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Introduction
When we look at people and the world, we tend to go into one of two perspectives: either we see all the wrongdoing and evil humans have caused, or push to look at the silver lining and look at all the good and kind deeds being done.
Is human nature good or bad? This is the difficult question the author of this sample essay aims to wrestle with. He wonders if people are naturally good or inherently evil.
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The Complexities of Human Beings: Are We Naturally Good or Inherently Evil?
The question of humanity’s moral roots has been long pondered by so many people over the last few millennia. In this reflective essay, I want to explore different convictions held by various philosophers on the notion of good or evil. At the end of this piece, I want to also contribute my own thoughts as a Christian and follower of Jesus Christ by looking at what the Bible says about the human race.
Mencius
A Confucian philosopher, Mencius believed that humans are inherently good. He argued that while not all people do good things, every person has the capacity for goodness when placed in the right “state.” He talked about the four starting points of morality, which are the senses of compassion, shame and disdain, respect and courtesy, and right and wrong. According to him, in an ideal situation, these senses progress into virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom – and that goodness is a result of this complete progression.
Xunzi
While Xunzi shared Mencius’ roots of Confucianism, he held the opposite view. He firmly believed that humans are born evil. He explains that we are all born into this world without knowing what true morality is, and we have the rest of our life as a learning curve for mastering it. He believes that human nature is the collection of our desires and capacities, which are already present at birth. Therefore, we naturally seek to satiate or satisfy these desires as we grow older. If we were to be good at all, it would have to come through an intense effort to do kind things, rather than a natural act.
The Legalist Movement
While Legalists in China do not hold any specific opinion about whether or not the state of good or evil is something humans are born with, they do agree that most humans are selfish. Because of this, they come to the natural conclusion that people are naturally bad. They are also extreme in this belief in that they don’t think that the human race can be redeemed from its selfishness. No matter what education we undergo or the effort we make, we will always circle back to our innate selfishness.
My Personal Take on The Existence of Good and Evil
I identify as a Christian. I made the decision to follow Jesus Christ, who I believe was resurrected from the dead and is alive today through the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit. As such, I adhere to the teachings of the Holy Bible, which is God’s revealed Word.
In the Genesis account, the Bible takes us through the emergence of original sin through the story of Adam and Eve, the first humans. Because they fell for the wiles of the serpent who is really Satan in disguise, they sinned against God and were banished from the Garden of Eden. From that moment on, sin separated God from man. We no longer have access to a perfect God because our state of sin has rendered us imperfect. God spoke to Adam and Eve about the consequences of their sins, which would extend to their children and the generations after them. Today, we experience the same state of sin as our ancestors have.
Therefore, according to the Bible, while human life was originally created to reflect the image of God, this reflection has been corrupted by sin. Romans 3:23 says that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” There are no exceptions. We are born into this world in a state of sin and corruption, which we inherited from Adam and Eve, and grow up with a natural tendency to adhere to our sinful nature. We fall prey to our evil desires, act on them, and live with their consequences.
This does not mean that there aren’t people who try to do good things. Despite our sinful nature, many of us try to live good lives. We try to be excellent citizens of this country and we advocate for kindness and good deeds. For some of us, it is a guilt-induced way of trying to make up for the many ways we have caused harm to others. Think of it as a weighing scale: we recognize that in our bad behavior, we have wronged so many people. But to even out or offset the scales, we try to do more nice things in hopes that this would be enough to “cleanse” our record.
But the Bible says that because God is a perfect God and we will always be imperfect creatures due to our inherited fallen nature, no amount of good deeds can ever outweigh our sinfulness. Despite evening out that tally or score, everything that we do will always be tainted by our sinful nature. Therefore, it is clear that according to Scripture, man cannot save himself or make himself good.
The solution for evil human nature came in the person of God’s only Son, Jesus Christ. According to the Bible, He made himself both fully divine and fully human and entered the earth to identify with us. In doing so, he is the only person to model a perfect human life devoid of evil. However, His coming to us had an ultimate end goal: to participate in His Father’s plan to redeem humankind from sin, evil, and death.
We know that the climax of His life on earth was His death. He was nailed to the cross to purchase the penalty of our sins, which we would have borne if He did not come to save. After three days, He was resurrected and ascended to Heaven to be with His Father.
The final atoning work of Jesus Christ is what can ultimately make humans “good.” In following Him completely, we are clothed in His righteousness and perfection, despite our continuing state of sin. His perfection is what God the Father sees, and it is how we are able to access Him today. In a way, Jesus Christ served as the mediator between God and man, giving us the chance to one day experience the ultimate reward of adhering to His definition of goodness: an eternity of joyfully living in His presence.