Page 123 - Apologetics Student Textbook

Study Section 16: Questions about the Condition of Man

16.1 Connect

Early in the 18 century, a man by the name of Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote a book about
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the basic nature of man. The book was called Emile and was the story of a young boy raised
by his father. If Emile was put in a wonderful environment, he was naturally inquisitive and
learned all he could; he was a sponge for learning. However, if subjected to wrong
influences and negative input, Emile would not develop and flourish. Basically, Rousseau
believed that every child is born as a “blank slate board.” He is totally innocent by nature.
As the world writes on his slate, so he becomes. Man becomes a product of his environment.

Is man basically good at heart? Despite all the wickedness and evil we see man involved in around us,
some people think that man is good inside and if encouraged, the goodness will come out. But that idea
flies in the face of what the Bible says about man. Let’s see if we can clarify these ideas….

16.2 Objectives

1. The student will learn about the Pelagian heresy of the 3 century and how it has
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permeated thought today.

2. The student should be able to describe mankind in line with a Biblical view.

3. The student should be able to describe how environment effects the development of children but is
not the basis of why people perform evil.

16.3 Don’t you believe that the human race is basically good at heart?

The answer to this question is reprinted from People are Basically Good by Cameron Buettel
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“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build my
hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death.”

Those are heartbreaking words for a couple of reasons.

They were penned by Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl, while she spent two years hiding in Nazi-occupied
Holland. She died tragically in a concentration camp soon after, but her writings would go on
posthumously to become a widely celebrated bestseller: The
Diary of a Young Girl.

It’s staggering to think that despite the unimaginable
atrocities she must have witnessed and experienced, she still
clung to the belief that people are basically good. She even
admitted her beliefs were “in spite of” the evidence, not

73 https://www.gty.org/library/blog/B180308/people-are-basically-good

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