Tag: human heart

Is the Pope Right About the Human Heart Being ‘Fundamentally Good’?

Is the Pope Catholic? This humorous rhetorical device has long been used to answer a question with an emphatic “yes!” But after comments made by Pope Francis during a recent 60 Minutes interview, a lot of people are now asking the question for real.

“We are all fundamentally good,” Pope Francis told Norah O’Donnell during their exchange. “Yes, there are some rogues and sinners, but the heart itself is good.”

A snippet of the interview captioned with the pontiff’s controversial claim went viral on X earlier this month, though additional context was later added by users to indicate a slight mistranslation by 60 Minutes. The community note explained: “Pope Francis said ‘somos un poco pícaros y pecadores’, meaning literally ‘we are a little bit rogue and sinners,’ speaking to some sinfulness within each of us. This is not the same as saying ‘there are some rogues and sinners’.”

So, are all humans “fundamentally good”? Is the heart itself good? Are we just a “little bit” rogue and sinful?

Not according to the prophet Jeremiah, who said: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Or King Solomon, who mourned, “The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live” (Ecclesiastes 9:3).

Or Jesus, who explained that “it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly” (Mark 7:21–22).

Or the apostle Paul, who quoted the Psalms to emphasize his point: “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one’ ” (Romans 3:10–12).

[Scripture teaches that], all humans have inherited a sin nature as a result of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God in the Garden of Eden. As a result, we are born with a propensity towards sin, are estranged from God, and are in desperate need of salvation.

As early as the fifth century…a British monk called Pelagius denied original sin. He taught that the fall of Adam did not cause all humanity to inherit a sin nature, and he stressed that humans were fundamentally free to live good lives without the intervention of divine grace.

But a secular argument can also be made that the Pope erred on the fundamental nature of humanity. We need look no further than the collectivist political projects of last century—communism especially.

The belief that humans are inherently good allowed men like Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot to put forth—and put into action—their ideas that a harmonious society could be achieved if only the right social conditions were created. But eliminating existing class structures did just the opposite, creating a vacuum that was quickly filled by tyranny, oppression, and mass atrocities.

Ironically, the old systems these leaders did away with, while not perfect, had been honed over the centuries to take into account the fallenness of man. Still today, the safest and most prosperous nations on earth are those that properly account for deep human fallibility through their provision of robust checks and balances.

Thus, while the idea of original sin might sound jarring today, it remains one of the most important political insights in history. Its logic is counterintuitive. When humans assume we are fundamentally good, we end up unleashing the most unspeakable evil. But when we are humble enough to admit our fallenness and sin, prudence urges us to create the social conditions fit for human flourishing.

After all, the Christian gospel message is not that we are good, but that despite our sin, Jesus Christ is good, and that he has come to save us.

https://intellectualtakeout.org/2024/05/pope-human-heart-fundamentally-good/

Source: Berean Call

A Sheepman’s Look At Psalm 23

David, when he composed Psalms 23, knew this. Looking at life from the standpoint of a sheep, he wrote “He [the Good Shepherd] leads me beside quiet waters.” In other words, he alone knows where the still, quiet, deep, clean, pure water is to be found that can satisfy His sheep and keep them fit.

Generally speaking, water for the sheep came from three main sources: dew on the grass, deep wells, or springs and streams.

Most people are not aware that sheep can go for months on end, especially if the weather is not too hot, without actually drinking, if there is heavy dew on the grass each morning. Sheep, by habit, rise just before dawn and start to feed. Or if there is bright moonlight they will graze at night. The early hours are when the vegetation is drenched would dew, and sheep can keep fit on the amount of water taken in with their forage when they graze just before and after dawn.

Of course, dew is a clear, clean, pure source of water. And there is no more resplendent picture of still waters than the silver droplets of dew hanging heavy on leaves and grass at break of day.

The good shepherd, the diligent manager, makes sure that his sheep can be out and grazing on this dew-drenched vegetation. If necessary, it will mean he himself has to rise early to be out with his flock. On the home ranch or afield he will see to it that his sheep benefit from this early grazing.

In the Christian life it is a more than passing significance to observe that those who are often the most serene, most confident, and able to cope with life’s complexities are those who rise early each day to feed on God’s Word. It is in the quiet, early hours of the morning that they are led beside the quiet, still waters where they imbibe the very life of Christ for the day. This is much more than mere figure of speech. It is practical reality. The biographies of the great men and women of God repeatedly point out how the secret of the success in their spiritual life was attributed to the quiet time of each morning. There, alone, still, waiting for the Masters voice, one is led gently to the place where, as the old hymn puts it, “The still dews of His Spirit can be dropped into my life and soul.”

One comes away from these hours of meditation, reflection, and communion with Christ refreshed in mind and spirit. The thirst is slaked and the heart is quietly satisfied.

In my mind’s eye I can see my flock again. The gentleness, stillness, and softness of early morning always found my sheep knee-deep in dew- drenched grass. There they fed heavily and contentedly. As the sun rose and the heat burned the dew drops from the leaves, the flock would retire to find shade. There, fully satisfied and happily refreshed, they would lie down to rest and ruminate through the day. Nothing pleased me more.

I am confident this is the same reaction in my Master’s heart and mind when I meet the day in the same way. He loves to see me contented, quiet, at rest, and relaxed. He delights to know my soul and spirit have been refreshed and satisfied.

But the irony of life, and tragic truth for most Christians, is that this is not so. They often try, instead, to satisfy their thirst by pursuing almost every other sort of substitute. For their minds and intellects they will pursue knowledge, science, academic careers, vociferous reading, or off-beat companions. But they are always left panting and dissatisfied.

Some of my friends have been among the most learned and highly respected scientists and professors in the country. Yet about them there is often a strange yearning, and unsatisfied thirst which all their learning, all their knowledge, all their achievements have not satisfied

To appease the craving of their souls and emotions, men and women will turn to the arts, to culture, to music, to literary forms, trying to find fulfillment.

And again, so often, these are amongst the most jaded and dejected of people.

Amongst my acquaintances are some outstanding authors and artists. Yet it is significant that to many of them life is a mockery. They have tried drinking deeply from the wells of the world only to turn away unsatisfied — unquenched in their soul’s thirst. There are those who, to quench this thirst in their parched lives, have attempted to find refreshment in all sorts of physical pursuits and activities.

They try travel. Or they participate feverishly in sports. They attempt adventures of all sorts or indulge in social activities. They take up hobbies or engage in community efforts. But when all is said and everything has been done, they find themselves facing the same haunting, hollow, empty, unfilled thirst within.

The ancient prophet Jeremiah put it very bluntly when he declared, “My people… have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water”   (Jeremiah 2:13).

It is a compelling picture. It is an accurate portrayal of broken lives – shattered hopes – of barren souls that are dried up and parched and full of the dust of despair.

Among young people, especially the “beat” generation, the recourse to drugs, to alcohol, to sexual adventure in a mad desire to assuage their thirst is classic proof that such sordid indulgences are no substitute for the Spirit of the living God. These poor people are broken cisterns. Their lives are a misery. I have yet to talk to a truly happy “hippie”. Their faces show the desperation within.

And amid all this chaos of a confused, sick society, Christ comes quietly as of old and invites us to come to Him. He invites us to follow Him. He invites us to put our confidence in Him. For He it is who best knows how we can be satisfied. He knows that the human heart, the human personality, the human soul with this amazing capacity for God can never be satisfied with a substitute. Only the Spirit and life of Christ Himself will satisfy the thirsting soul.

From: W. Phillip Keller, A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23 (Zondervan, 1970) p.61-64. Great book and I heartily recommend it to our readers. Carl