if religion is an entity of its own. So even if you could blame religion you would have to say that it was the people in the religion.
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Hokomai
Guest
In the case of the Nazi persecution of the Jews, the religious elements were made specific by the Nazis in their justification of their actions, and there is, of course, the fact the Jews are in part a religious group. It was really the Nazis who defined Jews as a ‘race’. There is also the long history of German antisemitism, which provided the language for some of the attacks on Jews, and the German history of inter-religious persecution, expulsion and mass killing, which provided part of the behaviour model. The case of the former Yugoslavia is far clearer. You had (and have) Catholic Croats, Orthodox Serbs, and Muslim Bosnians (roughly) fighting one another, and invoking their religions in their cause. The religious nature of the conflict there in World War Two was summed up in the slogan of the Croatian Fascist Ustace in regard to Serbs within “greater Croatia”: convert a third, expel a third; kill a third. And yes I think the ideology of Marxism-Leninism, which was anti-religious, also led to the same sort of thing. But there are not many Leninists on CAF, so I tend to concentrate on religion.
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