Are Human Beings Born Sinful or Good?

This is a key philosophical and religious issue that has been debated for thousands of years. It has also been pre-occupying my thoughts for a long while as a former teacher and an uncle.

BORN GOOD

In ancient China, Confucius (Kong Zi) believed that human beings are born good natured ("ren xing ben shan")and that the reason why there were wrongdoings on earth was due to human ignorance. He believed that through educating people, especially in the need to respect and obey laws such as the "five relationships" ("wu lun"), there would be no more wrongdoing and suffering in this world. This idea seems very similar to Buddhism (if I am not wrong) which believes that wrongdoings are the result of human ignorance of their inherent goodness and their desires for material things, which are considered to be illusions and not real. According to Buddhism, by following the "eight middle paths" and cultivating right speech and right actions, humans will be liberated from their desires for the illusionary (unreal) material things and attain nirvana (enlightenment) which makes them free from the material desires that cause wrongdoings and sufferings. In recent years, many humanists and some psychologists who believe that the human world is progressing through reason and education also subscribe to this thought. They advocate counselling, reflection and "positive thinking" to get people to reform from their wrongdoings.

BORN SINFUL

On the other hand, in ancient China, there are philosphers who are known as legalists ("fa jia") such as Xun Zi and Han Fei, who believed on the contrary, that human beings were born sinful. They believed that since it was natural human nature to do the wrong things and cause suffering to others, the government must impose very strict and harsh laws to deter and prevent people from wrongdoings. The First Emperor of China, Qin Shihuang, was a believer in this philosophy and so his rule was associated with strict laws and capital punishment. Goverments all over the world still have laws to deter offenders and wrongdoers. Singapore is a good example of this with its "fine system". Many countries are now reportedly emulating Singapore's success in maintaining good law and order by imposing fines or strict laws.

MY VIEWS

It is true to some extent that human beings have some good nature in them and have a basic conscience that tells them to do the right things. We see many acts of kindness being done everyday by unsung heroes. However, many people also do good things out of impure motives in the hope of gaining something back in return. For example, many students do voluntary work to gain CIP points. Parents have been known to do volunteer work to earn their children a place in a desired school. Some people do good things in the hope of gaining merit for themselves in the afterlife. Then there are those who donate money to charity, partially to gain attention, earn some favour or to win lucky draws, Toto or the "four-digit winning numbers". If we are truly objective, like the righteous God of the world, we will agree that these so-called charitable good deeds DO NOT count at all, as they are done WITHOUT the true altruistic spirit of selflessness.

Even our conscience can be suppressed or ignored through habit and persistant wrongdoings. That was why an ex-Japanese soldier who killed many innocent civilians in China during the Nanjing Massacre of 1937, upon being interviewed, said that while he felt bad the first few times he did those terrible things, subsequently, his conscience was killed off when he went on to kill many other civilians as encouraged by his peers and superiors. He became numbed to killing and felt nothing soon eventually. It was like killing pigs to him!

Moreover, looking at my two nephews at home (just two of many examples I have seen of young children) who are good reflections of all humans, it is more true for me to say that human beings are BORN with SINFUL natures. You do not need to teach them to be disobedient, selfish, to fight for attention, tell lies, argue, quarrel, jealous, take advantage of kind people etc. They naturally seem to pick these traits up even though none in my family displays these things in front of them. Conversely, it is very difficult to teach them to do the right things such as being considerate for others, help others, recognise and apologise for their mistakes etc. One might argue that that is because they still do not know right from wrong. That is precisely my point here - even before they know right or wrong, human beings already display sinful nature! Contrary to popular psychologists, they do not need to pick bad traits from adults, they naturally show that through their own untaught sinful nature from birth! There is a Chinese saying that goes like this, "people learn bad things in three days but it takes three years to learn good things" ("xue huai san tian, xue hao san nian")!

WHY ARE THERE TWO DIFFERENT OBSERVATIONS ABOUT HUMAN NATURE?

I believe that the Bible explains this contradiction in human nature very well - that though humans sometimes do good but we are basically SINFUL at heart since birth. Just as a bottle of chemical is considered impure and corrupted if even 1% of it is mixed with another chemical, so even though human beings seem to have some good in them, we are all ultimately sinful in the eyes of God as we are ALL tainted with sin in our thoughts, speech and actions everyday (if we truly examine ourselves). Even if a man is 99% good, the 1% sin condemns him and there is NONE who is perfectly sinless and holy.

According to the Bible, mankind was created by God in His image and thus displays some of God's goodness and wisdom. The conscience that we all have is thus God-given. Originally, mankind was created without sin but our ancestors by their own freewill chose to disobey God and leave their own lives separated from God, who is the source of all goodness. Since then, sin and imperfection in the world has entered the world in many ways, from natural disasters, animals eating animals, to all kinds of wrongdoings and cruelties which come from the fact that ALL humans are born with sinful desires and nature. To me, that best explains why we are sometimes good and yet at the very heart of us, we are always sinful in our thoughts and actions. We always tend to think more or even only for ourselves at the expense of others. Even the good that we do is often done out of selfish or impure motives. That is the reason for all wrongdoing on earth. Like asthma or diabetes, human sinful nature is like a disease that can be controlled but not cured completely. Attending counselling, having CME lessons and practising holiness with our minds and actions are just controlling the symptoms, these are NOT enough to solve the root problem of human sinful nature, for humans CANNOT be made perfect and sinless by their own efforts. To ultimately cure human sinful nature that cause all wrongdoing and suffering, we must turn to GOD and mend our broken relationship with Him through Christ, as God Himself, is the source of all goodness and holiness. Sick persons cannot help themselves to recover completely on his own, unless they seek medical treatment from the right doctors who can cure them of their disease. With God, the impossible becomes possible!