Human Beings, Morality and Knowledge

Human Beings, Morality and Knowledge
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Human Beings, Morality and Knowledge
Do you think human beings are intrinsically good or intrinsically bad?
There are various theories and thoughts surrounding whether human beings are
intrinsically god or intrinsically bad. The theories and thoughts are shaped by various factors
such as religion, culture, level of education etc. People often disagree concerning whether
people are inherently bad or inherently good (Smith, 2016). Some argue that some people are
intrinsically good while others are intrinsically bad. Others believe that the people are neither
intrinsically good nor intrinsically bad but their act according to the environment in which
they find themselves.
I think that people are intrinsically bad. I will explain the reason why I subscribe to
this belief in the following sentences. I would like to first say that I have been brought up in a
Christian environment and Christianity has greatly shaped the way I view things. My belief is
that people are intrinsically bad, and it is only the grace of God that can salvage us from this
state. God is the creator of the universe and He is the only one who can be referred to as
being intrinsically good. In other words, God is intrinsically holy, loving, kind, caring, and
other many positive attributes. Human beings are by nature weak and prone to sin. It is only
when God intervenes in the life of a person that a person can be termed as being relatively
good. Even then, it is because of the God who lives in them that they carry out actions that
are good. Therefore, all the glory goes to God. In other words, it is impossible to be good
without God, because He is the holy of holies, omnipotent and omnipresent.
In the contemporary society, people have many differing opinions around this
question. The question becomes somehow complicated because there lacks a universal
definition of good. In Christianity, we believe that that which is good is that which is Godly,
and that which God would approve. Some people however argue that being good is relative

and what may be good to one person may not be necessarily good to another person. many
people have subscribed to the modern philosophy of relativism and it therefore becomes very
hard to answer the question above for many people. Modern scholars argue that for you to
come with a sure conclusion, you must have used scientific methods. Due to this, most
learned individuals are very weary of making any decision about anything unless it has been
proved scientifically. It is challenging to test the question above scientifically due to the lack
of a universal definition of good.
From the biblical perspective, it appears that the position held by the bible is that
human beings are intrinsically bad. Paul argues that we are all sinners apart from grace. In
the letter Galatians (Galatians 6:14), he says that far be it from him to boast in anything apart
from the cross of Christ. The bible also tells us that because of the way sin has greatly
dwelled in the world, he gave us his only son so that whoever believes in him may have
eternal life (John 3:16). If the world was not composed of sinners, then there wouldn’t have
been any need for Jesus to come. One might also conclude that the reason why God has given
us commandments is because we are naturally sinful and need to follow the commandments
if we are to be ‘good’ before him. We know that God is holy and loves unconditionally. God
is not sinful, and he hates sin. The some came for saving the world. The reason for that was
the sinful nature that human beings have inherently that had made them sin so much. Jesus
says that no one goes to the father except through him. This could be viewed as situation
where Jesus as God is holy and good any human being must leave their sins (for the are sinful
by nature) and approach the throne of grace and be Christlike so that they can go the father
who is holy. This perspective has also shaped my answer to the question and I belong to the
school of thought that human beings are intrinsically bad (bad in the sense that they are
sinful). In a nutshell, human beings are inherently sinful, and it is only when they follow the