Powerfull Voices

Ought We To Consider This?
Ravi Zacharias

We tend to look at the question of human nature in terms of good and bad.
But when we come to the teachings of Jesus on man’s nature, there is a
dimension added to the discussion that must be understood.

Any conclusion about who we are remains circular when we use words like
good or bad, for simply using such terms points us to a moral law that is
beyond mere human reckoning. What do I mean? If we say that human nature
is either good or bad, then we are saying that we either measure up or fail
to measure up to a certain standard of the way things ought to be. But
what is this ought that we know inside of us? What is it that tells us,
“This isn’t the way things should be; something is wrong”?

Friend, I suggest that this ought that each of us knows reflects that we
are made in the image of God, that He has left His stamp upon us. God has
given us a moral law written on our hearts. But when we look into the
human heart, we see violations—lust, greed, hate, anger, and the
jealousies that are so destructive. This is at the heart of the human
predicament, and the Scripture’s description of human nature is that we are
dead in our sins. That’s a graphic way to put it, I know, but as I said
before, until we understand our desperate position before God, we will not
understand His profound message of grace.

C.S. Lewis says it so well in Mere Christianity. He argues that behind the
moral law is the Power of absolute goodness who is God. Writes Lewis:

We know that if there does exist an absolute goodness it must hate most of
what we do. That is the terrible fix we are in . . . Christianity simply
does not make sense until you have faced [this] . . . Christianity tells
people to repent and promises them forgiveness . . . It is after you have
realized that there is a real Moral Law, and a Power behind the law, and
that you have broken the law and put yourself wrong with that Power—it is
after all this . . . that Christianity begins to talk.

And I might add, talk in depth. Indeed, Karl Barth once said that sin
scorches us most after it has been under the scrutinizing light of God’s
forgiveness. For when we recognize God’s profound work of grace, we long
to know that transforming power in our lives.

Copyright (p)(c) 2001 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM)

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dostf

This post will soon self destruct to rants raves and preaching....4--3--2--1--.......

Be seeing you...

K

Powrful Voices:

You know, I had never considered that. You're right. Morality can't be based on anything but Jesus. I've never examined morals before. I just became an atheist because I had decided to choose eternal torment. Thank you for posing this here. I know I just got saved. Please tell me where I can send my big fat check.

Cosimo

I am not aware of any moral laws, but I have familiarized myself with rule #1 of this forum. This is what it says:

(1) You will not advertise or solicit other members to buy, sell or peruse any products or services through this discussion forum. Chain letters and junk mail are strictly prohibited.

Keith Russell

Greetings:

Morality was not 'written upon our hearts' by any God or Harvard Law professor.

Little kids kill each other, often violentlty.

We don't learn to be bad; we are bad unless we learn otherwise.

'Innocence' is a truly scary thing.

Instead, if we realize that as living human beings, we need to use our minds to guide our actions, and we need freedom to best use our minds, and we need to be alive to do anything else, it becomes clear that one should do nothing that infringes upon the life and freedom of another.

Morality is objective, and rational. It is certainly not dogmatic, or intrinsic.

Keith.

Laurentius

I could have put it another way, trying to say (roughly)the same thing though, Keith.
My personal touch might have emphasized the fact that humans come into the world as social beings. Morality is part of a self-regulating system through which the society ensures its integrity.

AVE

Amos

Hello Keith

Morality is certainly written upon our hearts by God and never by some Harvard law professor.

You must first distinguish between natural law and moral law. Natural law is inherent to the animal man and in this nature we are basically good and peacefull animals but animals nonetheless. Here we have an animal or Stoic conscience and realize that we must consume our equals to stay alive in a compettitive biological environment. Even with a God given animal conscience are we moral agents and will protect live and the attributes of our own life.

That little kids kill each other proves that moral laws can be written upon our hearts but just indicates that it is not written upon their hearts. It also proves that there should be moral laws written upon our hearts because we do not really want our kids to kill each other.

As animal man we are benevolent and good (or ultruism could not be) and as human beings can we be good or evil depending on how we perceive the the situation to which we respond in relation to our intrinsic values that have been written upon our hearts.

It can now be added that in our human nature we are selfish, protective, jealous, greedy and all those things that motivate us to do the things we call evil and since these two natures are opposite to each other a workable system was introduced to make us responsible social beings.

This makes morality dogmatic (arrived at by convention) and because it is intrinsic (from where we are torn betwen good and evil) that we must become rational agents in our responses.

Laurentius

Man
as a species
by definition and constitution
bears both a biological inheritance
and a cultural one.
Take the cultural inheritance away
and you'll still be left with a primate,
but one lacking humanity,
that is
with a creature
that could no longer be called
man.
Objectively.

AVE

NialScorva

Seen it before... considered spamworthy