Comments on: Is Man Inherently Good?

By: Don Stout

Don Stout — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 01:02:35 +0000

aw the age old question is man really pure at heart?I believe that yes man is good at heart to begin with and has knowledge of evil…..but we all make an individual choice…

off topic however…

if I were to simplify myself into to two parts I would say there is the Human side..my thinking,calm,cool collective side that puts others feelings on a level of my own making them just as important…then I would say I have an animal side.the side of me in which is all about me..what I want..what I need..the side that says forget everyone else..self preservation

hmm I’m thinking that as humans noone can possibly ever answer this question…in order for us to answer this question we would need a human who has no knowledge of good or evil…and place him in the modern world…however this human would have to be above all influences he would have to never gain the knowledge of good or evil and make decisions on how he felt from a neutral point of view….

By: Yvonne Foong » Blog Archive » Aren’t all men inherently good?

Yvonne Foong » Blog Archive » Aren’t all men inherently good? — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:30:58 +0000

[...] tells me that all men are bad. I didn’t want to believe her and thought her cynical. Human beings are inherently good, [...]

By: Next Stop Lauderdale

Next Stop Lauderdale — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 05:34:50 +0000

I don’t think it takes much of a Theological education to answer this question, all you really need is a clean mirror…………steve

By: alexander san pedro

alexander san pedro — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 21:31:26 +0000

This will remain unanwswered. Every notion, insights, judgments will forever remain a theory. great write though.

By: Christina

Christina — Thu, 03 May 2007 18:15:30 +0000

Well, women are inherently good. Men…that’s a different story. Just kidding. Anyways, that was a great post, although I don’t agree. You’ve given me some good information to use in my paper (titled “People are Inherently Good”), though.

By: The Depravity of Man « Wit or Wisdom

The Depravity of Man « Wit or Wisdom — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 16:08:40 +0000

[...] Attitudes, Apologetics, Evolution, God, Economics at 10:07 am by thelonedrifter The continuation of this post… If man is not inherently good, then we are left with two choices. Either he is merely a random [...]

By: momlovesbeingathome

momlovesbeingathome — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 20:44:10 +0000

Nice post! Very well stated!

By: avoiceofreason

avoiceofreason — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 13:59:52 +0000

I don’t buy into the concept of the Total Depravity of Man. I understand the rationale, I also appreciate its internal consistency.

Man is born with a light in him, this is not morally good, but he is made in God’s image, with a sense of right and wrong. I will even not use theology, but philosophy, and opine with Aristotle, that this inner self is called natural law.

However, man’s nature is eventually fallen. Your analogy of the two year old is perfect. Selfishness doesn’t have to be taught; it is instinctual.

However, too often people blame human nature, when they really mean to talk about human behavior.

By: Neil

Neil — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 12:13:25 +0000

Excellent points.

I blogged on this in a big picture sort of way in Are people basically good?. I had heard of the following study done in Chicago:

The time it took people to get in their cars and leave a parking lot was measured. The variables were 1) no people waiting, 2) people waiting patiently and 3) people waiting impatiently. If people are basically good, one would expect the average exit time to be lowest when other people were waiting. Here are the average times:

No one waiting - 32 seconds
People waiting patiently - 39 seconds
People waiting impatiently - 42 seconds

So it appears that the average person deliberately goes more slowly when someone is waiting. This sure doesn’t help the case of those claiming that people are basically good.

Once I became a Christian it became more and more clear that even when I am “good” it is often with an ulterior motive.