by Keith Needham

Created on: April 23, 2009

In order to answer this question, we have to at least define human nature. According to webster.com, the word nature has to do with an original or natural condition, or the inherent character or basic constitution of a person or thing. Natural and/or original has to do with something as it is, something that is endemic to an individual or object, or to something as it is in its native condition. Using this definition, then, we would have to argue that human nature would be that which is natural to a person or an individual, something that a person is, or something that drives a person on in his/her native condition. It would refer to the basic constitution, or the essential qualities that make up a person's psyche, or to those qualities which are necessary for a person to be considered to be a person and not something else.

Using this definition, religion cannot affect human nature. Mankind is as he is, be that for good or for ill. That this is often for ill has been argued from both a religion and an "irreligious" perspective. Stephen Hawking, a noted evolutionist, is pessimistic about human survival on this planet because, as he puts it, "our genetic code still carries carries selfish and aggressive instincts that were of survival advantage in the past." He argues that, because of these selfish and aggressive tendencies as manifested in our unwillingness to care properly for the environment, it will be difficult to avoid a species-threatening disaster on this earth within the next hundred or thousand years (see http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/stephen_hawking_a sks_big_questions_about_the_universe.html.

A Biblical understanding of human nature is more positive than Hawkings. According to the Bible, mankind was originally created in the image of God, and therefore, is to find his destiny is reflecting the nature and the character of God. Mankind, however, chose to abandon God, and thus fell into sin. Sin is responsible for the pervasive nastiness which is now endemic in mankind's constitution. Mankind, however, can be restored to his true nature by the work of God in his life bringing about His ultimate good in not only this planet, but also in all of God's creation.

This restoration, however, is not automatic; but only comes through the power and intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came as God in human flesh, to live and to model the kind of life that actually reflects God's glory. In salvation, God gives believers a portion of Christ's Spirit - and

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