Human nature and freewill

Different faiths have widely varying views of human nature. Islam teaches that we are born with a ‘clean slate’ and then our actions (good and bad) are weighed. Eastern religions have the concept of karma, which can become more positive or negative in the cycle of reincarnation. Christianity takes a different view, which is very relevant for this discussion of suffering:

The image of God (Genesis chapter 1 verses 26-27). Wonderfully we are made with the ability to know God, containing a ‘Divine spark’, as it were. This is the positive, creative, life-affirming part of our nature.
But also sinful. The reality, which Genesis chapter 3 wants to convey to us, is that alongside this every single one of us suffers from a tendency to do wrong (read Romans chapter 5 verse 12). God has given us the freedom to choose right or wrong (see video below) and often we choose wrong.
Suffering caused by our actions. If we are honest, we have to admit that the responsibility for much of the suffering in the world cannot be laid at God’s door. It is caused by human beings – war, human trafficking, abuse, etc. These are just the obvious ones; what about the uneven use of the planet’s resources? The poor tend to be the ones who suffer, whether economically or in environmental terms.

In the booklet, I mentioned the issue of freewill. Here are the relevant sections from the film Bruce Almighty: Bruce Almighty - freewill

The only alternative to freewill would be for us to be ‘programmed’ always to do right; this would not make us human beings but robots. To simply be robots or victims of our circumstances would be to rob us of any sense of dignity or responsibility. That’s a cop out.

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Six Big Questions Rev John Hibberd sixbigquestions@throughfaithmissions.org