Truth Unchanged, Unchanging_ What is wrong with man?

1.1.      What is man? Comes the vital question as to what is wrong with the man.

1.2.      There are only two views as we discuss this question with what is wrong with man, the Biblical and the non-Biblical.

2.       We should consider and expose the errors and the fallacies that underlie those optimistic views of life held by the false prophets who are ever ready to cry, “Peace, peace,” and who assure us that all will soon be well.

2.1.      With a smile on their faces, the false prophets always give the impression that the situation is quite simple and that they can deal with it readily.

2.2.      This shallow optimism shows, of course, a definite type of mentality; to whatever realm the problem may belong, its attitude is always the same.

3.       The essence of the position is that man himself is all right fundamentally, and that his troubles, whatever they may be, do not spring from anything radically wrong in his own nature.

3.1.      Man, they argue, has developed, and grown out of the animal, and it is inevitable that for a certain period he should still bear traces of the limits and imperfections imposed upon him by his animal nature.

3.2.      We are still invited, therefore, to look back upon the story of man and delight in observing the great progress made.

3.3.      But the problem is purely one of time. We must be patient, and whatever may happen in our time and generation, we must realize that we are part of this great process that is ever certain and surely working itself out in the direction of perfection.

4.       Closely allied to that view is the one that regards the problems of man’s life purely in terms of intellect and education.

4.1.      This thought considers the real source of trouble to be man’s failure to think and to reason.

4.2.      Man according to this view, is not evil, he just refuses to think.

4.3.      It only can be cured by education.

5.       Another superficial view of the ills of mankind is seen in the statement that our troubles are due entirely and solely to conditions and surroundings.

6.       In the same way a similar change can be brought against the proposed treatment.

6.1.      All we need to be educated, to think and plan, to organize and introduce certain measures of legislation that will equalize economic conditions, provide work for all, guarantee to everyone good housing conditions, and insure equality of opportunity for all. These are the modern counterparts of what was once expressed as “liberty, equality, and fraternity,” and still earlier it was once called, “peace, peace.” The whole system is so simple.

7.       We must examine this position a little more closely and critically, and we must face the question which immediately suggests itself to us- namely, why it is that mankind takes such a superficial view of the problem and its cure.

7.1. is minds of the false prophets are so biased and prejudiced and so controlled by certain ideas, as to make them incapable of true and clear thinking.

8.       We see it, first of all, in their general attitude, in their very approach to the problem.

8.1.      We hear much these days about wishful thinking, we all must agree that we tend to be controlled by prejudices and that nothing is so difficult as to think freely and with an open mind.

8.2.      The confirmed optimist is certain to say, “It’s all right,” before he has even begun to examine the problem.

9.       The effect of prejudice is seen equally clearly in the attitude of the false prophet to the true prophet. The false prophets were never content with just disobeying.

9.1.      The false prophet hated and persecuted the prophets of God again shows a mentality which is the very reverse of a calm, scientific outlook

9.2.      This still is a present time issue

9.3.      Men are seldom content merely to disagree with the Biblical teaching.

10.    The view of the false prophet starts with the postulate that whatever else may be the cause of the troubles of life it is not the man himself.

11.    The false prophets cry, “Peace, peace,” but there is no peace.

11.1.   We must consider whether the world is becoming happier, better, and kinder; whether the problems of life are gradually diminishing in number and decreasing in perplexity; and whether man’s inhumanity to man is less evident than it once was.

12.    Does intellect guarantee a life of perfect happiness?

12.1.   The Baconian philosophy, “Knowledge is power,” has become a popular modern slogan. But history, biography, the records of the courts of law, and the columns of the newspapers tell a very different story.

13.    Are all who have sufficient wealth happy?

13.1.   Our problems and troubles arise from ourselves and what we are. It is not that we deny the value of education or economic conditions. All men are entitled to a measure of decent living in this present world and should demand it as their right, but to say that it alone is necessary and that they, alone, can solve our every problem, is to display an utterly false view of life.

14.    The true nature of the problem is that end we must shed our prejudices and cease to be governed by our desires.

14.1.   We must be prepared for honest thought, and a thoroughgoing examination and analysis, which will probe us to the very depths and search our motives as well as our actions.

14.2.   We must find answers solely in the Bible. There we have the revelation of what God thinks of man and what God has done about the man.

15.    There can be no peace among men until it is found within man, and that ideal can be obtained only by our surrendering ourselves to Him who said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”