On Humanity

Fellow Labourers-

Let me pose a question to all of us. Is man essentially good with the potential for evil, or is he essentially evil with the potential for good? In answering this question I suppose we need a starting point. Some of us may start with man before the fall, some after the fall and some with Jesus' statement, "There is none good, but God." Where ever we begin I suspect we would have to define a kind of humanity that is either progressing or regressing. If we then define progress as movement in a desired direction, then regression would be movement in an undesired direction. How are we doing so far? I suspect if we examine our lives carefully we are in a state of flux. We are both progressing and regressing daily. I suppose then that our aim should be to strive for an equilibrium balance.

My above argument does not however answer my first question. But, I now come to a conclusion by deductive reasoning. Every time I would do good evil presents itself. I do evil because good is absent. To do evil comes naturally. Therefore I am essentially evil because of my sin nature. It is my knowledge of the facts that has led me to this conclusion. We live and understand our humanity based on certain facts. This is I believe one reason why most missionaries are Christians, the fact that they believe in the goodness of a loving saviour called Jesus Christ.

Pax Vobiscum

Robert Stewart