Man: Good or Bad?

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normbetland

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So I have a friend who insists that after the Fall, man is intrinsically bad until Christ is accepted as their personal Lord and Savior.

I know that Catholicism teaches that man is intrinsically good, though weakened through original sin. How do I defend it, using primarily Scripture?
 
normbetland said:
So I have a friend who insists that after the Fall, man is intrinsically bad until Christ is accepted as their personal Lord and Savior.

I know that Catholicism teaches that man is intrinsically good, though weakened through original sin. How do I defend it, using primarily Scripture?
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The statement that someone is intrinsically evil implies that evil is part of human nature. Beings cannot change their nature. If the nature is changed then a different form of being is being created; it is not us humans anymore, it is someone else. Are we stopping being humans once we accept God’s graces? What do we turn into? :confused:
 
The answer primarily is in Genesis. God is good and He made man good.

Our free will tends toward experimentation with good and evil - to draw conclusions based on personal experience - instead of trusting in God’s words and His directions to us.
 
The Church teaches that baptism regenerates our soul and we receive sanctifying grace. God did create humans good but after the fall we inherited original sin and the consequences of that sin. But through our baptism we are reconciled to that same state in which we were created. Saint Paul says that we are a new creation in Christ.

So, humans are not “cow dung” (to quote Martin Luther) covered with snow (the righteousness of Christ). We are called to be holy and our souls reflect the choices that we make. We have the opportunity to remain in the state of grace and thus united with God. We do not have a foul stench of a soul wrapped in fine linen. We are a temple of the Holy Spirit and that can only allow for a soul that will house our God… teachccd
 
Jesus,to answer the question outright, spoke,“only god is good,he is in heaven.”
 
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